master’s degree
Human Media Interaction
Welcome to the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science! For us the world is flat. Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science have created a level playing field for science and innovation where national boundaries and time zones are irrelevant. Mathematics is at the heart of this; without optimization algorithms and simulation of processes with many variables, the internet would still be a pipe dream. Without the cost-effective and time-effective protocols developed by computer science engineers, computers would not be connected and without electrical engineering, electrical or optical signals would not process our information. That much is obvious... Prof.dr.ir. Ton Mouthaan, dean of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science What’s not so obvious is the next phase: truly seamless integration of technology with human behaviour... cost-effective health support at home... optimization of systems with ‘embedded’ intelligence... real cyber security... exploring novel electronic concepts... developing sensing techniques at living cell level... medical robotics... The limits are only set by the boundaries of our imagination. Join our international group of scientists who supervise over 250 research projects in these areas. Master’s students always play an active part in this research. Our two-year Master’s programmes offer coursework
and substantial research experience, all with a dose of design and an emphasis on the societal implications of our work. Nerds? We are happy to be the most human-friendly, enthusiastic, out-of-the-box-thinking and serious group of nerds around!
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programme How do people interact with technology? And how can interaction technology be designed to meet the needs of users? HMI is about the communication between humans and digital technology.
Human Media Interaction combines technical expertise and skills in the field of interaction technology with knowledge and skills in user-oriented design methodologies and an understanding of how people interact with technology (i.e. what are their requirements, abilities and limitations?).
Brain computer interfacing and natural language processing are just a couple of the fascinating topics covered This Master’s programme focuses specifically on intelligent, multimodal systems offering a natural form of interaction. By employing a broad range of input
modalities to observe and intelligently interpret user actions, these intelligent interactive systems aim to automatically determine user objectives and operational context and make the necessary adjustments. Topics include speech recognition, natural language processing, virtual reality, robotics and artificial intelligence. You will develop and study advanced interfaces in projects with students from various backgrounds, including engineering, human sciences, and art and design. In collaboration with the University of Trento, you can also earn a double degree.
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Admission requirements Dutch HBO students
Dutch university students
Dutch HBO students with a Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field of study may be considered for admission. In most cases students will first need to complete a pre-Master’s programme.
Students with relevant Bachelor’s degrees from a Dutch university will be considered for admission.
University of Twente students Students holding a BSc degree in Business & IT or Computer Science and Creative Technology from the University of Twente qualify for direct admission, conditions may apply.
International students International graduates with a background in Computer Science, Cognitive Science, Electrical Engineering or an equivalent qualification and a CGPA of at least 70% of the maximum score are invited to apply for admission. In addition international students need to pass an English language test. More detailed admission requirements are available at www.utwente.nl/master/hmi
Career OPPORTUNITIES Usability engineering, interface and interaction design are some of the professions associated with this programme. You’ll build your own future based on your personal interests, whether you’d like to be a researcher, a designer (a developer of new products and services) or an organizer (managing an engineering department or providing consulting services). Graduates will be qualified for jobs in international and local organizations, both in technical and in business roles. You might become an interaction or user experience designer, interactive systems engineer, human factors expert, usability engineer, business developer, product manager, or consultant. You will have no trouble finding a job in a variety of
sectors such as e-learning, web development, and gaming/entertainment. An alternative path would be to start your own company in the field of product or technology development, media content, business development or consultancy services.
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Student’s Touch ‘I like it when you and others have something in mind to build, start designing and coding, and then the thing you had in mind suddenly exists’ NAME Mark Oude Veldhuis
Although this leaflet was compiled with the utmost care, no rights can be derived from its contents.
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN the Netherlands
Mark received his university of applied sciences (HBO) Bachelor’s diploma in Computer Sciences and is now studying for his Master’s in Human Media Interaction. When he finishes his Master’s programme, he is going to in-house days of companies and business courses to figure out what he would like to do fulltime: “On one hand, I really like to make stuff and do programming. I like it when you and others have something in mind to build, start designing and coding, and then the thing you had in mind suddenly exists. On the other hand, I really like people. So maybe I’ll start working as a consultant to figure out people’s needs and advise them how a certain problem could be solved. I chose the Master’s in Human Media Interaction because I was impressed by the installations and projects the HMI-students realized. They create fun and educational stuff, and act more on the cognitive side of computer science. During a project we made an interactive floor. The aim of this project was to let people have fun, especially
CONTACT For general information about the Master’s programme or the University of Twente, as well as for questions about the application form of your enrolment status, please contact:
University of Twente Study Information Desk Phone: +31 (0)53 489 5489 master@utwente.nl www.utwente.nl/master
children. In the SmartXP lab at the university, we built an installation that primarily consisted of a beamer attached to a truss in order to project on the floor, an infrared camera to detect the people walking on the floor and a big red button as an extra element of surprise, and of course a computer to control everything. The projection was a filthy kitchen floor on which all sorts of bugs were crawling. Once you step on them, they were squashed. When the red button was pushed, a big swarm of extra bugs was released. Finally, we added a big plasma screen that showed a scoreboard, adding yet another dimension that challenged people to squashed as many bugs as possible.”