Thesis and Research Project Topics
The Immersive Experience Lab offers a range of thesis topics and research project opportunities concerning immersive media, for both Bachelor, Master, and Diploma students.
For all projects, you will be provided with the necessary infrastructure: VR or AR head-mounted displays, computers, tracking systems etc.
If any of the topics interest you, or you would like to propose your own topic, follow the instructions outlined here: Writing a thesis with IXLAB
NOTE: Theses on self-proposed topics are no longer accepted this semester. Please reach out directly to the respective contact person if you are interested in a topic from the provided list.
Research Project / Thesis
This topic explores different methods of guiding visitors through an augmented exhibition-an exhibition that significantly relies on the virtual extension of a physical exhibition space through mixed reality technologies, incorporating 4E storytelling principles. Virtual content can be placed in situ and precisely aligned with the spatial conditions and artefacts of the real environment. In this way, the virtual layer complements the fragmentary nature of the physical exhibition.
Within this context, the question arises of how visitors can be guided through such an exhibition. What possibilities emerge from this hybrid narrative space, in which physical and virtual elements intertwine? To what extent can different media be employed for different forms of guidance? Which narrative structures are supported by this medium? How can such a form of guidance be designed and implemented in practice? And how can these concepts be communicated both to specific visitor groups and to curators?
All of these questions can be addressed within the framework of a primarily conceptual research topic. A research-through-design approach appears particularly suitable, as it allows the exploration, development, and evaluation of guiding concepts through iterative design and prototyping.
Bachelor Thesis, Master Thesis, Research Project
This topic explores an extended reality storytelling experience in which users move through a non-Euclidean virtual environment shaped by generative AI. A story is initiated by the user or selected from predefined prompts, after which language generation creates narrative segments, text-to-speech delivers guidance and atmosphere, and image generation produces the visual content of each space, shown as stereoscopic depth images.
As users explore a room, the system prepares multiple possible continuations, allowing progression through branching choices in a choose-your-own-adventure format, including the option to actively influence the next turn of the story. The focus lies on designing and evaluating this interactive narrative system with regard to immersion, coherence, user agency, spatial experience, and overall acceptance.
Contact: Florian Schier and Kelsang Mende
Master Thesis, Research Project
This topic explores how XR head-mounted displays can support people with severe cataract during object search and manipulation tasks by providing simplified visual guidance directly in the user's field of view. The focus is on designing and evaluating overlays that highlight relevant objects, guide users through intuitive cues, and integrate accessibility features. Furthermore, visualizations of the users performance and e.g. motion information shall be summarized in a visual performance board. The concept is to be assessed with participants wearing cataract-emulating glasses, measuring effects such as task performance, usability, and usage intention.
In co-located mixed reality, several users occupy the same physical space while each headset reconstructs only a partial, egocentric view of it. Interaction between users, collision with physical obstacles, and the placement of virtual content all require a common spatial representation: a shared voxel or occupancy map in which walls, furniture, devices and the users themselves are registered consistently across all headsets. The same map provides virtual agents and robots with a perception of the physical environment and establishes a single spatial reference frame in which real and virtual objects coexist. Despite its relevance, generating such a map from multiple viewpoints remains non-trivial.
This research project surveys the state of the art in real-time multi-view capture and investigates how a shared occupancy map can be generated with minimal setup effort. Existing approaches are comparatively evaluated or a custom prototype is developed that fuses views from multiple Quest 3 headsets, external color cameras, or a hybrid configuration into a real-time 3D representation, either as a voxel volume or as a mesh. The result is expected to run in Unity on Quest 3. Important properties of the system are latency, spatial accuracy, spatial coverage, calibration effort, and scalability with respect to the number of headsets.
Example Project: https://github.com/anaglyphs/lasertag
Suitable: Bachelor Thesis; Research Project
Binocular rivalry, when each eye is given very different images, is well studied with 2D images.
Here, we use mobile VR and MR to explore the impact of binocular rivalry on our ability to navigate space, perform actions and build up a spatial map of a scene.
The student will create a "Binocular Rivalry XR Laboratory", in which different experiments in rivalry can be run.
Relevant tools: C#, Unity, Oculus Quest, 3D graphics
References:
- Kosei Yamamoto, Kosuke Morimoto, and Keita Watanabe. 2026. ParaSights: A Spatial Presentation Technique Enabling Parallel Interaction with Two Virtual Environments by Exploiting Binocular Rivalry Suppression. In Proceedings of the Augmented Humans International Conference 2026 (AHs '26). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 90–100. https://doi.org/10.1145/3795011.3795029
- FIGHT! By Memo Akten,2017 https://memoakten.medium.com/fight-virtual-reality-binocular-rivalry-89a0a91c2274
- topic already taken -
Bachelor Thesis, Research Project , or Masters Thesis
#Design #Museum
Fiducial markers like QR codes and Apriltags are very useful for aligning mobile devices with vision-based tracking with a desired real-world reference frame. Very often they are implemented as simple printed A4 pieces of paper, which can be fine in laboratory settings. However, when using MR in contexts such as museums or galleries, the visual appearance of the marker matters.
In this project, we explore different visual styles for installing Apriltags in the real world, while paying attention to the aesthetic qualities of the space. You will explore different materials and visual styles, scales and orientations, and develop a methodology for measuring the impact the visual appearance may have on the visual tracking of the code. You will work with a real-world exhibition in the context of the ANIMA project.
This topic is suitable for a student with interest in visual design.