Master in Interactive Media Technology

The aim of the program is to establish a practical and theoretical basis for the design, development, and evaluation of interactive products, services, and media technology. The program has a close working relationship with local industry and equips you for an international career, or for doctoral studies.

Interactive Media Technology at KTH

The program Interactive Media Technology consists of 30 credits of compulsory courses, 30 ECTS credits of courses within a chosen specialization, 30 ECTS credits of elective courses, and a degree project of 30 ECTS credits. Interactive Media Technology offers three technology specializations, of which the student should specialize in one. The specialization tracks offered are:

• visual media
• sonic media
• physical interaction design

It is also possible to design an individual technology specialization, in agreement with the program responsible. On top of that, there is a possibility of further profiling within the program towards user experience design, media management, and sustainable development.

The first semester consists of mandatory courses laying the foundation for courses later in the program. In the first study period, students take Media Technology and Interaction Design (7.5 ECTS credits) which introduces theory and practices related to the production of interactive media technology in parallel with a course in Human Perception for Information Technology (7.5 ECTS credits). In the second study period students take Research Methods in Interactive Media Technology (6 ECTS credits) introducing theory and method for knowledge production within the field, in parallel with Multimodal Interaction and Interfaces (7.5 ECTS credits). After the first semester, students choose one of the specializations that are closely connected to research groups at KTH.

Throughout the whole master's program, the students take the Programme Integrating Course (2 ECTS credits), which runs in parallel to the other courses. In this course, students plan and discuss their courses, set up and get feedback on their online study portfolios, participate in program activities, and make connections with industry.

The degree project (30 ECTS credits) ends the program. It includes participation in advanced research or design projects in an academic or industrial environment, in Sweden or abroad. The project focuses on solving a problem relevant to the subject area through research methodology.

Teaching methods in the individual courses vary but many courses have a strong practical component where students spend time doing project work and other hands-on activities to learn about new technologies and how to shape them. Courses often have strong connections to research conducted within the field both at the department and elsewhere, so that students graduating from the program are familiar with frontline research. The programme also has strong ties to industry in the form of regular study visits, guest lectures, and projects performed together with industrial partners.

• Visual Media: This track provides specialized knowledge of methods, technologies, and tools for interactive graphics and visualization. The track covers a wide range of applicability from game design, over to crowd simulation to interactive infographics.
• Sonic Media: This track approaches the whole sound and music communication chain from a multidisciplinary point of view by providing knowledge of the latest research results, methods, technologies and tools. This includes principles of sound in interaction, use of audio feedback in sport, rehabilitation, and therapy, sonification, communication of emotions, perception and analysis of body motion.
• Physical Interaction Design: This specialization focuses on interaction design in contexts beyond standard mobile and laptop settings, putting emphasis on tangible and embodied aspects of the user experience. You will explore state-of-the-art systems and technology as well as contemporary research in the field. Application areas range from industrial use cases to health and wellbeing, transportation, sports, play, and entertainment. Using the human body as our general starting point, you will design and build new forms of interaction that take into account aesthetic, as well as ethic, ergonomic and material aspects of new technical devices.

This is a two-year program (120 ECTS credits) given in English. Graduates are awarded the degree of Master of Science. The program is given mainly at KTH Campus in Stockholm by the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (at KTH).

Career

After graduation, you can pursue a career as, for example, developer, technical lead, interaction designer, UX specialist, technical director, producer or project manager in the broad IT and media industries. You can also pursue a career in industrial research or continued studies towards a doctoral degree.

Former students have found work at companies such as Spotify, DICE, Skype, Netlight Consulting, Tobii, and Voddler. Among our alumni, we also have several founders of companies within the media and IT sector, including Prezi and SoundCloud, and several successful consultancy firms such as Prototyp and Ocean Observations.

Students

Find out what students from the program think about their time at KTH.

Elena González Rabal, Spain: "If you are planning to do your studies at KTH, do not hesitate to do so. It is a really good university with good infrastructures and interesting courses."

Sustainable development

Graduates from KTH have the knowledge and tools for moving society in a more sustainable direction, as sustainable development is an integral part of all programs. The three key sustainable development goals addressed by the master's program in Media Technology are:

• Good Health and Well-Being
• Quality Education
• Responsible Consumption and Production

The programme has a strong sustainability ethos and the faculty is actively engaged in both research and education within the field. All students are recommended to take a basic course on Sustainability and Media Technology (7.5 ECTS credits) and they can deepen their knowledge through Sustainable ICT in Practice (7.5 ECTS credits). Students can also take the course in IT design for disabled people (7.5 ECTS credits). In addition, sustainability is a strong theme in project work in many courses given as part of the program. For instance, a majority of the projects in the Advanced Project Course in Interactive Media Technology (7.5 ECTS credits) typically relate to one or more of the SDGs, as are degree project topics. Students will learn about responsible design and development of media technologies with an awareness not only of their potential impact on the SDGs, but also of how they can support users in building awareness and triggering behavior change through, for instance, visualizing complex data related to CO2 emissions, energy usage or food waste, and how to design systems adapted to people with physical or cognitive impairments.

Courses

The two-year master's program in Interactive Media Technology consists of three terms of courses and one final term dedicated to the master's degree project. Each term consists of approximately 30 ECTS credits. Depending on which track you choose, you will study different courses. The courses presented on this page apply to studies starting in autumn 2020.

Year 1

Mandatory courses for all tracks

• Human-Computer Interaction, Research Seminars (DH2632) 3.0 credits
• Human Perception for Information Technology (DM2350) 7.5 credits
• Media Technology and Interaction Design (DM2601) 7.5 credits
• Program Integrating Course in Interactive Media Technology (DM2679) 2.0 credits
• Research Methods in Interactive Media Technology (DM2712) 6.0 credits
• Multimodal Interaction and Interfaces (DT2140) 7.5 credits

Conditionally elective courses for all tracks

• A quick introduction to Human-Computer Interaction (DH1621) 3.0 credits

Physical Interaction track

Mandatory courses

• Physical Interaction Design and Realization (DH2400) 7.5 credits
• Haptics, Tactile and Tangible Interaction (DH2670) 7.5 credits

Conditionally elective courses

• Introduction to Robotics (DD2410) 7.5 credits
• Information Visualization (DH2321) 6.0 credits
• Sound in Interaction (DT2300) 7.5 credits
• Embedded Systems (IL2206) 7.5 credits
• Rapid Prototyping (MF2092) 3.0 credits

Recommended courses

• Evaluation Methods in Human-Computer Interaction (DH2408) 6.0 credits
• Advanced, Individual Course in Human-Computer Interaction (DH2466) 6.0 credits
• Interaction Design as a Reflective Practice (DH2629) 7.5 credits
• Interaction Programming and the Dynamic Web (DH2642) 7.5 credits
• Computer Game Design (DH2650) 6.0 credits
• Cooperative IT-design (DH2655) 9.0 credits
• Telepresence Production (DM2500) 7.5 credits
• Mobile Development with Web Technologies (DM2518) 7.5 credits
• Managing Digital Transformation (DM2562) 7.5 credits
• Managing Digital Transformation - project module (DM2563) 7.5 credits
• Sustainability and Media Technology (DM2573) 7.5 credits
• IT design for disabled (DM2623) 7.5 credits
• Sustainable ICT in Practice (DM2720) 7.5 credits
• Individual Course in Media Technology (DM2904) 6.0 credits
• Individual Course in Media Technology (DM2905) 7.5 credits
• Speech Technology (DT2112) 7.5 credits
• Speech and Speaker Recognition (DT2119) 7.5 credits
• Musical Communication and Music Technology (DT2213) 7.5 credits

Sonic Media track

Mandatory courses

• Musical Communication and Music Technology (DT2213) 7.5 credits
• Sound in Interaction (DT2300) 7.5 credits

Conditionally elective courses

• Information Visualization (DH2321) 6.0 credits
• Computer Game Design (DH2650) 6.0 credits
• Haptics, Tactile and Tangible Interaction (DH2670) 7.5 credits
• Music Acoustics (DT2212) 7.5 credits
• Advanced Individual Course in Music Communication (DT2215) 6.0 credits
• Advanced Individual Course in Music Communication (DT2216) 9.0 credits

Recommended courses

• Physical Interaction Design and Realization (DH2400) 7.5 credits
• Evaluation Methods in Human-Computer Interaction (DH2408) 6.0 credits
• Advanced, Individual Course in Human-Computer Interaction (DH2466) 6.0 credits
• Interaction Design Methods (DH2628) 7.5 credits
• Interaction Design as a Reflective Practice (DH2629) 7.5 credits
• Interaction Programming and the Dynamic Web (DH2642) 7.5 credits
• Cooperative IT-design (DH2655) 9.0 credits
• Media Law (DM2077) 7.5 credits
• Telepresence Production (DM2500) 7.5 credits
• Mobile Development with Web Technologies (DM2518) 7.5 credits
• Managing Digital Transformation (DM2562) 7.5 credits
• Managing Digital Transformation - project module (DM2563) 7.5 credits
• Sustainability and Media Technology (DM2573) 7.5 credits
• Media Lab (DM2582) 7.5 credits
• IT design for disabled (DM2623) 7.5 credits
• Sustainable ICT in Practice (DM2720) 7.5 credits
• Individual Course in Media Technology (DM2904) 6.0 credits
• Individual Course in Media Technology (DM2905) 7.5 credits
• Speech Technology (DT2112) 7.5 credits
• Audio Technology (DT2410) 7.5 credits

Visual Media track

Mandatory courses

• Introduction to Visualization, Computer Graphics and Image/Video Processing (DD2258) 7.5 credits

Conditionally elective courses

• Visualization (DD2257) 7.5 credits
• Advanced Topics in Visualization and Computer Graphics (DD2470) 6.0 credits
• Information Visualization (DH2321) 6.0 credits
• Computer Graphics and Interaction (DH2323) 6.0 credits
• Advanced Graphics and Interaction (DH2413) 9.0 credits
• Computer Game Design (DH2650) 6.0 credits
• Media Lab (DM2582) 7.5 credits
• Image and Video Processing (EQ2330) 7.5 credits

Recommended courses

• Interaction Design as a Reflective Practice (DH2629) 7.5 credits
• Interaction Programming and the Dynamic Web (DH2642) 7.5 credits
• Cooperative IT-design (DH2655) 9.0 credits
• Media Law (DM2077) 7.5 credits
• Telepresence Production (DM2500) 7.5 credits
• Mobile Development with Web Technologies (DM2518) 7.5 credits
• Managing Digital Transformation (DM2562) 7.5 credits
• Managing Digital Transformation - project module (DM2563) 7.5 credits
• Sustainability and Media Technology (DM2573) 7.5 credits
• IT design for disabled (DM2623) 7.5 credits
• Sustainable ICT in Practice (DM2720) 7.5 credits

Year 2

Mandatory courses for all tracks

• Degree Project in Computer Science and Engineering, specializing in Interactive Media Technology, Second Cycle (DA232X) 30.0 credits
• Program Integrating Course in Interactive Media Technology (DM2679) 2.0 credits
• Advanced Project course in Interactive Media Technology (DM2799) 7.5 credits

Physical Interaction track

Conditionally elective courses

• Introduction to Visualization, Computer Graphics and Image/Video Processing (DD2258) 7.5 credits
• Introduction to Robotics (DD2410) 7.5 credits
• Information Visualization (DH2321) 6.0 credits
• Sound in Interaction (DT2300) 7.5 credits
• Embedded Systems (IL2206) 7.5 credits
• Mechatronic in Product Design (MF2104) 6.0 credits

Recommended courses

• Evaluation Methods in Human-Computer Interaction (DH2408) 6.0 credits
• Advanced, Individual Course in Human-Computer Interaction (DH2466) 6.0 credits
• Interaction Design as a Reflective Practice (DH2629) 7.5 credits
• Interaction Programming and the Dynamic Web (DH2642) 7.5 credits
• Computer Game Design (DH2650) 6.0 credits
• Cooperative IT-design (DH2655) 9.0 credits
• Telepresence Production (DM2500) 7.5 credits
• Mobile Development with Web Technologies (DM2518) 7.5 credits
• Managing Digital Transformation (DM2562) 7.5 credits
• Sustainability and Media Technology (DM2573) 7.5 credits
• Sustainable ICT in Practice (DM2720) 7.5 credits
• Individual Course in Media Technology (DM2904) 6.0 credits
• Individual Course in Media Technology (DM2905) 7.5 credits
• Speech Technology (DT2112) 7.5 credits
• Speech and Speaker Recognition (DT2119) 7.5 credits
• Musical Communication and Music Technology (DT2213) 7.5 credits

Sonic Media track

Conditionally elective courses

• Information Visualization (DH2321) 6.0 credits
• Computer Game Design (DH2650) 6.0 credits
• Haptics, Tactile and Tangible Interaction (DH2670) 7.5 credits
• Music Acoustics (DT2212) 7.5 credits
• Advanced Individual Course in Music Communication (DT2215) 6.0 credits
• Advanced Individual Course in Music Communication (DT2216) 9.0 credits

Recommended courses

• Physical Interaction Design and Realization (DH2400) 7.5 credits
• Evaluation Methods in Human-Computer Interaction (DH2408) 6.0 credits
• Advanced, Individual Course in Human-Computer Interaction (DH2466) 6.0 credits
• Interaction Design Methods (DH2628) 7.5 credits
• Interaction Design as a Reflective Practice (DH2629) 7.5 credits
• Interaction Programming and the Dynamic Web (DH2642) 7.5 credits
• Cooperative IT-design (DH2655) 9.0 credits
• Media Law (DM2077) 7.5 credits
• Telepresence Production (DM2500) 7.5 credits
• Managing Digital Transformation (DM2562) 7.5 credits
• Sustainability and Media Technology (DM2573) 7.5 credits
• Media Lab (DM2582) 7.5 credits
• Sustainable ICT in Practice (DM2720) 7.5 credits
• Individual Course in Media Technology (DM2904) 6.0 credits
• Individual Course in Media Technology (DM2905) 7.5 credits
• Speech Technology (DT2112) 7.5 credits
• Audio Technology (DT2410) 7.5 credits

Visual Media track

Conditionally elective courses

• Visualization (DD2257) 7.5 credits
• Advanced Topics in Visualization and Computer Graphics (DD2470) 6.0 credits
• Information Visualization (DH2321) 6.0 credits
• Computer Graphics and Interaction (DH2323) 6.0 credits
• Advanced Graphics and Interaction (DH2413) 9.0 credits
• Computer Game Design (DH2650) 6.0 credits
• Media Lab (DM2582) 7.5 credits
• Image and Video Processing (EQ2330) 7.5 credits

Recommended courses

• Interaction Design as a Reflective Practice (DH2629) 7.5 credits
• Interaction Programming and the Dynamic Web (DH2642) 7.5 credits
• Cooperative IT-design (DH2655) 9.0 credits
• Media Law (DM2077) 7.5 credits
• Mobile Development with Web Technologies (DM2518) 7.5 credits
• Managing Digital Transformation (DM2562) 7.5 credits
• Sustainability and Media Technology (DM2573) 7.5 credits
• IT design for disabled (DM2623) 7.5 credits
• Sustainable ICT in Practice (DM2720) 7.5 credits

Admission requirements

To be eligible for the program, you must have been awarded a bachelor's degree, be proficient in English and meet the program-specific requirements.

Bachelor's degree

A bachelor's degree, equivalent to a Swedish bachelor's degree, or equivalent academic qualifications from an internationally recognized university, is required. Students who are following longer technical programs, and have completed courses equivalent to a bachelor's degree, will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

English proficiency

English language proficiency equivalent to (the Swedish upper secondary school) English course B/6 is required. The requirement can be satisfied through a result equal to, or higher than, those stated in the following internationally recognized English tests:

• TOEFL Paper-based: Score of 4.5 (scale 1-6) in written test, a total score of 575.
  TOEFL ITP is not accepted.
• TOEFL iBT internet-based: Score of 20 (scale 0-30) in written test, a total score of 90
• IELTS Academic: A minimum overall mark of 6.5, with no section lower than 5.5
• Cambridge ESOL: Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE) Certificate in Advanced English or Cambridge English: Proficiency (CPE) (Certificate of Proficiency in English)
• Michigan English Language Assessment Battery (MELAB): Minimum score of 90
• The University of Michigan, ECPE (Examination for the Certificate of Proficiency in English)
• Pearson PTE Academic: Score of 62 (writing 61)

Specific requirements for the master's program in Interactive Media Technology

A bachelor's degree, corresponding to 180 ECTS credits, in Computer Science, Information Technology, Media Technology, Human-Computer Interaction or similar programs, containing basic courses in programming and computer science.

Application documents

1. Certificates and diplomas from previous university studies
2. Transcript of completed courses and grades included in your degree
3. Proof of English proficiency
4. A copy of your passport including personal data and photograph, or other identification documents

Specific documents for the master's program in Interactive Media Technology

• Letter of motivation
• 2 letters of recommendation
• Summary sheet *

*In order for your application to be considered complete, you need to fill out the online summary sheet. If you do not include a summary sheet, this may negatively affect your evaluation score. Please be sure to fill out all of the required information before you submit the form.