The Media Computing Group at RWTH Aachen University

interactive. media. research.

The Media Computing Group, headed by Prof. Dr. Jan Borchers, conducts research in Media Computing and Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) beyond today's graphical user interface and desktop metaphor. Grounded in Computer Science, we develop and study new interaction theories, techniques, and systems in the areas of interaction with multimedia, ubiquitous computing environments, tangible user interfaces, and HCI design patterns. Our goal is to make the Brave New World of ubiquitous multimedia technologies useful by making it usable. A recent overview of our research approach and research directions can be found here.

Our group is part of the Computer Science Department at RWTH Aachen University, Germany's top-ranked University of Technology and one of Germany's nine Elite Universities. Our group was established as an endowed chair by the German B-IT Foundation, and we also teach in the Media Informatics programme at the Bonn-Aachen International Center for Information Technology (B-IT Center). Our group was founded in October 2003, and has since become Germany's best-published research group at CHI, the premier international conference in the field.

We are a member of the RWTH UMIC Excellence Cluster in Ultra High-Speed Mobile Information and Communication and the eHealth and Brain|Concept|Writing research groups in the HumTec Center, all funded by the DFG, the German National Science Foundation through its Excellence Initiative. We are also a member of the international RUFAE network that conducts research on user-friendly augmented environments.

We offer several courses in Human-Computer Interaction. In this area of specialization, students can learn about how people interact with computers and technology, and how computer science can open up new ways of interacting with audio, video, and other media types. For more information please refer to the specialization information for Media Computing and HCI on the Computer Science Department's web pages.



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Fly	SLAP	Tactile Motion Instructions	TypeRight
by Lichtschlag et al.	by Weiss et al.	by Spelmezan et al.	by Hoffmann et al.

News & Events: Benutzerfreundliche Technik: a talk by Jan Borchers about usability for everybody, as part of the Uni im Rathaus series, on Jun 25, 2009. Springorum Medal for Media Computing Group student: Christian Mattar, who did his final thesis at our chair, will receive the Springorum medal for graduating with distinction from RWTH Aachen University, at a ProRWTH event in the Audimax on June 19, 2009. In his thesis, Christian developed "Table Lemmings", a tabletop game that explores casual collaboration on multitouch table surfaces and became a successful exhibit for the Dutch Industrion museum. (May 27, 2009) Media Computing Group student Marcus Reul wins 3rd place in undergrad Student Research Competition at CHI 2009. 3 undergrad and 3 grad students were selected from a total of 93 submissions (see press). In the press: Die Tastatur denkt mit. Presentation of four projects at CHI 2009. (Mar 31, 2009). We are looking for student assistants to work as Infotrainer in the Route Charlemagne exhibition in the Aachen City Hall. (Mar 30, 2009). Professor Jim Hollan from USCD will be a visiting faculty at our group this summer (Mar 13, 2009). We are developing a series of interactive exhibits for the Route Charlemagne that rethinks the tourist experience in Aachen (Mar 13,2009). Anna Ostberg (UCSD) and David Haslem (Georgia Tech) will join our group as visiting students in the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) this summer (Mar 13, 2009). Media Computing Group extends its publication lead among German HCI research groups (Feb 2, 2009) At CHI 2009, we will be presenting 4 Full Papers and Notes, 2 also as Interactivity exhibits, and 6 additional submissions: Fly, a concept-map based tool for presentations (Full Paper), SLAP, rear-projected input devices from silicone and acrylic for multitouch tables (Full Paper and Interactivity), Tactile Motion Instructions, using haptic feedback to correct posture errors (Full Paper), TypeRight, a keyboard that makes keys harder to press when they would lead to a typo (Note and Interactivity), Associative Personal Information Management (Doctoral Consortium), CORONA, a virtual audio reality for the coronation hall in the Aachen city hall (Work in Progress), Saltate!, a sensor-based system to support dance beginners (Work in Progress), Systematic Usability Verification (Work in Progress), Usability in Industrial Test Systems (Student Research Competition), and Semantic Time in Interaction Design (Workshop Contribution). Tips for students taking oral exams at our chair (Mar 13, 2009). TWEND will be one of the 28 exhibits on the MS Wissenschaft, a ship funded by the German government to present "research that will change our lives" on a tour throughout Germany throughout 2009. (Dec 19, 2008) Past news & events

Interested in HCI?

• Jan's Top Ten list of HCI books
• What makes a good PhD student? (Jan, Jan 25, 2006)
• HCI Journals and their Impact Factors (Jan, Jan 30, 2006)
• Other HCI- and Media Computing-related groups at RWTH Aachen University
• Join our low-traffic HCI Announcements list to be informed about HCI-related events at our chair, at RWTH Aachen University and in the area.

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