Page History

• Human Factors and Interaction Design of ICTs
• Usability, Usable Security, User Research, (Participatory) ideation and iterative prototyping
• Social Computing, Technology and the cultural domain - “Culture over IP”
• Ubiquitous and mobile HCI
• Computer Supported Cooperative World - Social Computing/Social Informatics, Cooperative Systems

• Computer

• Human Factors and Interaction Design of ICTs
• Usability, Usable Security, User Research, (Participatory) ideation and iterative prototyping
• Social Computing, Technology and the cultural domain - “Culture over IP”
• Ubiquitous and mobile HCI
• Computer Supported Cooperative World - Social Computing/Social Informatics, Cooperative Systems

• Internet of Things / Internet of People
• AAA - Authentication, Authorization, Accounting in IoT ecosystems
• Decentralized security mechanisms (blockchain, trust, transparency, privacy)
• (Computer) Networks --- design, operation, and use
• Internet of Things, Internet of People
• Decentralization
• NEW: Federated Online Social Federated Online Social Networks (Fediverse and Mastodon)

If you are interested in "Praktika" or Bachelor/Master-Theses in the Area of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), please contact:

Oliver Hödl (oliver.hoedl@univie.ac.at)

Florian Güldenpfennig (florian.gueldenpfennig@univie.ac.at)

Opera.Guru is an application suite to provide subtitles for live opera performances. (see www.opera.guru for for details) The existing application contains a web-based frontend and smartphone app (Android/iOS) and a web-based CMS. The task of this thesis is to develop a new web app in addition to the existing smartphone appadd new funcionality and improve existing ones. The goal of this extension is to use the Opera.Guru application suite for events other than opera and to access new user groups as well as new application scenarios. Basic programming skills and knowledge with mobile, web and server applications (Xamarin for Android/iOS apps, IIS) are recommended. The work for this thesis will include a user study to evaluate the web app.

See the project's website for further information and finished theses about opera.guru.

Die Elektrifizierung der Gitarre und der Synthesizer haben vor hundert bzw. fünfzig Jahren die Musik drastisch verändert. Heute sind es digitale und mobile Technologien aller Art von Smartphones, über Mikrocomputer bis hin zur Sensortechnik und künstlicher Intelligenz, die Musik, das Musikmachen und den Musikkonsum verändern. Dazu gehören neue digitale Musikinstrumente und Klangwelten genauso wie neue Interaktionsformen in der Live-Musik, die das Publikum mit den Musikern "vernetzen". Aufbauend auf unsere Forschungsprojekte Breaking The Wall (https://www.piglab.org/breakingthewall) und Sparkling Instruments (http://www.piglab.org/sparkling-instruments) sowie Music Participation (http://www.musicparticipation.com/) bieten sich viele Möglichkeiten für Bachelor- und Masterarbeiten sowie Praktika (P1 und P2) für alle Musik- und Computer-Interessierten.

Die Wiener Ballsaison ist nicht nur einzigartig und ein besonderes Erlebnis für alle Besucher, sondern auch ein wichtiger Faktor für den Tourismus, die Wirtschaft und das Image der Stadt Wien. Egal ob auf großen oder kleinen Bällen, im Vordergrund stehen Musik, Tanz und Unterhaltung in eleganter Atmosphäre. Doch auch in den Ballsaal hat auch nach über hundert Jahren die digitale Technik Einzug gehalten. Seien es die Smartphones der Besucher, große Bildschirme auf den Gängen, komplexe Lichtshows oder Barcode-Scanner am Eingang statt der herkömmlichen Eintrittskarte. Die Ballbesucher tanzen und unterhalten sich nicht mehr ausschließlich, sondern posten die schönsten Eindrücke online in diversen sozialen Medien. Am Charakter eines Balles selbst hat sich nun nicht viel geändert. Aber die Möglichkeiten zur Kommunikation, Interaktion und letztendlich Unterhaltung in diesem Rahmen sind mehr geworden. Das wirft unmittelbar Fragen auf: Wie können digitale Systeme im Rahmen eines Balles genutzt oder weiterentwickelt werden und welchen Bedarf gibt es? Die konkreten Fragestellungen für eine Abschlussarbeit in diesem Themenkomplex sind vielseitig und können sowohl technischer als auch gestalterischer Natur sein.

The current prototype of the SANDRA project is implemented as a display mounted inside a real bass drum. The display is powered by a Raspberry Pi mini computer that runs a Python program for the visualization. It is connected to the drum kit controller via an Arduino microcontroller that handles the communication using the MIDI standard. Several “sets” containing different visualizations can be selected using a custom interface that is also showing the current set number to the drummer. The visualizations are hard coded into the software at this point.

Further work will include making the software more modular to enable the drummer to easily create new visualizations and sets. A communication form between the Raspberry Pi and the microcontroller will be needed to update its functionalities without having to flash the ROM for every change in the sets. The hardware may also be updated to be redundant as a measure of fault tolerance.

To work within this project is possible as theses (bachelor or master) or praktika (P1 or P2) which can be discussed with the supervisor. Further information is available on the project's website.

Die am MIT betriebene "Moral Machine" (http://moralmachine.mit.edu/) ist eine Plattform zur publikumswirksamen Diskussion ethischer Dilemmata in der IKT, z.B. im Kontext von autonomen Fahrzeugen. Im Rahmen des Projekts PANDORA (https://cosy.cs.univie.ac.at/research/projects/project/271/) werden verwandte Fragestellungen vor dem erweiterten Horizont der langfristigen gesellschaftlichen Entwicklung und im Hinblick auf das zugrundeliegende Menschenbild erforscht, um so aus der Disziplin der Informatik heraus den Diskurs über eine nachhaltige IKT aktiv zu gestalten. In dieser Arbeit soll, basierend auf einer detaillierten Analyse der Moral Machine, hierzu eine web-basierte Plattform entstehen, die deren Konzept im Hinblick auf Fragestellungen aus der philosophischen Anthropologie erweitert.

Online dating is a pervasive mass phenomenon of computer-aided mediation of intimate relationships and human sexuality. Users are offered a low-threshold opportunity to make initial contacts and the technology has the potential for emancipatory empowerment. However, online dating has a variety of questionable dimensions, implications and side effects, such as discriminatory matching algorithms, chat bot scam or sexual harassment.

Your task in this project is three-fold: (1) After an initial literature research, (2) conduct user research among users of online dating platforms and investigate their lived experiences with this sociotechnical system and how their experiences relate to their pursuit of intimate relationships. (3) Formulate implications for design of technology that supports users in forming intimate relationships, create and evaluate a prototype that supports the formation of intimate relationships.

Please note that this topic requires good command of human-centered design approaches as taught in related courses (VU Human-Computer Interaction, VU Cooperative Systems).

Further reading (available via u:access):
Alexopoulos et al (2020) Swiping more, committing less. 
Tong et al (2016) The Influence of Technology on Romantic Relationships. 
Masden et al (2015) Understanding the Role of Community in Online Dating.

Die Elektrifizierung der Gitarre und der Synthesizer haben vor hundert bzw. fünfzig Jahren die Musik drastisch verändert. Heute sind es digitale und mobile Technologien aller Art von Smartphones, über Mikrocomputer bis hin zur Sensortechnik und künstlicher Intelligenz, die Musik, das Musikmachen und den Musikkonsum verändern. Dazu gehören neue digitale Musikinstrumente und Klangwelten genauso wie neue Interaktionsformen in der Live-Musik, die das Publikum mit den Musikern "vernetzen". Aufbauend auf unsere Forschungsprojekte Breaking The Wall (https://www.piglab.org/breakingthewall) und Sparkling Instruments (http://www.piglab.org/sparkling-instruments) sowie Music Participation (http://www.musicparticipation.com/) bieten sich viele Möglichkeiten für Bachelor- und Masterarbeiten sowie Praktika (P1 und P2) für alle Musik- und Computer-Interessierten.

Design or method cards are an approach to find inspiration and promote innovation, to think about user needs, behaviour and interaction, to seek for sustainability and to enable gamification and playfulness. The Design Cards To Go Web App (https://designcards.cosy.univie.ac.at/) is a web-based application to provide card sets online. Currently, the app implements the TMAP Design Cards for the design of technology-mediated audience participation in live music. This topic can be done as Bachelor thesis or Praktika (P1, P2).

Die Wiener Ballsaison ist nicht nur einzigartig und ein besonderes Erlebnis für alle Besucher, sondern auch ein wichtiger Faktor für den Tourismus, die Wirtschaft und das Image der Stadt Wien. Egal ob auf großen oder kleinen Bällen, im Vordergrund stehen Musik, Tanz und Unterhaltung in eleganter Atmosphäre. Doch auch in den Ballsaal hat auch nach über hundert Jahren die digitale Technik Einzug gehalten. Seien es die Smartphones der Besucher, große Bildschirme auf den Gängen, komplexe Lichtshows oder Barcode-Scanner am Eingang statt der herkömmlichen Eintrittskarte. Die Ballbesucher tanzen und unterhalten sich nicht mehr ausschließlich, sondern posten die schönsten Eindrücke online in diversen sozialen Medien. Am Charakter eines Balles selbst hat sich nun nicht viel geändert. Aber die Möglichkeiten zur Kommunikation, Interaktion und letztendlich Unterhaltung in diesem Rahmen sind mehr geworden. Das wirft unmittelbar Fragen auf: Wie können digitale Systeme im Rahmen eines Balles genutzt oder weiterentwickelt werden und welchen Bedarf gibt es? Die konkreten Fragestellungen für eine Abschlussarbeit in diesem Themenkomplex sind vielseitig und können sowohl technischer als auch gestalterischer Natur sein.

The objective of this Praktikum or Bachelor's Thesis is to explore how sensor readings, such as energy data, can be displayed on small devices (e.g., 240 x 240 pixels) to offer users interesting information on small gadgets in their daily lives.

The topic may also be expanded into a master's thesis if applicable.

Programming microcontrollers using the Arduino IDE and relevant display libraries will be essential for this project.

When evaluating interactive applications such as web applications, mobile apps, smart IoT gadgets, etc., the interactions of the users play a crucial role. To be able to analyze these within user studies, they must be logged (e.g., by calling a URL on a study server, provided the interactive application is connected to the Internet). Later, this information becomes invaluable in research contexts.

The goal of this work is to develop an interaction logger for user studies as a web application (technology stack of your choice). The project can be conducted as a bachelor’s thesis, master’s thesis, or "Informatik Praktikum". For the latter, a concept should be developed as an interactive prototype. For a bachelor’s or master’s thesis, interviews with (professional) developers and researchers should first be conducted to determine their needs when logging in the context of user studies, and these needs should then be implemented as a prototype.

This work is suitable for students with an interest in user research and web development.

Markdown is a simple text formatting method that translates to HTML and other formats easily. Extensions exist to add table formatting to Markdown as well. In this project, you devise a method to augment Markdown with spreadsheet functionality. That is, your Markdown version should understand simple formulas, cell references etc., much like LibreOffice Calc, Gnumeric, or Excel do, and be able to calculate formula values.

Outcomes of this project may include:

• A syntax definition for Markdown Spreadsheets, both for formulas and formatting, and a simple, user-friendly serialization format which might include a preview of pre-computed values
• A command-line program that takes a Markdown Spreadsheet, calculates all cell values, and outputs the result in a configurable format (e.g. as a Markdown Table)
• An interactive, perhaps web-based editor with live updates

(For some context of Markdown, see above :-)

The plan for this topic is:

1. Develop a syntax that extends Markdown to allow for a simple, text-based description of questionnaire elements such as checkboxes, lists to choose from, percentage sliders, and free-text fields.
2. Devise a way to render such source files to HTML forms, potentially implemented as a web-based editor with live preview, and
3. Connect them with existing Web survey software such as LimeSurvey.

The topic includes a survey and comparison of existing tools and literature on (online) surveying, a usable implementation, and a qualitative evaluation with prospective users of the technology.

The Optimized Link State Routing protocol version 2 (OLSR2 on GitHub, RFC 7188) is a routing protocol for wireless mesh networks. Your task is to automate tests against OLSR2 that try its functionality and check its correct functioning for a variety of valid and invalid inputs, both from the network and from local configuration. Vectors include the syntax and semantics of OLSR2's RFC 5444-encoded messages, but also any config files that the deamon uses, or the operating system's routing tables (see e.g. Routing Tables of Death). Since OLSR2 aims to run on low-power embedded hardware platforms such as WiFi routers, DoS scenarios (memory / CPU / storage exhaustion) are in scope as well. Additionally, glitches should be analysed for their effect on a practical mesh network of ~10 devices. Since OLSR2 is Free, Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS), you should also disclose responsibly and fix any bugs you may find!

Pure Data is a visual language for multimedia computing. Pure Data programs, usually called "patches", may use various software engineering techniques such as modularization to achieve better readability, reusability, and maintainability. There exist some established patterns. Yet, there is little introductory literature on on them. In this project, you research the existing material such as public patches and libraries, Pure Data's own documentation system and included examples, and your own experience creating programs in this (and other) programming language(s). The outcome of the project is a set of well-documented worked examples of good software engineering practices in Pure Data.

Participation and research intervention in our current course Network-based Communication Ecosystems is possible – you are invited to include our students in your research. We can also connect you with the international community of Pure Data users and developers for further investigation.

Wireshark is a renowned measurement and analysis software for computer networks. Its dissector library is large, yet lower-layer protocols such as GARP and GVRP (protocols for configuration management between switches in LANs) are only partially implemented, do not appear to be tested, lack documentation, etc. Your task in this project is to assess the state of GARP / GVRP / GMRP protocol support in Wireshark through experiments, and extend the implementation and documentation to support the use cases that you identify as most relevant.

For this project, you will work with practical network equipment such as switches and wiretaps, as well as write software in C, and glue code in other languages

.

Server hardware includes management interfaces to remote-control the hardware and BIOS of a server even if the main operating system or hypervisor becomes inaccessible through usual means such as ssh. For this, a fully separate embedded system is built into the server. It provides its own firmware and operating system, RAM, storage, a separate physical Ethernet port, and low-level access to the running server hardware (e.g. fan and power supply status) and software (e.g. main memory of the server).

Little is known about the actual software comprising these management interfaces, although (mostly-informal) investigations have been conducted, e.g. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11. Feel free to research other projects, useful search terms include iLO, IPMI, iDRAC, LOM, OOB, BMC...

In this project, you aim to expand and formalize this knowledge by trying out existing and developing new methods of analyzing and modifying firmware of management interfaces. A distant goal could be a fully free and open-source operating system, e.g. based on OpenWrt, for a management controller. We have multiple HP servers from different generations at our disposal for hardware analysis and hacking

The ESP8266 offers an interesting WiFi-enabled small-scale embedded platform. Your task is to extend the MicroPython firmware available for it to enable its wireless interface's promiscuous mode. This lets an ESP8266 act as a passive WiFi sensing and measurement device. Based on your implementation, you design a distributed experiment with multiple devices that makes use of your new feature, e.g. track WiFi beacons from smartphones across geographical areas in a privacy-preserving manner.

You translate the requirements prescribed by the legal framework into a user-oriented (Web) app that calculates the approximate amount to which the user is entitled. The user interface should consider literacy perspectives (both general and ICT-focused). The business logic should be easily adaptable as the legal framework is different between Austrian Bundesländer and changes frequently.

FULL DISCLOSURE: The practical focus on Mindestsicherung / Sozialhilfe in this topic is motivated by a preliminary, voluntary cooperation between the supervisor, Arbeiterkammer Wien, and Diakonie Eine Welt gemeinnützige GmbH. For your project you may, but absolutely do not have to, consider this focus or these partners' expertise in social work.

Academic work includes presenting one's research results to the community at conferences and in printed publications. Unfortunately, the dissemination of conference dates, times, places etc. through calls-for-papers happens in an ad-hoc manner, e.g. by e-mail or on websites.

Your task is to design a metadata system for conference organizers that encodes deadlines, keywords, tracks, formats, roles and so on in a structured, machine- and human-readable form and includes interfaces for both professional conference management systems and end-user calendar software. You design both the format for data exchange, and the distributed, federated system architecture that provides a simple implementation path for interested parties (servers and clients).

Furter reading: https://github.com/rtholmes/conf-data (a system to encode data for use during conferences), http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification, https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc5545 (iCal)

The creation of computer-based music (including composition, digital lutherie, and performance) is firmly rooted in informatics and its methods. Pure Data, one established tool for music creation, for instance is billed as "visual programming language", and borrows many typical software development paradigms. Consequently, Pure Data also poses software engineering challenges. However, its artist users rarely have corresponding backgrounds, and develop their own coding practices.

Your task is to join a group of composition students who develop computer instruments and musical pieces, and reflect on informatic software engineering practices they use (implicitly or explicitly).  There are two main points of focus: (1) The implementation of computer instruments (including the pragmatic coding practice of composers), and (2) how composers structure musical time in their compositions and how they structure their creative process.

This topic is an interdisciplinary cooperation with MDW (Universität für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Wien / University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna).

Further reading: https://puredata.info/ , https://www.tdx.cat/handle/10803/575372#page=1

Currently, the Mastodon network - with its 3 Million accounts distributed over +3000 servers - is widely regarded as one of the most successful alternative online social network projects yet. Since its inception, the network keeps evolving rapidly, and its decentralized nature poses novel challenges to any statistical network health analysis.

Your task is to:

1. Research the current SOTA in mastodon/fediverse network monitoring.
2. Apply those insights and your ingenuity to improve the situation, e.g.
   
   1. implement a public monitoring service directory
   2. come up with alternative solutions to the current economic model for network health services

Network health monitoring is vital and needs to be done with ethical considerations in mind. And a thriving online social network that does not want to take money from surveillance capitalists needs at least free health care plan. 

Further reading: https://fediverse.party/en/mastodon

Further watching: https://media.ccc.de/v/rc3-857362-die_rosarote_brille_des_fediverse

The Smart Home communication protocol environment is heavily fragmented and many standards compete for integration. Thus, interoperability and unified control are not possible in most cases.  

Your task is to:

1. Research the most widely used Smart Home communication standards and the corresponding APIs
2. Design and Develop an API to cover all identified use cases/API calls from all of the aforementioned standard

Your Project should be implemented in a lightweight language such as MicroPython. Experience programming for microcontrollers (Arduino, ESP, NodeMCU) would be a plus.

Design brief in short: Write a RESTful API that outputs data previously stored in a CSV file!

Data is recognized as an essential 'raw material' of the future, and it's no secret that many modern applications are extremely data-intensive. For development purposes and user studies, having access to synthetic data of any kind can be quite beneficial.

The task for the Praktikum, Bachelor's, or Master's Thesis is to develop a web application that primarily fulfills the following requirements:

• The user uploads a CSV file (or a JSON file, XML, etc.) with prepared data into the application. This could include, for example, recordings of stock market data and time-stamps. However, it could be anything like energy consumption, energy costs, or whatever is relevant.
• Through an API, the user should then be able to access and download this data.
• Only data that pertains to the past should be provided. That is, if the CSV file contains stock prices from 2022 to 2025, the API should deliver only those values that correspond to past dates, up to and including the current moment.
• If the topic is treated within the scope of a Master's Thesis, we must conceive of even more meaningful tasks, such as an integrated random data generator.

Motivation: If one wanted to develop another application (not part of the Praktikum/Bachelor's/Master's Thesis) that, for example, deals with stock prices, then the API of the Fake Data Generator should provide the data for this app, thereby enabling tests to determine how well the app functions, etc.

Technology: We prefer Django, but we are flexible.

Household appliances are made to last longer than network or security standards. Most offer no support for network based communication and remote management, but provide serial ports for maintenance.

Your task is to:

1. Research available interfaces and ports for maintenance on common household appliances such as coffee makers, dishwashers, HVAC systems,...
2. select an appliance with an accessible serial port and connect to it using a WiFi-enabled micro controller or raspberry pi
3. convince the appliance to disclose some internal data or react to some input in a meaningful way through protocol reverse engineering