Fraunhofer IIS Magazine

With its FitnessSHIRT, Fraunhofer IIS has developed a prototype that can measure a range of different vital signs. The ambiotex company has turned the shirt into a market-ready product. In an interview, the company’s CEO Florian Dennerlein and Christian Hofmann from Fraunhofer IIS explain why the shirt is better than a sports watch, and what people who exercise can expect in the future.

• The interview
  

Phenotyping involves recording plants’ typing reactions to environmental influences. But what does nondestructive testing have to do with it? How do the cognitive sensor systems we are developing improve phenotyping processes? Dr. Stefan Garth, of the Development Center X-ray Technology EZRT at Fraunhofer IIS, has the answers.

To the interview

For the fourth time in a year, Mr. Winter is sick in bed with an upset stomach. He had no way of knowing that the pasta sauce from the day before had gone bad: an infection he contracted a few years ago has robbed him of his senses of smell and taste. The Campus of the Senses is working on ways to digitally simulate the human senses. In our interview, the initiators of the Campus Prof. Albert Heuberger, Prof. Andrea Büttner and Dr. Jens-Uwe Garbas talk about assisting people with perception impairments and the difficulties inherent in the research.

• The interview
  

Although computed tomography has greatly improved processes in industrial product development and production, conventional methods of managing various CT data remain highly inconvenient. But that’s changing now, because the researchers working alongside Thomas Miller tackled precisely this problem and developed the web-based CloudCT software solution. In the interview, Thomas Miller explains how the software makes operating the CT system and handling the data for companies easier.

• To the interview and video

The Machine Learning Forum is a twice-yearly networking platform for industry and research. At the event on September 28, 2018 at Fraunhofer IIS in Nuremberg, we asked participants how they use machine learning in their companies.

The interviews

Fraunhofer IIS is presenting the latest audio and media technologies at IBC 2018. Some of them can be seen here in a series of short employee films. Take a look!

To the videos

“Data analytics itself is nothing new,” says Prof. Alexander Martin. “What is new is that we’re working with enormous quantities of data and that the methods available are getting better all the time. This means we can gather and analyze the data in a meaningful way.” The industrial mathematician uses video and text to explain exactly what this looks like and how it can lead to successful business decisions.

The interview

Storing and processing data has a long history. From the Middle Ages to this day, people have turned to computing aids to help them solve problems. The Computer Technology Collection Erlangen charts the development of data processing technology, from tally sticks and Zuse machines to the integrated circuit.

ISER director Guido Nockermann takes us through his treasures, offering a brief anecdote about each exhibit.

The interview

The Nürnberg metropolitan region is known for its good beer and little sausages. But many are unaware that Middle Franconia is the most innovative region in Germany with a tradition spanning centuries. Pierre Leich, project manager at kulturidee GmbH, explains where the bright minds of innovative SMEs come from and what the region’s research can do.

The interview

From start-ups and SMEs to big industry, more than 20 industry partners are involved in the joint research project. On February 20, 2018, Fraunhofer IIS hosted a kick-off event. Many of the project partners took the opportunity to speakk on camera about what they expect from the collaboration.

The video

Objects that can communicate, TV that feels like you’re at the movies, pocket X-ray machines... sounds like science fiction. But then who knows? At the Long Night of the Sciences 2017, visitors to Fraunhofer IIS in Erlangen got to put their questions to scientists. Professor Albert Heuberger, director of Fraunhofer IIS, joined the scientists to answer the questions and explain what may soon be possible.

• The make-a-wish box
  

5G is much more than the follow-up to 4G. We spoke with expert Bernhard Niemann about what the next generation of wireless networks can do better, what it will make possible, when it will be available, and what role Fraunhofer IIS is playing in the 5G rollout.

• The interview
  

The Internet of Things uses a lot of wireless receivers. How can they be designed to save energy and require little maintenance? This question has been occupying Dr. Frank Oehler and Dr. Heinrich Milosiu since June 2007. Here is the story of how they developed the RFicient^® wireless receiver chip, which receives signals continuously but consumes just one-thousandth of the electricity used by an LED.

• The journal
  

Artificial intelligence offers numerous opportunities. At a Fraunhofer event dedicated to this topic, Prof. Albert Heuberger discussed how “affective computing” offers opportunities for industry, services, and human-machine interfaces.

• The video
  

Cognitive Sensor Technologies is one of the institute’s two guiding topics, along with Audio and Media Technologies. Director Prof. Albert Heuberger reflects on the opportunities which present themselves for industry and economy and how people encounter them in their everyday lives, too.

• The interview
  

„In Riga, we wait at the luggage carousel – and wait and wait, until finally the gates shut and the belt stops. Twelve of us from Erlangen are missing our luggage.”

This is how Nadine Lange, who is part of the team Leistungszentrum Elektroniksysteme LZE, started out on her one-week sailing trip on the Thor Heyerdahl. In the summer of 2017, the Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg invited some of its own researchers and other scientists to broaden their scientific horizon in this exceptional setting. Read how this journey without luggage unfolds and what else is going on aboard in her travelogue.

• The travelogue
  

The digitalization of our economy and society is a dominant feature of modern life. We spoke with Dr. Dr. Albrecht Fritzsche who holds holds doctoral degrees in philosophy and business economic and is a member of the scientific council at the Institute of Information Systems at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg. We discussed on how digital transformation from a philosophical point of view will change our society, how humans and technology will interact in the future, and the responsibility we carry for these developments.

• The interview and video
  

Fraunhofer IIS employees asked residents of rural communities in the Upper Palatinate to contribute their ideas for a mobile village store.

• The video
  

Fraunhofer IIS has developed a low-cost alternative to whole slide imaging scanners for the digitization of prepared microscope slides. The institute is currently looking for partners to help further develop, evaluate and market the iStix® software.

• The Video