Tim C. Stratmann

• Dr. rer. nat.
• Manager Smart Human Robot Collaboration Group | Senior Researcher at Institute for Information Technology

Detailed digital representations of physical scenes are key in many cases, such as historical site preservation or hazardous area inspection. To automate the capturing process, robots or drones mounted with sensors can algorithmically record the environment from different viewpoints. However, environmental complexities often lead to incomplete capt...

Robot training often takes place in simulated environments, particularly with reinforcement learning. Therefore, multiple training environments are generated using domain randomization to ensure transferability to real-world applications and compensate for unknown real-world states. We propose improving domain randomization by involving human appli...

Established safety sensor technology shuts down industrial robots when a collision is detected, causing preventable loss of productivity. To minimize downtime, we implemented three Augmented Reality (AR) visualizations (Path, Preview, and Volume) which allow users to understand robot motion intent and give way to the robot. We compare the different...

Recent advances in Virtual Reality (VR) technology, such as larger fields of view, have made VR increasingly immersive. However, a larger field of view often results in a user focusing on certain directions and missing relevant content presented elsewhere on the screen. With HiveFive, we propose a technique that uses swarm motion to guide user atte...

Until today, the majority of maritime accidents occur due to human error. A lack of sufficient situation awareness is one of the most frequent reasons for human error. However, using an attention guiding system can support nautical officers to master the information flood and to avoid accidents. For this to work effectively, it has to be evaluated...

ADHD has an estimated worldwide prevalence of 2–3% and is one of the most frequent neurodevelopmental disorders. Many problems in an ADHD-patient’s life arise from the lack of self-management abilities and social interaction with others. While medication is considered the most successful treatment for disorders such as ADHD, patients often seek sup...

Multi-monitor setups are common in various domains such as stock exchange, ship bridges, and emergency control centers. We developed a light display for such a multi-monitor setup, that is controlled by eye-tracker input to guide the attention of a user from the currently focused display to another display, that is in demand of attention. Together...

Developing new software components for ship bridges is challenging. Mostly due to high costs of testing these components in realistic environments. To reduce these costs the development process is divided into different stages. Whereas, the final test on a real ship bridge is the last step in this process. However, by dividing the development proce...

Although the mobility and emerging technology of augmented reality (AR) have brought significant entertainment and convenience in everyday life, the use of AR is becoming a social problem as the accidents caused by a shortage of situation awareness due to an immersion of AR are increasing. In this paper, we address the trade-off between immersion a...

Learning new motor skills is a problem that people are constantly confronted with (e.g. to learn a new kind of sport). In our work, we investigate to which extent the learning process of a motor sequence can be optimized with the help of Augmented Reality as a technical assistant. Therefore, we propose an approach that divides the problem into thre...

Over the past few years, playing Augmented Reality (AR) games on smartphones has steadily been gaining in popularity (e.g., Pokémon Go). However, playing these games while navigating traffic is highly dangerous and has led to many accidents in the past. In our work, we aim to augment peripheral vision of pedestrians with low-cost glasses to support...

In recent years, container ships have had to transport more and more goods due to constantly growing demand. Therefore, the container ships for carrying these goods are growing in size, while the harbors fall short in adapting to these changes. As a result, the berthing of these container ships in harbors has become more challenging for harbor pilo...

Current head-mounted displays (HMDs) for Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) have a limited field-of-view (FOV). This limited FOV further decreases the already restricted human visual range and amplifies the problem of objects going out of view. Therefore, we explore the utility of augmenting HMDs with RadialLight, a peripheral light di...

Present head-mounted displays (HMDs) for Augmented Reality (AR) devices have narrow fields-of-view (FOV). The narrow FOV further decreases the already limited human visual range and worsens the problem of objects going out of view. Therefore, we explore the utility of augmenting head-mounted AR devices with MonoculAR, a peripheral light display com...

Virtual Reality (VR) technology empowers users to experience and manipulate virtual environments in a novel way. Further, by using digital twins of real world objects it is also possible to extend the reach of interaction to reality. In this work, we explore how users interact with a robot arm and its programming by using a digital representation i...

Today’s Augmented Reality (AR) devices enable users to interact almost naturally with their surroundings, e.g., by pinning digital content onto real-world objects. However, current AR display are mostly limited to optical and video see-through technologies. Nevertheless, extending Augmented Reality (AR) beyond screens by accommodating additional mo...

Virtual Reality (VR) devices empower users to be fully immersed into a virtual environment. In an enclosed environment such as this, notifications indicating risks (e.g., risk of injury when bumping into walls) must be perceived as quickly and correctly as possible. Different to findings from previous work using displays to investigate fast respons...

Systematische Literaturrecherchen stellen in den Gesundheitswissenschaften ein wichtiges Instrument zur Beurteilung des Forschungsstandes dar. Durch den stark zunehmenden Bestand an verfügbarer Literatur sind bei Wahrung anerkannter wissenschaftlicher Standards hohe zeitliche und personelle Ressourcen zur Durchführung dieser Literaturanalysen notwe...

Mixed Reality devices can either augment reality (AR) or create completely virtual realities (VR). Combined with head-mounted devices and eye-tracking, they enable users to interact with these systems in novel ways. However, current eye-tracking systems are expensive and limited in the interaction with virtual content. In this paper, we present Eye...

For decision making in monitoring and control rooms situation awareness is key. Given the often spacious and complex environments, simple alarms are not sufficient for attention guidance (e.g., on ship bridges). In our work, we explore shifting attention towards the location of relevant entities in large cyber-physical systems. Therefore, we used p...

A common way to display information via tactile output is to use vibration motors. However, vibration is often perceived as a rather artificial, even unpleasant cue. We explore a novel method based on pneumatic cues to provide a more natural tactile output. We use two airbags positioned at the back of the user, at shoulder height to give navigation...

This paper investigates bias in coverage between Western and Arab media on Twitter after the November 2015 Beirut and Paris terror attacks. Using two Twitter datasets covering each attack, we investigate how Western and Arab media differed in coverage bias, sympathy bias, and resulting information propagation. We crowdsourced sympathy and sentiment...

This paper investigates bias in coverage between Western and Arab media on Twitter after the November 2015 Beirut and Paris terror attacks. Using two Twitter datasets covering each attack, we investigate how Western and Arab media differed in coverage bias, sympathy bias, and resulting information propagation. We crowdsourced sympathy and sentiment...

While performing multiple competing tasks at the same time, e.g., when driving, assistant systems can be used to create cues to direct attention towards required information. However, poorly designed cues will interrupt or annoy users and affect their performance. Therefore, we aim to identify cues that are not missed and trigger a quick reaction w...

Nowadays, Mixed and Virtual Reality devices suffer from a field of view that is too small compared to human visual perception. Although a larger field of view is useful (e.g., conveying peripheral information or improving situation awareness), technical limitations prevent the extension of the field-of-view. A way to overcome these limitations is t...

We present the concept of an interactive image segmentation method, which allows a fast and precise extraction of foreground objects from natural images. The method is especially suited for mobile, touch-based devices. The approach combines automatic image segmentation with interactive refinement. In a first step, the user extracts an object using...

Human Error is the cause of most maritime accidents. In a majority of the cases the source of the Human Error is a lack of Situation Awareness. Endsley et al. have identified eight causes that corrupt the Situation Awareness of human operators, the so-called Demons of Situation Awareness (SA Demons). We analyzed over five-hundred maritime accident...

Physical inactivity has become a normal condition for many people today, and in the long run accounts for lout of 10 deaths world-wide. Long sitting periods have been shown to increase the risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease. In this paper we propose MoveLamp, a system which helps to integrate physical activity into a person's workplace. An...