University of Bremen - Digital Media Lab

Digital Media Lab

Wed, 04 Mar 2026 23:43:54 +0100

<a class="internalLink" href="t3://page?uid=28625" title="Opens internal link in current window">Prof. Dr. Rainer Malaka</a> Office: MZH 6490 Phone: +49 421 218-64401 Fax: +49 421 218-64409 Mail: <a class="mail" href="mailto:dm@tzi.de" title="Öffnet ein Fenster zum Versenden der E-Mail">dm@tzi.de</a> Administration: MZH 6500/6510

If You Ask Nicely

Thu, 10 Jan 2019 14:10:00 +0100

Students of the Digital Media study program together with Dr. Robert Porzel from the Digital Media Lab (both University of Bremen) conducted an experiment with 20 participants with a simulated courteous language assistant. Inquiries to "Eliza" had to be answered with "Please" and "Thank you" or to be formulated subjunctively to get an answer by her. Instead of querying a command like "How will the weather be in Paris" it has to be berformed in a friendly variant - such as "Would you please tell me how the weather will be in Paris?". Missing these "magic words" let "Eliza" remain inactive and ask for a more polite interaction.

Here is the media response to the experiment:

Interview with Michael Bonfert.

Report from Buten und Binnen

Climbing in Virtual Reality

Mon, 04 Feb 2019 14:10:00 +0100

A team from the University of Bremen presents its research work on
"Climbing in Virtual Reality" for overcoming the fear of falling.

www.alpin.de/sicher-am-berg/klettern/29313/artikel_klettern_in_der_virtual_reality.html

Polite interaction with language assistants

Thu, 14 Feb 2019 14:08:00 +0100

Language assistants in many households nowadays fulfil almost every wish - that is how they are programmed. They often receive their orders in a command tone. If you were comparably rough with your human surroundings, you would not make friends with it. Michael Bonfert and Robert Porzel report on their experiment on the radio, in which the language assistant no longer executes the test persons' inquiries if they are too rude.

You can listen to the reports here:

Robert Porzel at Radio Bremen Zwei

Michael Bonfert at Radio Bremen Eins

Michael Bonfert at Cosmo

Robert Porzel at SWR3

Get a Grip! - Variable Grip for Controller-Based VR Systems

Wed, 20 Feb 2019 14:08:00 +0100

Our paper on variable grip for virtual reality has been accepted at IEEE VR'19. It will be presented in Osaka, Japan in March. Have a sneak peek in our teaser video!

Immerse yourself in virtual worlds: Interaction design research for virtual reality

Tue, 26 Feb 2019 14:06:00 +0100

In the recent years Virtual Reality (VR) is experiencing a hype. For more than fifty years, science has been concerned with the computer simulation of virtual worlds. However, it is only now that we have reached the point where technology is so advanced that we can display credible 360° scenes in real time. VR conquers living rooms, is used in everyday work and can be found in amusement arcades.

The Digital Media Lab at the University of Bremen is researching how we can move, behave and interact with each other in VR in the future. Michael Bonfert invites us to a lecture in the lab, where we get an insight into VR research, human-computer interaction as a scientific discipline and current studies from these areas - including presentations of two papers, which will be presented this year at the renowned conferences CHI'19 and IEEE VR'19.

We will then have the opportunity to try out the technology for ourselves. We have several VR systems at our disposal with which we can end the afternoon playing and discovering. There will also be plenty of room for curious questions.

Speakers:
Michael Bonfert, PhD student at the Digital Media Lab
Peter Schulz, Graduate Master Student of the Digital Media Lab

Sunday, 17 March 2019 15:00
University of Bremen, Digital Media Lab, Building MZH, 5th floor, Room 5300

Registration at https://db.mensa.de/buchen?mpn=Events&eid=3737106700002 or at michael.bonfert@mensa.de

Challenge for more practical experience in study programme

Mon, 06 May 2019 14:04:00 +0200

The student startup ekipa from the Goethe-Unibator in Frankfurt would like to offer students the possibility of more practical experience during their studies.

To this end, they are currently carrying out a challenge. This challenge, named "Digital Customer Experience", addresses the question of how the customer journey of a train traveler can be optimized with the help of technical innovations. The focus is on new ideas and approaches in the field of Artificial Intelligence.

The best participants will not only be rewarded with €25,000 per winning team, but will also be given the opportunity to test their own solution in a three-month test run in direct cooperation with Deutsche Bahn and to set up their own startup.

If you want to learn more about the Challenge or participate directly, you can find the complete Challenge Briefing on the Ekipa platform:

To all challenges (https://app.ekipa.de/challenge)

To the Digital Customer Experience - Challenge (https://app.ekipa.de/challenge/digital-customer-experience/brief)

Promofilm

Wed, 04 Mar 2026 23:43:54 +0100

<a class="externalLink" href="https://dml.uni-bremen.de/promo/video.mp4" target="_blank" title="Öffnet externen Link in neuem Fenster">Promo video of the DM Lab</a>