{"id":8,"date":"2018-07-31T20:20:43","date_gmt":"2018-07-31T19:20:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/ar-for-dementia\/?p=8"},"modified":"2018-09-21T12:11:36","modified_gmt":"2018-09-21T11:11:36","slug":"hello-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/ar-for-dementia\/2018\/07\/31\/hello-world\/","title":{"rendered":"An Introduction to My EngD Research Project"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to the first of many blog posts about my research project as a research engineer at Designability. The 3-year research project will lead to me submitting a doctoral thesis for the award of Doctor of Engineering (EngD) in Digital Entertainment from the University of Bath. In this blog post I will introduce myself and the project, and explain what an EngD actually is. I will also let you know what to expect from this blog over the course of the next few years.<\/p>\n

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About Me<\/b><\/h2>\n

Before I go any further, I would like to introduce myself. My name is Thomas Williams, and I have a strong link with the city and University of Bath. I studied my undergraduate degree, Mathematics and Physics, here, and I did not want to stay away. However, I did take a break (that infamous \u201cgap yah\u201d) in Berlin as an au pair, which was a wonderful experience. Along with meeting many lovely people, learning about a new culture, and improving a second language, the time away allowed me to decide what I wanted to do next. As it turned out, it happened to be going back to university.<\/span><\/p>\n

So, why did I choose this particular programme? The Digital Entertainment programme sounded like an exciting opportunity to move into the technology sector, but I did not actually choose to pursue a doctoral degree at first; I had applied for the associated master programme in Digital Entertainment, which would have only lasted one year. Shortly after returning to university, I went to ask a question regarding placement opportunities to the project coordinator of the doctoral course in Bath, Sarah Parry. Soon I found myself being offered an interview to join the EngD programme and, as I am sure you can guess, I was accepted to move onto the course within a few weeks. Fantastic! I knew what I would be doing for the next four years.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now might be a good time to ask an important question, namely...<\/span><\/p>\n

What\u2019s an EngD, Anyway?<\/b><\/h2>\n

This question (usually asked, \u201cwhat <\/span>is<\/i><\/b> an EngD?\u201d) is one I am asked essentially any time I describe my project, and it is a good one! EngDs (pronounced Enge-Dee, with \u2018enge\u2019 as in Engineering) are a doctoral qualification that are very similar to PhDs. The main difference is that the student works at a partner company to carry out their research. Students, or research engineers, retain their student status, though, and are technically not employees of the company. The different award is meant to reflect that, over the course of an EngD, research engineers acquire both academic and industrial experience.<\/span><\/p>\n


\n<\/a>\"Centre<\/a><\/p>\n

The EngD programme at Bath is structured as a 1+3 year degree, made up of a 1-year taught component and a 3-year research project. It is run by the <\/span>Centre for Digital Entertainment<\/span><\/a> (CDE), an EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training based in Bath and Bournemouth. At Bath, the taught year is the same as the master programme in Digital Entertainment that I mentioned earlier, and so the change I made onto the EngD programme had no bearing on my academic studies for the year. What it meant, though, is that I now belonged to a cohort of students and was able to benefit from the doctoral aspects of the course. Through networking with my peers and students from other universities, I have come to realise how rich and broad the field is, and I am really excited to be a part of it.<\/span><\/p>\n

During the taught component of the degree, the research engineer finds a company and project that they wish to continue as their research project. The 3-year research component is carried out at their placement company. My industrial partner is <\/span>Designability<\/span><\/a>, a Bath-based charity who develop assistive technologies for people with physical and cognitive disabilities. They are a multidisciplinary team of experts who aim to transform the lives of people with health problems and disabilities through the creation of life-changing enabling technologies. Their easy-to-use designs are developed by working directly with end-users, carers and health professionals to understand their needs, to find solutions and to test the tools in real life situations. I feel incredibly lucky to be working with the staff at Designability because of their friendly and passionate ethos.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Switching to the EngD programme has thus far been a fantastic experience. It might seem clich\u00e9, but the course and the programme \u2018just feel right\u2019, and I am very excited to start the next part of the journey in September.<\/p>\n

The Project<\/b><\/h2>\n

Now that I have introduced myself and explained what an EngD is, we can get to the fun part: the research project. The aim of the research is to explore how augmented reality (AR) could be used to support those with cognitive difficulties with daily living tasks and activities. At first, we will specifically focus on those living with mild to moderate dementia. AR is an up-and-coming technology, but it is still maturing. Despite varied applications of AR, including entertainment and education, its potential as an assistive technology has not yet been explored fully. This exploration is what we aim to carry out with the research project. Furthermore, Designability have a long and strong research history in working with people with dementia and task sequencing (breaking down tasks into individual components), upon which this project will build.<\/span><\/p>\n

The sorts of questions we will be asking include:<\/span><\/p>\n