D-level Essay Topics

Below are examples of previous and possible future essay topics.

More suggestions will be added later.

All these are open for discussion, and can be modified.

We also welcome other suggested topics.

(for more information, contact John Waterworth) 

 

Suggested Essay Topics 1. Designing part of a prototype for severely handicapped people. This could, for example, be a canoe that the person can paddle around in a relaxing environment, perhaps in the mountain and forests, where they can meet animals and different kinds of weather. It is important that the person is in control of where they are going. The design should include both relaxing and exciting parts. 2. Conduct a survey of what has been done to design communication tools, especially for elderly people. The survey should result in a brief suggestion of how a tool could look and function. 3. External representations and serendipity at the library You may go the library for a specific book, but leave with another, largely because of the way the library is organised in terms of time and space. For the very same reasons you may also NOT find that book that you really needed, but didn't know about. How can information technology improve on the odds of finding relevant information? 4. User inclusion: What happened to the Scandinavian tradition? A number of years ago the Scandinavian tradition was very influential and still is to some extent. But, if it were so successful, how come it is not more common today? What stifles the evolution of the tradition? Why is it not a requirement in every design project to include users? Somewhere on the way something must have happened. What happened and can we learn something from this? 5. Evaluating and comparing Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality memory theatres in a real classroom situation. 6. Survey the field and design a prototype or mock-up application for art therapy. 7. Investigate the effect of VR on physiological state (e.g. body temperature). 8. Sensory deprivation and creativity.   Examples of Previous Essays 1. Sense of Presence and Subjective Duration 2. Trust in Interaction Design for Web-based Banking 3. Hand-Image Collocation and Stereo Vision in Dextrous VR 4. Speech interaction with the World Wide Web