PhD

Electronic, Electrical and Computing Engineering (Human Interface Technologies Specialism)

Study mode:On campus Study type:Full-time Languages: English
 
107 place StudyQA ranking:4950 Duration:36 months

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Description

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The Human Interface Technologies Team, formed in 2003, brings together multidisciplinary researchers within the Department who focus on human-centred research issues related to future interactive technologies, including task and usability analysis, human factors integration, ergonomics, design and evaluation of advanced interfaces, user and open learner modelling and artificial intelligence in education.

Facilities

Our facilities include: a dedicated pervasive computing development and prototyping unit, producing the department's own breed of wearable technologies (computers, headsets, person locating systems, etc); a suite of dedicated VR equipment, ranging from portable interactive systems to autostereoscopic and haptic feedback workstations; and a motion base simulator for mobile human interface studies.

Key facts

Type of Course: Doctoral research

Duration: PhD - 3 years full-time, MPhil - 1 year full-time

Start date: Registration for PhD and MPhil study can take place at the beginning of any month

Contents

Areas of expertise

Historically, the team's areas of expertise have evolved from the pioneering efforts of the Pervasive Systems Research Group (From the delivery of educational material via domestic appliances to the distribution of spatial information in forensic archaeology, there are countless human-centred applications waiting to benefit from pervasive computing. Human factors issues are crucial to the success of pervasive computing, helping to ensure that the component technologies be they portable, wearable or embedded in familiar, everyday objects and equipment are not only dependable and adaptable to all situations of use, but are also intuitive and non-invasive to the many thousands of potential users.

Members of the team have also been instrumental in forming a new UK initiative Learner Modelling for Reflection (LeMoRe) together with the Universities of Glasgow and Leeds. The aims of LeMoRe are to advance the theoretical study and the application of approaches to opening the learner model to learners and others involved in the learning process, such as teachers and peers. In doing this, researchers hope to promote an awareness of the potential of this field as a valuable contribution to building hardware and software solutions across a range of learning contexts, such as lifelong learning, training, school and higher education and in the understanding of pedagogical issues in resource-based learning, problem-based learning, instruction and assessment-based learning.

The team also has a particular interest in virtual or synthetic environments, in particular the application of emerging games engine and web-sourced 3D modelling/run-time resources to real-world problems and the exploitation of VR, augmented reality and related technologies to applications in defence, health care, psychology and archaeology.

Research involvements

The team is involved with the international Virtual Heritage Network (and the Institute for the Visualization of History (and has been involved in such exciting projects as the Cuneiform tablet writing system study (and, more recently, the reconstruction of parts of the North Sea basin as they existed (and were populated) over 10,000 years ago.

This project combines the very best in VR modelling and run-time practice, using seismic survey data from the oil and gas industry for reference topography, but also introduces artificial life (ALife) the propagation of fauna based on geographical, geological and meteorological knowledge driven by microscopic elements (such as pollen) extracted from seabed core samples.

Recently, this research has been extended to include the modelling of complex marine ecosystems, as they colonise Europe's first artificial reef, the scuttled Royal Navy Frigate HMS Scylla. Working together with colleagues from the National Marine Aquarium, the Marine Biological Association, the University of Plymouth and Plymouth Marine Limited, a dynamic virtual model of the Scylla is being developed. The initial model is based on her condition as she exists at this point in time, and the project will be to research, develop and apply ALife algorithms to model (and predict) the growth and propagation of marine organisms over time, taking into account the effects of sub-sea changes brought about by climatic events and pollution.

Academic collaborations

The team is also one of the main academic collaborators within the Ministry of Defence Human Factors Integration Defence Technology Centre (conducting research in the analysis of command and control tasks, network-centric warfare, situational awareness and synthetic environments (especially as applied to human interface development for unmanned vehicles), and developing new methods of battlefield information distribution between command centres and field personnel equipped with wearable computing technologies. The DTC researchers also coordinate the dissemination of information from the centre as a whole to the national and international defence community.

Serious gaming

The HIT Team has, since 2005, become recognised as an international leader in the human-centred development of serious games, courtesy both of internal research programmes and those associated with the HFI DTC. Serious gaming is a field of endeavour that focuses on the exploitation of high-quality computer games and associated software tools such as those underpinning the 'first person shooter' (FPS) or 'role-playing' (RP) games.

These tools take the form of software development kits, regularly released by leading games companies shortly after the launch of a new product, together with a growing number of content generation packages becoming available many free of charge from the web. The tools enable games players to develop their own virtual humans or 'avatars', environments, weapons and adversaries, thereby prolonging the longevity of the game they have purchased.

The availability and affordability of these tools has very rapidly generated interest from another group the serious applications community including those responsible for researching and designing training and real-time visualisation systems for defence (unmanned aircraft, weapons training, submarine safety, military mental health issues, etc) and health care. In the medical arena, the team has a track record in the field of task and usability analyses in support of surgical training technologies, from keyhole surgery and mastoidectomy to operating theatre robotics.

Other major interests include medical (radiological) imaging, bioinformatics, the exploitation of the web for medical information and training purposes, defence medicine and VR for health care assessment and rehabilitation. Recently, and as part of the HFI DTC programme, the team worked closely with the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine (also based at Birmingham) and Blitz Games of Leamington Spa, to produce the world's first serious game relating to battlefield trauma surgery.

The team is home to the award-winning Ergonomics Information Analysis Centre (EIAC), a group of human factors and information professionals who, since 1968, have been providing the international Human Factors community with professional information services, courtesy of one of the largest Ergonomics libraries in the world and through a longstanding relationship with the leading academic publisher Taylor & Francis.

Requirements

The normal entrance requirements for MPhil or PhD study are a first degree of at least good UK upper second-class Honours standard, an appropriate standard of English and adequate financial support. The requirements also allow for entry based on comparable ability, as indicated by a good UK MSc performance or a lower first degree performance plus substantial relevant experience.

English language requirements

* IELTS 6.0 with no less than 5.5 in any band;
* TOEFL IBT 80 with no less than 17 in any band

English Language Requirements

IELTS band: 5.5 TOEFL iBT® test: 80

IMPORTANT NOTE: Since April 2014 the ETS tests (including TOEFL and TOEIC) are no longer accepted for Tier 4 visa applications to the United Kingdom. The university might still accept these tests to admit you to the university, but if you require a Tier 4 visa to enter the UK and begin your degree programme, these tests will not be sufficient to obtain your Visa.

The IELTS test is most widely accepted by universities and is also accepted for Tier 4 visas to the UK- learn more.

Funding

For home/EU applicants, full funding from EPSRC or from other sources can usually be arranged through us; the closing date for EPSRC studentships is late June, please contact the School directly for more information. Alternatively email financialsupport@bham.ac.uk|.

International students can often gain funding through overseas research scholarships, Commonwealth scholarships or their home government.

See the University of Birmingham Website for more details on fees and funding.

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