Research Themes

The ASGAARD lab develops AI-powered techniques for detecting and understanding software defects, with a focus on quality assurance (QA) in interactive systems such as video games, web applications, and AI-driven software.

🎮 Intelligent Quality Assurance for Video Games

2021–present

Modern video games are visually complex and difficult to test automatically. We investigate how AI can help detect gameplay glitches and visual defects at scale.

  • Detect gameplay glitches using Vision-Language Models (VLMs) and Large Multimodal Models (LMMs)
  • Develop automated techniques for visual regression testing and gameplay anomaly detection
  • Analyze gameplay videos to automatically generate bug reports

Key artifacts

GlitchBench
VideoGameQA-Bench

Industry collaborators

EA, Prodigy Education, Sony Interactive Entertainment, Ubisoft La Forge

🌐 Intelligent Quality Assurance for Web Applications and Browsers

2021–present

Modern web applications rely on complex rendering engines and dynamic front-end frameworks.

  • Detect cross-browser rendering inconsistencies
  • Identify GUI layout defects and visual regressions
  • Analyze screenshots across browsers and devices

Key artifacts

XBIDetective
HTML5 canvas bug taxonomy

Industry collaborators

Mozilla, Prodigy Education

🤖 Software Engineering for AI & Foundation Models

2023–present

This research investigates the intersection of software engineering and foundation models.

  • FM4SE: using foundation models to support software engineering tasks
  • SE4FM: applying engineering practices to the development and maintenance of AI systems
  • Study practitioner perspectives and development practices around AI systems

Key artifacts

Model documentation techniques
Practitioner studies

🎥 Mining Gameplay Videos for Bug Discovery

2018–2022

Gameplay videos shared online contain valuable evidence of real-world software bugs.

  • Automatically identify videos that demonstrate gameplay glitches
  • Mine large video repositories such as YouTube for bug discovery
  • Study how gameplay videos can support debugging and QA processes

Key artifacts

Gameplay bug video dataset
Video-based bug discovery techniques

⚡ Empirical Performance Engineering & Microbenchmarking

2015–2025

This research investigates how to detect and diagnose performance regressions in large software systems.

  • Detect performance regressions using system metrics and logs
  • Analyze architectural signals to identify performance problems early
  • Study microbenchmarking practices and performance testing strategies

Key artifacts

Performance regression detection
Benchmarking studies

💬 Improving Post-Release Support

2017–2023

Post-release support plays a critical role in maintaining user satisfaction and software quality.

  • Study how developers respond to user reviews in app stores
  • Analyze how developer responses affect user ratings
  • Improve bug reporting and triaging processes

Key artifacts

App review response studies
Bug report analysis techniques

🚀 Studying the Impact of Release Strategies

2015–2019

Modern development practices such as DevOps enable rapid and frequent software releases.

  • Study how release strategies affect user-perceived software quality
  • Analyze urgent updates and zero-day patches in video games
  • Investigate why some mobile app releases receive negative user feedback

Key artifacts

Release strategy studies
User perception analyses