Press Release Archive

Digitalization is now even making inroads into the cowshed. The purpose behind this move is to ensure animal welfare and the sustainable production of food and renewable raw materials. The Fraunhofer Institute for Large Structures in Production Engineering IGP and the Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics Research IGD will be showcasing their latest developments in this specialized field at MeLa 2023. This will be the first time that the two Rostock research institutes have exhibited at this particular agricultural trade show. They will be presenting the results of their work at the “Campus Wissenschaft” stand which will be jointly run with partners from other scientific institutions. One of the experiences laid on for visitors will be a virtual tour of a cowshed, using VR glasses to monitor the health and welfare of the animals kept there.

Gathering of the biometrics community in Germany: This year’s Darmstadt Biometrics Week will bring together researchers and end users from all over the world. During the five-day series of events (September 18 22), they will exchange information on the latest research results and developments in the industry. They will especially focus on key topic areas such as morphing, presentation attack detection and privacy protection in biometric applications. The organizers are still accepting registrations for the individual components of the week-long event.

Hamburg/Darmstadt, 11th July 2023: TCC, a provider of remote support services to intensive care units, and the Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics Research IGD have entered into an exclusive strategic partnership for the joint development of AI-supported tools in healthcare. The aim is to pool the competencies of the two partners in research and product development. While TCC develops the software and algorithms and supplies the clinical real-time data (“Real World Data”), Fraunhofer IGD will use its expertise in applied science to validate the results. The first joint project in wound management is already well advanced, and further use cases will be identified in the coming weeks and months. Because the collaboration is intended to be a long-term arrangement, TCC will become part of the clinical partner network of Fraunhofer IGD in the Health and Care business area.

The European Network of Excellence "dAIEDGE" promotes the application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on edge computing platforms - Fraunhofer IGD is one of the project partners. By combining edge computing and AI (Edge AI), devices can make decisions in a few milliseconds by processing data directly at the point of origin - without insecure connections, high latency, large energy overheads or costs due to transmission. Edge AI is therefore a pathfinder and accelerator for many new applications in areas such as autonomous driving, personalized digital assistance and intelligent service robots.

Optimized maintenance and service quality, even on the high seas: A project consortium led by the two Fraunhofer Institutes, IGD and CML, has developed a new service platform to be used by the maritime industry for after-sales applications. By means of augmented reality and intelligent assistance systems, the ship’s crew are able to carry out maintenance work at sea and thereby avoid costly downtime. The researchers presented the results of the MARIA project to a funding committee of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) in Kassel on Tuesday. The final report has now been published.

A number of Fraunhofer institutes have come together in the Biogenic Value Creation and Smart Farming initiative to develop digital systems and technologies such as planting robots, automatic pest detection and real-time frost warnings that are now being pioneered in strawberry cultivation.

At this year’s Learntec, Fraunhofer IGD will be demonstrating its VR training environment, Machine@Hand. This integrated authoring tool enables instructors to readily create individual training sequences without the need for programming knowledge. During the training session, the instructor can monitor the trainee’s vital data in real time to gauge stress levels and to adapt the training to the individual learner.

Improved patient care, speedier diagnoses and savings in care costs – the digital transformation of the healthcare industry promises solutions to the urgent problems of our time. Increasingly, systems based on artificial intelligence (AI) are being employed. But how can these be used effectively while maintaining compliance with data protection laws? Experts from the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft will be providing insights into their current work at DMEA 2023 in Berlin and answering questions about tomorrow’s health IT at booth D107 in Hall 2.2.

Digitalization in healthcare offers great scope for even better patient care. With the push by the German Federal Ministry of Health to make electronic patient records (ePA) mandatory for everyone from the end of 2024, the debate surrounding the security of sensitive health data is gaining new momentum. Many patients are concerned that their data could fall into the wrong hands. As a participant in the National Research Center for Applied Cybersecurity ATHENE, the contribution being made by Fraunhofer IGD to the adoption of digitalization in the healthcare sector lies in the improvement of safeguards for data use. The Fraunhofer IGD team will be providing insights into the current state of research at the DMEA exhibition in Berlin during the week of 25th - 27th April.

Industrial assembly lines vary considerably. Some operate with frequent changes of product setup, while others are characterized by complex processes and the need for intense coordination between frontline workers and backroom experts. Fraunhofer IGD has combined augmented reality (AR) and artificial intelligence (AI) to help users meet the challenges of modern production. The solution consists of an AR-supported assembly workstation that guides employees through the assembly sequence while simultaneously facilitating quality control of components as well as remote support. In this way, manufacturers can reduce error rates and eliminate cost-intensive downtimes. The Fraunhofer team will be presenting the software at the CONTROL trade fair and at HANNOVER MESSE.