Research Project #14

Topic: Using Mixed Reality for Enhanced Product Experience

Project Description: This project will investigate Mixed Reality technologies in the retail domain. Development of use cases in which Mixed Reality technologies can enhance the customer experience e.g. by virtually enhanced product presentations or by allowing configuration and individualization of product attributes in a mixed environment. (Method: Qualitative (Case Studies), Software Engineering, Usability Testing)

Researcher: This research project will be carried out by ESR 14 Shubham Jain.

Host Supervisor: This position is supervised by Dr. Dirk Werth. Dirk Werth is Managing & Scientific Director of the AWS Institute. Prior to this, he worked at the German Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) where he has been Vice President for Innovation and Research and Head of a Research Group. He has been advisor, manager, coordinator and principal researcher in various industrial, national and European RTD projects. His main expertise is in enterprise software, recommender systems, mobile services and business process management.

Host Institution: The AWS institute for digitized products and processes (AWSi) is an independent research centre that aims to foster research and innovation. It focuses on digitization of economy and society. The institute is committed to develop new technologies and think ahead business models. It places great value on combining applied research with innovation and entrepreneurship. The main topics of AWSi are the gradual and disruptive digitization. This comprises concepts and technologies which transforms or substitutes existing products and business processes.

Academic Supervisor: The PhD student will be jointly supervised by Dr. Nevin Mutlu and Dr. Tom van Woensel within the OPAC (Operations, Planning, Accounting and Control) Group of the School of Industrial Engineering at TU/e.

University: TU/e is a research university specializing in engineering science & technology. The School of Industrial Engineering is one of the longest-established IE Schools in Europe, with a strong presence in the international research, design, and education community, especially in the field of Operations Management and Operations Research. The graduate programs (MSc, PDEng, and PhD) in Operations Management & Logistics attract top-level candidates from all over the world. The OPAC Group closely collaborates with industry partners, and has an excellent track record of conducting practice-based research. The research and education at the OPAC group of the School of Industrial Engineering has specific emphasis on:

    • Planning and Control in Manufacturing, Services, and Supply Chains;
    • Distribution Logistics;
    • Maintenance and Reliability;
  • Finance and Accounting, oriented towards operational processes.

Secondments: This position includes 2 secondments to partner organisations. The planned secondments will be to

  • Scheer GmbH (under supervision of Dr. Thomas Feld), in 18 for 3 months, for ‘use case analysis at the retail consulting department’,
  • DCU (under supervision of Dr. Marija Bezbradicia), in month 36 for 4 months, for ‘the verification with underlying processes and technologies’.