Congratulations Dr.-Ing. Alexander Marquardt!

Alexander Marquardt, a research assistant in the Department of Computer Science and the Institute for Visual Computing at the H-BRS, successfully defended his doctoral thesis on Multisensory Guidance Under Sensory Constraints in Augmented Reality at the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland on 24.03.2023.

With the defence of his dissertation, Alexander Marquardt may now call himself Dr.-Ing. and continue research in his special field at the H-BRS with the support of the Department of Computer Science and the IVC.

Doctoral Hat for Dr.-Ing. Alexander Marquardt

In his paper titled Multisensory Guidance Under Sensory Constraints in Augmented Reality, Marquardt investigates the effectiveness of multisensory cues for target search in augmented reality (AR). Sensory constraints describe the impairment of perception and attention due to factors such as conflicting visual cues or a narrow field of view, which can affect performance when using AR.

In his research, Marquardt has shown that the use of head-based multisensory guidance methods based on audio-tactile cues can effectively direct the user's attention to target locations, improving search performance under the influence of sensory constraints in AR.

The PhD took place in cooperation with the University of Bremen and was supervised by Prof. Dr. Ernst Kruijff (H-BRS) and Prof. Dr. Johannes Schöning. Schöning, who has since accepted a position at the University of St. Gallen (HSG) in Switzerland, was able to continue supervising Marquardt from his new place of work.

Marquardt received his doctoral scholarship, including an extension due to the Corona pandemic, from 2018-2022 and subsequently received a writing scholarship, which supported him in the preparation of the dissertation.

His PhD thesis was written as part of the DFG project Multisensory View Management for Augmented Reality, which will continue as a DFG-funded follow-up project from April/May. As a PostDoc, Marquardt will be involved in this project, while at the same time working on his first independent research. This includes, for example, the DAAD cooperation project with our Japanese partner university NARA Institute of Science and Technology (NAIST) entitled Multisensory Cues to Evoke Emotional Responses and Awe in Virtual Reality, which was approved in January this year.

We congratulate him on his great success and wish him all the best for the future!