Müller highlights his doctoral qualification, awarded with the highest honours, as well as his nomination for the dissertation prize of the German Informatics Society and six Best Paper and Honourable Mention Awards at the most significant conference in the HCI field (ACM CHI) as the most significant milestones in his scientific career. We sought the views of Florian Müller on his field of research and future plans.

What makes your subjects appealing to students? What is particularly fascinating about your chosen topics?

Over the past 15 years, the smartphone has transformed the way we interact with information, moving away from fixed devices like desktop PCs and into the physical world. We now check emails while waiting for the bus, conduct banking in cafés, and plan holidays at bars. However, the smartphone is not an optimal device for mobile interaction. Its size and weight in our pockets, along with its small display, make it challenging to use in certain contexts.

Furthermore, information exists independently of the physical world. When I observe information pertaining to the physical world, such as navigational instructions or warning messages, I am compelled to continuously attempt to transfer this information from the two-dimensional display to my physical environment.

The advent of augmented reality devices such as the Apple Vision Pro heralds the advent of a new era in mobile interaction, one that promises to address many of the current limitations. Information is on the cusp of becoming truly ubiquitous, permeating our physical environment and our digital devices. When combined with AI technologies that can understand the physical world, this has the potential to unlock a new generation of applications, while also raising questions about how we interact with this new, more intangible form of information.

Furthermore, in a few years, it will no longer be possible to distinguish between the physical and the virtual, which gives rise to a number of ethical and regulatory issues. I would therefore like to invite the students at TU Darmstadt to work with me on these topics and to determine how we would like our future mobile interaction with information to be shaped.

Interdisciplinarity is a core value at TU Darmstadt. In your field of work, to what extent do you engage with other specialist areas?

In the field of human-computer interaction (HCI), interdisciplinary work is not merely a possibility; it is an absolute necessity. While my personal background is relatively technical, having studied computer science, many research questions in HCI require interdisciplinary collaboration.

Consequently, the community is not solely comprised of technicians, but rather a diverse array of specialisations, including psychology (to comprehend human communication with machines), design (to create intuitive and visually appealing interfaces), and sociology (to analyse the impact of technology on society).

I find this diversity of the research community to be highly beneficial, as it facilitates the convergence of disparate perspectives and modes of thought. In this regard, I am eager to collaborate with other departments within TU Darmstadt to gain new insights through unconventional thinking.

If I were a student today, …

If I were a student today, I would endeavour to gain experience in a diverse range of fields. This applies to both different degree programmes and the various specialisations that can be pursued within a single degree programme. Prioritising a specific field of study at an early stage may limit one's overall perspective and increase the likelihood of pursuing a subject that does not align with one's genuine interests.

It seems reasonable to posit that enjoyment of one's work is a key factor in future success. In the absence of enjoyment, it is challenging to maintain motivation during challenging or stressful periods.

It is therefore recommended that students should not be unduly influenced by current trends or analyses of which area offers the best job prospects or the most money to be made, but rather should follow their own inclinations.

The questions were posed by Patrick Bal.