Exploring the potential of human-like computing methods and applications in education or healthcare
Intelligent, ‘human-like’ applications, 3D games, and interfaces are becoming more common in our everyday lives, and as an important area of focus within the fields of Multimedia / Human-Computer Interaction research. Such applications may often use a multitude of sensor-based techniques informed by, for example, affective wearables, user physiological responses, facial expressions, gestural inputs, natural language inputs, location-based context-based information to enable such applications to interact intelligently with the user. Whilst a multitude of commercialised examples of such applications have begun to permeate our daily lives, for example in the form of smart phone assistants (e.g. Siri), home-robot assistants, smart home hubs, self-driving cars, mixed reality wearables, little effort has been invested into exploring the potential of using such technologies specifically to make a positive impact on people’s lives within the health and education domains. There is a need to explore the value of designing, developing and applying such applications within the education and healthcare space. Hence, we invite applications from candidates that have an interest in the area of intelligent human-like computing and exploring the potential of designing, developing, and evaluating prototype applications within the education and healthcare domain. Candidates should have good software/prototype design and development skills. Experience of carrying out user-centred research and collecting and analysing both qualitative and quantitative data is also desirable.
How to apply
If you are interested in applying for the above PhD topic please follow the steps below:
- Contact the supervisor by email or phone to discuss your interest and find out if you would be suitable. Supervisor details can be found on this topic page. The supervisor will guide you in developing the topic-specific research proposal, which will form part of your application.
- Click on the 'Apply here' button on this page and you will be taken to the relevant PhD course page, where you can apply using an online application.
- Complete the online application indicating your selected supervisor and include the research proposal for the topic you have selected.
Good luck!
This is a self funded topic
Brunel offers a number of funding options to research students that help cover the cost of their tuition fees, contribute to living expenses or both. See more information here: https://www.brunel.ac.uk/research/Research-degrees/Research-degree-funding. The UK Government is also offering Doctoral Student Loans for eligible students, and there is some funding available through the Research Councils. Many of our international students benefit from funding provided by their governments or employers. Brunel alumni enjoy tuition fee discounts of 15%.
Meet the Supervisor(s)
Arthur Money - Dr Arthur G. Money is a Reader in the Department of Computer Science at Brunel University London, where he also received his MSc in Distributed Information Systems with distinction in 2001 and PhD in Multimedia Computing in 2007. Prior to embarking on a fully funded EPSRC PhD scholarship in 2004, he worked for Oracle UK Ltd as an e-Business Technology Consultant. Dr Money’s research focuses on the user-centred design, development and evaluation of multimedia computing systems and the effective deployment of these systems with users who have complex needs spanning a range of domains including older adults, healthcare, education, and defence.