About Me

Hi, I'm Philipp, I'm a researcher at Ulm University in the Human Factors deparment with specialization in human-computer interaction. I did my PhD (Dr. rer. nat.) in driver-vehicle interaction. In my thesis, I investigated persuasive user interfaces to increase automation usage. You can find it here.
I did my PhD in symbiosis of two scientific fields, computer science and psychology, but my roots are in computer science.

My workflow mainly encompassed the following steps: (1) ideation and experiment design, (2) prototyping interfaces, simulator components and tracks, (3) experiment execution, (4) data analysis, and (5) publication of the experiment. You can find my publication here.

I love prototyping, problem solving, and programming.

Contact Details

Philipp Hock, PhD
Ulm University
Germany
mail@philipphock.rocks

CV (PDF)

Education

Ulm University (PhD)

PhD (Dr. rer. nat.) in persuasive driver vehicle interaction • Computer science and psychology March 2021

In my PhD thesis, my research was about persuasion (i.e., how to change behavior or attitudes) to increase automation usage. In several (mainly) driving simulator studies, I conducted several experiments where I designed and evaluated persuasive user interfaces, such as:

  • • A Virtual co-driver
  • • Am empathic avatar
  • • A self-enabling automation
  • • A remote controlled wheelchair-simulator
More about the experiments and projects below.

The thesis was written in close cooperation between computer science and psychology, which allowed me to gian a lot of experience in human factors research.

Ulm University (M.Sc.)

M.Sc. Degree in computer science • March 2015

The focus of lectures during my master's degree was HCI and IT security. My master thesis was about creating and evaluating an unobtrusive touch interface for head-mounted displays (Google Glass). I created a touch sensitive belt that can be used to control the Glass. Furthermore, I developed and evaluated the concept of a spatial mapping of information. For example that opening the wallet app of the Glass is near the actual pocket where the wallet is located. A paper based on the thesis was published at CHI.

Besides the Belt, I was involved in two bigger software projects. (1) A smart backpack that identifies items placed inside using RFID. (2) Building a driving simulator.

In IT security I attended a lecture with an accompanying practical exercise where students should create and explain a vulnerability by attacking a virtual machine. My topic was XSS and CSRF.

Ulm University (B.Sc.)

B.Sc. Degree in computer science • April 2012

My bachelor thesis was about creating a framework to enable TCP, UDP, and Unix sockets in the browser. A local proxy architecture was used that established a websocket connection to the proxy, which then used tcp/udp/unix sockets to communicate further. A security layer was also implemented where connections needed explicit approval.

Work

University for Interaction Design, Schwäbisch Gmünd.

Lecturer for interaction design• 2017 - 2019

During my time as a PhD student, I was a lecturer at the University for Interaction Design (Hochschule für Gestaltung Schwäbisch Gmünd). My course was software prototyping with unity. In this course, I teached design students how they can build interactive prototypes and games using the unity game engine.

Skills

Here's a list from things I consider my strengths. Not all of them are high rated, but knowing the basics of many things is also kind of my speciality.

The bar charts are meant to be an approximate self-assessment without specific metrics.

Click on the labels or hover over the bars to get more infos.

  • Persuasion

    I did my PhD in persuasion, so I think I'm kind of an expert in that topic.


  • User studies

    I conducted several user studies but can one be perfect in user studies, I think not.


  • Scientific Writing

    I wrote a PhD thesis and several papers, for me that marks the 90%.


  • Public Speaking

    I'm not a keynote speaker but people say I make nice talks. I'm also used give international talks on conferences, although I still get nervous.


  • Supervision

    I was supervising several master and bachelor theses.


  • Project Management

    My current position project manager in Semulin, a research project from the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy.


  • Programming

    I code since I'm 12. I like typed high-level languages but js can also be okay. University doesn't teach you how to write the best code, but I think I have some experience.


  • Game Engines

    I like prototyping in Unity and did some small things in Unreal as well.


  • VR

    Did some projects that involved VR. Especially CarVR was a breakthrough technology the time Sebastian and me worked on it.


  • Driving Simulators

    I build selveral low-cost simulators, my new baby is the wheelchair simulator, see below :)


  • IT Security

    I'm not at the edge of IT security but I know the basics. I think everyone should know them.


  • Robotics

    In our lab at human factors, we use a robot from F & P Robotics called Lio. I teached him some tricks and I also know the basics in ROS.


  • AI / deep learning

    Participated in a hackation once and attended some online coursed. I know the very basics.


  • Video editing

    As an HCI researcher, you have to make some short clips to present your research... and there's youtube for everything.


  • CGI

    I played around with Blender (see projects below) but I'm not a designer. I lack the endurance of polishing the last 10%, especially when it comes to design. I focus on the logic and make things not ugly.


  • 3D printing

    I have some experience using an ultimaker, printed and modeled some PLA cases with Autodesk Inventor. I'm kind of proud of my belay glasses.


  • Web Technologies

    I like web technologies for rapid prototyping. See the Poker project below.


  • User Centered Design

    As a child of media informatics and human factors, user centered design is the language I speak fluently. To me, it's like riding a bicycle or skydiving. It comes naturally if you're used to it.


  • Learning

    I would consider learning as both, my greates weakness and my greatest strength. Because my motivation comes mainly from learning. In a task where I don't learn new things, my motivation to continue becomes less and less. On the other hand, learning new things is fun and keeps me busy.


  • Teaching

    As a PhD student, I gave several courses and some lectures as well. My parents are both teachers, so I guess that's where it comes from. I think learnin and teaching are very intertwined because you only know stuff when you can teach it.


Outlook


I am currently looking out for jobs. If this pages founds you, you may be interested in hiring me. So far, this page was about my abilities and skills. In this last part, I would like to give you some hints what kind of job I'm looking for so you can find out if you can offer me that.

As I said, I see myself as a prototyper, problem solver and researcher. I love to think on my own to find solutions. So, even if I have some skills in (software) developement, I don't see myself as a software developer.

As a bachelor student, I learned to code (i.a. computer networks, cyber security). As a master student, I learned user centered design. As a PhD student, I became a researcher. As a researcher I also became a supervisor and lecturer for students, administrator and was in charge of the driving simulator lab. I learned public speaking on conferences, writing papers and reviews for scientific articles, and how to manage projects... and in my dream job, I can use as many of these skills as possible. That's what I love about scientific research.