The Multimedia and Virtual Reality Laboratory teaches the knowledge and methods necessary to master human-computer interaction. Be it in the two-dimensional as well as in the three-dimensional.

Two-dimensional user interfaces are graphical interfaces for software applications and websites. They have to be designed intuitively, user-friendly and barrier-free. Usability and user experience are, in addition to an appealing layout, a central task in the development of user interfaces.

Three-dimensional user interfaces are virtual worlds and environments. Complex products, such as cars, airplanes, machines and manufacturing plants, are nowadays designed as CAD models in the computer. Virtual worlds enable the three-dimensional visualization of complex products. The user can interact with the 3D scene and, for example, perform installation and removal studies of assemblies. ergonomics tests using virtual actors, or carry out simulation processes.

In the Multimedia and Virtual Reality Lab, the necessary skills are taught in the following lab exercises.

• Generation of digital media for use in multimedia software applications
• Creation of interactive multimedia applications
• Editing of images, audio and video sequences
• Application of professional production tools of media informatics, such as Adobe Creative Suit
• Usability tests using an eye-tracking system
• Usability test with emotion recognition
• 3D modeling and visualization of virtual worlds
• Creation of application for augmented reality
• Application of rendering techniques in computer animation
• Application of computer animation techniques such as keyframe animation, inverse kinematics and character animation
• Implementation of interaction techniques in 3D, such as gesture recognition for Microsoft Kinect or hand tracking for Leap Motion

Lab Rooms: F01.302, F1.302a and F01.303

Lab Director

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Reinhard Schmidt