Cognitive Sensor Technologies

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
  

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
  

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
  

Companies look to the Internet of Things (IoT) for reliable solutions that can be retrofitted to their applications. In an interview Dr. Günter Rohmer, head of the Positioning and Networks division, explained the key objectives for the IoT in industrial environments and set out the next milestones on the path towards Industry 4.0.

• The highlight story
  

Of the systems capable of monitoring large components such as whole car bodies, none have so far been suitable for an application for series production. Now, with RoboCT, we can inspect these components quickly and accurately. At the same time, this robot-based computed tomography (CT) system also represents the first step towards cognitive sensor systems in this field. In addition to applications in the automotive and aerospace industries, the system is to be used, for example, to inspect the condition and completeness of returned goods ordered online – without having to open them.

• The highlight story
  

The Internet of Things (IoT) presents small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with almost insurmountable hurdles – and widens the digital divide between them and large corporations. This is set to change in the future thanks to a sensor platform that will allow smaller companies to occupy market niches in the IoT sector and to hold their own against international competitors.

• The highlight story
  

“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
  

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 requires a lot of wireless receivers. How can we design them so that they save energy and don’t need much maintenance? Dr. Frank Oehler and Dr. Heinrich Milosiu have been dealing with this question since June 2007. Here is the development story of 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. In this interview 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
  

The digitalization of our economy and society is a dominant feature of modern life. We spoke with Dr. Dr. Albrecht Fritzsche who holds a doctorate in mathematics and philosophy 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
  

The FitnessSHIRT accurately monitors parameters such as heart rate variability (HRV) and your pulse – without an additional strap. Our employee Heiko Wörrlein tested the shirt on a training run in the Tennenlohe Forest near Nürnberg, and talked with chief of development Christian Weigand to find out more about the shirt’s potential applications and the data it collects.

• The video