© 2012 DFKI I ISSN - 1615 - 5769 I 30th edition

OrcaM – 3-D Digitalization of Objects

META-NET – Multilingual Europe Technology Alliance

Industry 4.0 at Hannover Messe 2012

NEWSG E R M A N R E S E A R C H C E N T E R F O R A R T I F I C I A L I N T E L L I G E N C E

2/2012

DFKI, together with venture partners Karlsruhe Institute of Technology

(KIT), AGT Germany, SEEBURGER AG, and the Municipal Utilities (Stadt-

werke) Saarlouis under the framework of the PeerEnergyCloud project,

presents an innovative energy management system for the intelligent

use of alternative energies.

Peer Energy Cloud is sponsored by the Federal Ministry of Economics

and Technology (BMWi) and was one of the winners of the 2011 Trusted

Cloud Competition. The PeerEnergyCloud project will celebrate its se-

lection as a “Landmark in the Land of Ideas” on October 9, 2012 in

Saarlouis.

www.peerenergycloud.de

Smart Home, Smart Grid, Smart Market –The PeerEnergyCloud project is a “Landmark in the Land of Ideas 2012”

Distributed power generation for local usage, alternative

energies intelligently combined with conventional power

stations: ICT (Information and Communication Technology)

can bring together supply and demand with pinpoint accuracy

and enable value-added services and energy trading among

neighbors via a digital citizen's marketplace.

Saarlouis – October 9, 2012

Bernd Seeburger, CEO Seeburger AG; Prof. Lutz Heuser, Chairmanof the Software-Cluster Strategy Board; Prof. Wolfgang Wahlster,CEO DFKI; Dr. Ralf Levacher, CEO Stadtwerke Saarlouis

Glass fiber

Land of Ideas

Selected Landmark 2012

Germany

KI 2012 – 35th Annual Conference on Artificial Intelligence..............................................................................................................4

International Conference on Artificial Intelligence Demonstrates Changing Applications.....................................................6

iGreen at the DLG Field Days 2012 ............................................................................................................................................................7

The 4th Industrial Revolution Is Gathering Steam ..............................................................................................................................8

DFKI-SmartFactoryKL Visionary Factory of the Future at Hannover Messe 2012 – The 4th Industrial Revolution Is Gaining Traction ...............................................................................................................................9

New Technologies from DFKI Bremen at Hannover Messe 2012....................................................................................................10

Prof. Wahlster Presents Hermes Award 2012 at the Hannover Messe ...........................................................................................11

Crowd Monitoring Provides Greater Safety at Major Events – Deployed at London Olympics ..............................................12

OrcaM – 3-D Digitalization of Objects ...................................................................................................................................................13

XML3D in Practice – Visualization Terminal for the Fortified City of Saarlouis...........................................................................14

Out and About in the Virtual World – Geodata in the 3-D Internet...............................................................................................15

CeLTech Developments Used in Educational Counseling and Innovative Teaching Methods in Medical Schools ............16

Excellence Accompanies DFKI – Support for the Universities in Bremen and Saarland ..........................................................18

Federal Minister Prof. Annette Schavan Visits DFKI Saarbrücken ..................................................................................................19

Learning Space Robots with Manual Dexterity – Software from DFKI .......................................................................................20

DFKI Interview – Dr. José de Gea Fernández.........................................................................................................................................21

The Praying Mantis Is the Model for a Six-legged Robot Designed to Build Infrastructure in Space ..................................22

Bremen's Team B-Human Vice World Champion in Robot Soccer World Championships ......................................................23

Navigation, Warnings, Braking – Safer Mobility Assistance Systems for Seniors......................................................................24

uRun Successfully Tested – New Sport and Health Apps .................................................................................................................25

The Shopping World of Tomorrow at the “ThyssenKrupp IdeenPark 2012”................................................................................26

The “Digital Age of Cookies” Featured in “365 Landmarks in the Land of Ideas” Competition.............................................26

Exciting Times for the Web – HTML5 Is Changing the World ..........................................................................................................27

At Least 21 European Languages Facing Digital Extinction .............................................................................................................28

Enterprise Software of Tomorrow – Cross-company Integration of Value-added Chains in Food Industry.......................30

News in Brief................................................................................................................................................................................................32

DFKI Service Offering.................................................................................................................................................................................33

German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) – Company Profile ...........................................................................34

Imprint

Issue 30, September 2012, ISSN 1615-5769Published by: German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence GmbH (DFKI)Editorial staff: Heike Leonhard, Christof Burgard, Reinhard KargerAddress: Campus D3 2, D-66123 Saarbrücken, E-mail: newsletter@dfki.de, Phone: +49 681 85775 5390Photos: DFKI, unless otherwise noted.

Layout, Graphics: Christof Burgard, Production: One Vision Design Translation team: Glenn Peach, Sylvia Krüger, Michael Bruss, Armindo RibeiroResponsible: Heike Leonhard, Corporate CommunicationsFrequency of publication: Semi-annual, Newsletter online: www.dfki.de/news News 2_2012 I © DFKI 3

KI 2012 is the 35th German Conference on Artificial Intelli-gence and once again brings together leading academic andindustrial researchers from all sub-areas of AI. The program ofKI 2012 includes paper and poster presentations and a varietyof workshops and tutorials.

KI 2012 is a premier forum for the exchange of news and re-search results concerning all aspects of AI theory and applica-tions. The conference invites currently significant andpreviously unpublished results from all areas of AI: fundamen-tals, algorithms, history, and applications.

The major areas of interest at the 35th edition of the GermanConference on Artificial Intelligence in Saarbrücken include:

Knowledge Acquisition, Representation, Reasoning and OntologiesCombinatorial Search, Configuration, Design and DeductionNatural Language Processing, Statistical NLP, SemanticsPlanning and Scheduling, Spatial and Temporal ReasoningReasoning under Uncertainty, Probabilistic InferencesNon-Monotonic Reasoning and Default LogicsConstraint Satisfaction, Processing and ProgrammingEmbodied AI: Robotics, Vision and PerceptionIntelligent Information Retrieval, Semantic Search, Semantic Web Evolutionary and Neural ComputationMachine Learning, Computational Learning Theory and Data-MiningDistributed Problem Solving and Multi-Agent SystemsGame Playing and Interactive Entertainment, AI for GraphicsGame Theory and General Game Playing, Generalized IntelligenceAI for Human-Computer-Interaction and Adaptive CommunicationMobile Solutions with Textile, Semantic and Spatial MediaAugmented Reality, Smart Cities, Smart Traffic, Smart Hardware Assistance Systems in Living and Working EnvironmentsSoftware-Engineering, Model Checking and Security in AI Distributed Computation and Swarm IntelligenceCognitive Modeling, AI and PsychologyHistory and Philosophical Foundations of AIApplications including Logistics, Production and Health Care

The organizing committee especially welcomes the numeroussubmissions that provide new insights into the interplay of AIand the real world as well as the papers and posters that inte-grate useful technologies into AI from other areas of computerscience. The review process was very selective. Of the 58 paperssubmitted this year, the program committee accepted 22 fullpapers (acceptance rate of 37%) and 8 short papers.

DFKI’s contributions to this year’s “KI” conference are ex-tremely interesting. In addition to several presentations and aseminar, DFKI scientists exhibit a variety of live demos of in-house research prototypes, posters, and prototypes developedin international joint research projects.

The following DFKI contributions are among those selected bythe KI 2012 review committee:

DFKI KI 2012 PapersTatjana Scheffler, Rafael Schirru and Paul Lehmann: “MatchingPoints of Interest from Different Social Networking Sites”

Alexander Volokh and Günter Neumann: “Dependency Parsingwith Efficient Feature Extraction“

Ben Hennig and Norbert Reithinger: “Developing of a Multi-modal Interactive Training System in Therapeutic Calisthenicsfor Elderly People”

Christian Federmann: “A Machine-Learning Framework for Hy-brid Machine Translation”

Marvin Schiller and Fernand Gobet: “A Comparison betweenCognitive and AI Models of Blackjack Strategy Learning” (CeL-Tech paper)

Together with the main conference, a small number of high-quality workshops in the areas of emotion and computing,planning and scheduling, human reasoning and automatic de-duction, model-based intention recognition, and speech dialogsystems have been invited. Several DFKI workshop papers com-plete the competitive KI 2012 main contributions.

DFKI KI 2012 TutorialJens Haupert, Alexander Kröner, Boris Brandherm: “ObjectMemory Tools: Tailoring a Thing’s Data Collection and Commu-nication Behavior”

DFKI KI 2012 Live DemosBenjamin Adrian, Markus Ebbecke and Sebastian Ebert: “AutoClassifier: Explaining Customers a Machine-Learning Model”

Daniel Sonntag and Christian Husodo Schulz: “Using a Dis-course and Dialogue Infrastructure for Collaborative Radiology”

Ivana Kruijff-Korbayova, Heriberto Cuayahuitl, Bernd Kiefer, Ste-fania Racioppa, Piero Cosi, Giulio Paci, Giacomo Sommavilla,Fabio Tesser, Hichem Sahli, Georgios Athanasopoulos, WeiyiWang, Valentin Enescu, Werner Verhelst, Lola Canamero, AryelBeck, Antoine Hiolle, Raquel Ros and Yiannis Demiris: “A Con-versational System for Multi-Session Child-Robot Interactionwith Several Games “

4 News 2_2012 I © DFKI

International Conference on Artificial Intelligence Demonstrates Changing Applications

KI 2012 – 35th Annual Conference on Artificial Intelligence

Christian Federmann: “An Open-Source Toolkit for Manual Eval-uation of MT Output”

DFKI KI 2012 PostersWolfgang Schlauch, Darko Obradovic and Andreas Dengel: “Organizational Social Network Analysis – Case Study in a Re-search Facility”

Paul Baxter, Heriberto Cuayahuitl, Rachel Wood, Ivana Kruijff-Korbayova and Tony Belpaeme: “Towards Augmenting DialogueStrategy Management with Multimodal Sub-Symbolic Con-text”

Christian Rauch, Tim Köhler, Martin Schröer, Elmar Berghöferand Frank Kirchner: “A Concept of a Reliable Three-Layer Behav-iour Control System for Cooperative Autonomous Robots”

Markus Goldstein: “Histogram-based Outlier Score (HBOS): A Fast Unsupervised Anomaly Detection Algorithm”

Matthias Reif, Faisal Shafait and Andreas Dengel: “Dataset Generation for Meta-Learning”

Matthias Reif, Faisal Shafait and Andreas Dengel: “Meta²-Features: Providing Meta-Learners More Information”

DFKI KI 2012 Industrial Project PostersJochen Setz, Gianluca Quercini, Daniel Sonntag and ChantalReynaud: “Facetted Search on Extracted Fusion Tables Data forDigital Cities” (Project with the European Institute of Innova-tion and Technology)

Jochen Frey, Boris Brandherm and Jörg Baus: “Trading Renew-able Energies” (Project PeerEnergyCloud)

Constantin Houy, Peter Fettke, Peter Loos, Iris Speiser, Maximil-ian Herberger, Alfred Gass and Ulrich Nortmann: “TowardsComputer-supported Analysis, Retrieval and Synthesis of Argu-mentation Structures in Humanities Using the Example of Jurisprudence” (Project ARGUMENTUM)

Julian Krumeich: „Collaborative Process Assistant – Towards aContext-sensitive Business Process Support Based on Emails“(Project COMMIUS)

Ivana Kruijff-Korbayova, Tony Belpaeme, Lola Canamero, PieroCosi, Yiannis Demiris, Remi Humbert, Marco Nalin, Mark Neerincx and Hichem Sahli: “Adaptive Strategies for Sustain-able Long-Term Social Interaction” (Project ALIZ-E)

ContactDr. Daniel SonntagResearch department: Intelligent User InterfacesE-mail: Daniel.Sonntag@dfki.dePhone: +49 681 85775 5254

Thierry Declerck and Stefania Racioppa: “Multilingual Lexicaland Grammatical Resources for Sentiment Analysis” (ProjectTrendMiner)

The poster and demo session with over 40 international con-tributions takes place in the DFKI lobby in Saarbrücken on Sep-tember 25.

Conference Organizing Committee General Chair Antonio Krüger (Saarland University and DFKI)Program Chair Birte Glimm (University of Ulm)Local Chairs Boris Brandherm (Saarland University),Ralf Jung (Saarland University)Workshop Chair Gabriele Kern-Isberner (TU Dortmund)Tutorial Chair Wolfgang Maaß (Saarland University)Poster and Demo Chair Stefan Wölfl (University of Freiburg)Doctorial Consortium Chair Carsten Lutz (University of Bremen)Publicity Chair Daniel Sonntag (DFKI)

More information www.dfki.de/KI2012

Publish your paper in the scientific journal „KI – KÜNSTLICHE INTELLIGENZ! “

The journal is published by the AI department of theGerman Informatics Society (Gesellschaft für Infor-matik, GI). Specialists in all areas of AI may contributearticles in the category “AI Market,” to put more focuson current developments that have made their wayout of research labs and into applications, therebyallowing readers to gain a better understanding of

current practical applications in the field of AI. Submis-sions are accepted at all times.

For more information please contact Dr. Daniel Sonntag, DFKI.

News 2_2012 I © DFKI 5

News 2_2012 I © DFKI6

Language recognition in smart phones, rapid search enginesfor the internet, robotic cleaners in the living room – all thesedevelopments incorporate Artificial Intelligence. In recentyears, this has contributed much toward making our everydaylives easier. Artificial Intelligence (AI) will also play a major rolein many more innovations to come. To discuss the current stateof research and the outlook for the future, experts meet at the“35th German Conference on Artificial Intelligence” held on theuniversity campus in Saarbrücken on September 24-27, 2012.The event is being organized by Antonio Krüger, professor forAI in Retail at Saarland University and Scientific Director atDFKI.

Artificial Intelligence has its roots during the 1950s and 60s. “Atthat time, people had great expectations about what comput-ers could do,” says Antonio Krüger, Professor at Saarland Uni-versity and speaker for the AI department at the GermanInformatics Society (Gesellschaft für Informatik, GI). “The sci-entists tried to recreate the cognitive functions of humans in acomputer.”

To build intelligent machines using human beings as the model –today's research has come a long way from that dream. Recentyears, in particular, have witnessed great advances: continueddevelopment has given us new methods for AI research thatare considerably different.“Larger storage capacity, more com-puting capacity, and good sensors are now merged with mod-ern methods of informatics. For example, computers are nowable to recognize standard situations much better,” explainsKrüger. “Research has significantly driven innovations in auto-mobile technology, logistics, or even in the medical technolo-gies.”

Artificial Intelligence will also play a major role in the future ofmany new developments. “Considering the aging society, thereis a great need for technical innovations with simple and intu-itive operations,” continues the Professor. These include, for example, car assistance systems that identify when the driveris having some sort of health problem and can then control thecar to a safe parking position. There may be refrigerators thatwarn you when the yogurt has expired and the milk carton is

International Conference on Artificial Intelligence Demonstrates Changing Applications

empty. “There are also promising developments in the area ofmedicine like wireless sensors that monitor the human heart-beat or sensors that can use the movement patterns to identifythe early stages of dementia,” states Krüger. The scientists inSaarbrücken are convinced that the networking of AI, for ex-ample, with medical, mechatronic, and other disciplines will increase in the near future. “There are already some interdisci-plinary projects today,” he adds. “My working group, for exam-ple, works very closely with psychologists.”

The “German Conference on Artificial Intelligence” at SaarlandUniversity provides an opportunity for German and interna-tional AI experts to exchange views. One of the focus topics isthe social interaction between humans and computers, whichincludes how computers recognize human facial expressionsand gestures and what potential applications may originatefrom this. Also on the agenda: how computers can read humanbio-signals, for example, how they can measure stress or becontrolled by thought. In addition, workshop and seminar sub-jects include useful information for intelligent dialog systemsor the presentation of spatial environments in the computer.

More informationwww.dfki.de/KI2012

KI 2012

ContactProf. Dr. Antonio KrügerHead of research department Innovative Retail LaboratoryE-mail: Antonio.Krueger@dfki.dePhone: +49 681 85775 5075

iGreen at the DLG Field Days 2012

AGRICULTURAL TECHNOLOGY

When government authorities publically provide – as made pos-sible by the iGreen results – their soil data and advisory data ina format accessible to the public, and when individual opera-tional farm data is disclosed in an open source format, then aneffective exchange can begin between both sides. The farmercan transfer the current growing conditions of a field to the ex-perts electronically as needed and then, in return, receive an op-timal recommendation tailored to the specific situation. In thisway, both can use the basic data now publically available.

More informationwww.igreen-projekt.de

In the tent city of the DLG Field Days in Bernburg-Strenzfeld(Saxony-Anhalt), DFKI and several project partners jointly pre-sented the research results of the iGreen project. At the variousexhibits organized under the categories "production cycles"and "public-private information cycles" (see graphic below),partners explained how iGreen’s open structures empower afruitful exchange of knowledge in agriculture. Organized everytwo years by the German Agricultural Society (Deutsche Land-wirtschaftsgesellschaft, DLG), “DLG Field Days” is considered tobe the most important meeting place for plant production ex-perts.

The iGreen project presentation focused on public-privateknowledge management and the communications infrastruc-ture for a comprehensive data exchange among all participantsin the agriculture sector. The interfaces, data formats, terminol-ogy, and communication structures form the basis of an exten-sive data network of knowledge and services. All of the playersin agricultural production benefit from the exchange and, es-pecially, from the new opportunities that public-private ven-tures provide.

An example of the communication between farmer and officialadvisory services illustrates the benefit of such joint ventures:

The knowledge cycle in iGreen: The inner loop (green) represents the flow of data in agricultural production. Theouter loop highlights how the cooperation between public and private participants improves and expands theavailable information.

ContactProf. Dr. Andreas DengelHead of research department Knowledge ManagementE-mail: Andreas.Dengel@dfki.dePhone: +49 631 20575 1000

News 2_2012 I © DFKI 7

Graphic: Corinna Treitz, DLR R-N-H, Bad Kreuznach

Information by theofficial advisory services Knowledge

Management

Official advisory services of the German federal states

Modern Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)including smartphones, mobile web, and cloud computing havepermitted a vision proposed more than two decades ago – the“Internet of Things” – to become reality in our everyday lives.The arrival of these technologies into the manufacturing envi-ronment opens the door for industry to significantly improvethe productivity, quality, and flexibility and to introduce a para-digm change in the area of industrial manufacturing. In thecontext of the High Tech Strategy ICT-2020, the German gov-ernment is supporting national companies and research insti-tutes in their efforts to implement of the so called Industry 4.0.

The presentation of the DFKI SmartFactoryKL system demon-strator at the Hannover Messe 2012 is an example of how thistopic is currently gaining real traction. If you had “googled” In-dustry 4.0 just six months ago, you would have had relativelyfew hits – today, the number of hits for information on this sub-ject is substantially higher.

This system demonstrator illustrates for the first time the coreaspects of the 4th Industrial Revolution. The major element isthe cyber-physical production system (CPPS). Cyber-physicalsystems are distributed, smart objects, networked together viainternet technologies. In the area of production engineeringthis may include everything from individual processing mod-ules to plant equipment and systems as well as the individualsmart products. CPPS will revolutionize factories of the futurefrom the ground up and include the following typical aspects:

Smart objects – the extension of technical devices by decen-tralized intelligence

All-embracing networks – the networked ability of all suchsmart objects to communicate

Use of internet standards – the adaptation of existing andproven standards for cable connected and wireless communi-cation

Convertible, agile production systems – the aggregation ofsmart objects into mostly self-configuring production systems

Vertical network integration – the transition from strictly hi-erarchical control architectures to stronger vertical integrationand integrated network structures

Changing role for humans – the stronger support of the userthrough improved and mobile access to production data andfacilities, combined with a user-focused and context-adaptive,interactive design

The 4th Industrial Revolution Is Gathering Steam

ContactDr. Jochen SchlickResearch department: Innovative Factory SystemsE-mail: Jochen.Schlick@dfki.dePhone: +49 631 20575 3405

These subjects have been actively pursued at the DFKI-Smart-FactoryKL since its establishment and today are already well in-tegrated in the product and process development activities ofa number of partner enterprises. DFKI, in collaboration withwell-known names in industry, developed and implementedthe fundamental technologies such as the digital productmemory in the earlier projects SemProM and RES-COM, spon-sored by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research(BMBF). The foundation for new levels of productivity andadded value is the development and marketing of au-tonomous, self-controlled, and knowledge based productionsystems, which are in turn based on cyber-physical systems. Thearrival of the Internet of Things and the Internet of Servicesinto the world of industrial manufacturing will facilitate con-tinuous improvement in the performance of industrialprocesses in manufacturing, engineering, supply chain and lifecycle management, which, in sum, will lead to a new and inte-grated form of industrialization.

More informationwww.dfki.de/ifs

www.hightech-strategie.de/enwww.forschungsunion.de

www.semprom.dewww.res-com-projekt.de

ENGINEERING

DFKI-SmartFactoryKL Visionary Factory of the Future at Hannover Messe 2012 – The 4th Industrial Revolution Is Gaining Traction

The transporter controls more than the material flow. Equippedwith embedded sensors, local processing intelligence, and wire-less communication with the plant process control unit, it canactively influence the manufacturing process.

The automated product assembly can be performed accordingto customer specification, i.e., optimized for resource savingsor operating times. The process variants required to achieve thisare selected and implemented according to the order data ofthe smart product. For a smart display and assessment of theresources consumed, the operator can access a web-based vi-sualization framework developed in the context of the BMBFRES-COM project.

After passing through this cyber-physical production process,our sample key finder product is subject to quality control at amanual inspection station. Optionally, product assembly canalso be performed manually with workers supported by digitaloperating instructions and assembly instructions. Informationand handling instructions for the current situation are dis-played with the aid of Augmented Reality (AR) technology in acamera image, which provides a very clear explanation of thecomplex operations and work activities to be implemented. Inits entirety, the prototype of the DFKI SmartFactoryKL illustratedfor the first time an actual implementation of the core aspectsof the 4th Industrial Revolution.

More informationwww.dfki.de/ifs

Each work piece in a cyber-physical production system deter-mines for itself the factory processes that it will undergo. Therigid, central factory control, familiar from traditional industrialproduction, will be replaced by a new kind of decentralizedmanufacturing architecture. Equipped with sensors and wire-less networks, the system components can recognize and reactto complex events and critical states, and then adjust down-stream plans accordingly.

At the Industrial-IT Forum at the Hannover Messe 2012, DFKIpresented a prototype system which showed a smart productpassing through a complete production line in the factory ofthe future. Created together with well-known partners fromindustry, the complete, prototypical production line is used toproduce a smart “key finder” that, in conjunction with a smart-phone, tells the user the location of some everyday object, forexample, a key ring.

The production process for the key finder begins at the orderpicking station, where the order data from the enterprise mas-ter data system is loaded into the product memory of the keyfinder. Each individual manufacturing station throughout theplant has access to the data, which is interoperably stored in astandardized data format, the so called Object Memory Model(OMM). The OMM was developed at DFKI under the frameworkof the BMBF SemProM project and is currently being definedas a W3C standard.

Now that the semi-finished product knows what manufactur-ing steps still lie ahead, the casing is custom engraved at themilling station as requested by the customer. The product-spe-cific engraving program is created from the order data by or-chestrating modular sub programs dynamically into ahigher-level processing program. As soon as the machiningprocess is finished, the casing is removed by a robot at the orderpicking station. The current operational data at the milling sta-tion can be accessed from a mobile tablet PC.

Next, the automatic assembly of the smart key finder is accom-plished at an assembly station, where the order picking robotplaces the semi-finished product on a smart work piece trans-porter.

ENGINEERING

ContactMathias Schmitt Research department: Innovative Factory SystemsE-mail: Mathias.Schmitt@dfki.dePhone: +49 631 20575 3416

News 2_2012 I © DFKI 9

News 2_2012 I © DFKI10

At the German government’s stand: Prof. Dr.Frank Kirchner, head of DFKI Robotics Innova-tion Center (right) introducing the EO smartconnecting car to Stefan Schmitt, divisionhead at the Federal Ministry of Transport,Building and Urban Development (center)

The e-car of the future is changing itstraditional form, a “cone scanner” as theguardian angel of autonomous vehicles,and agricultural machines working handin hand. These were some of the innova-tive IT solutions at the Hannover Messein April 2012.

At the government's stand at the tradefair, the Robotics Innovation Centerdemonstrated how the EO smart con-necting car can alter its shape to adjustto the specific mobility requirements. Thedriver's compartment of the EO smartconnecting car is raised and the chassis iscontracted. The vision: Modules such aspassenger compartments or loadingramps combine and connect to other ve-hicles to form “road trains.” Data and en-ergy transfer from one vehicle to theother in the chain of cars. This opens newperspectives for mobility in rural areas,i.e., energy savings when traveling iden-tical routes. Each of the four wheels canturn 90° if required, for example, to parksideways into a tight parking spot. Be-sides the EO smart connecting car, DFKIscientists explained how using an inter-active charging post with e-vehicle fleettrials, the driving and charging data wascollected and analyzed in the electric mo-bility pilot region Bremen/Oldenburg.The vehicles are equipped with specialrecorders that, among other things, storethe actual mileage data. The data is usedin the development of an intelligent in-frastructure for electric mobility.

A smart scanner protects autonomousindustrial vehicles from collisions by pre-dicting them in advance: In the projectIGEL at the Cyber-Physical Systems de-partment, software was developed in col-laboration with Götting Company for alaser scanner that scans a cone pattern inlieu of the usual two-dimensional scan.The software uses measured distancedata to compute a reference level so thatobstacles like potholes and ditches canbe identified just as accurately as obsta-cles on the surface. Visitors experiencedfirst-hand a demonstration at the Göt-ting stand at the trade fair.

Agricultural value chains can be opti-mized by plan-based robotic controls.This is the promise of the logistics plat-form “marion,” which was honored onApril 23, 2012 at the HMI by the initiative“365 Landmarks in the Land of Ideas2012.” It is based on a planning systemthat enables the machinery to respond tochanges in the environment and coordi-nate their routes. This makes harvestingprocesses more productive. Researchersat the DFKI Robotics Innovation Centerare developing “marion” in a joint ven-ture with agricultural equipment manu-facturer Claas and the companies Stilland Atos C-LAB, in a project sponsored bythe Federal Ministry of Economics andTechnology (BMWi). In Hannover, the visitors to the BMWi stand saw a Stillcompany forklift further developed in“marion”.

AGRICULTURAL TECHNOLOGYAUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY

The intelligent cone scanner, guardian angel of autonomous vehicles: Prof. Dr. ChristophLüth from the DFKI Cyber-Physical Systems department introduced Project IGEL at theHannover Messe 2012

Awards ceremony honoring the “marion” project as a “Landmark in the Land of Ideas 2012”

New Technologies from DFKI Bremen at Hannover Messe 2012

The coveted technology award of the Deutsche Messe waspresented in the context of the official opening ceremonies ofthe Hannover Messe on April 22, 2012. Prof. Dr. WolfgangWahlster, chairperson of the independent jury, announced thewinner of the Hermes Award 2012 in the presence of GermanChancellor Angela Merkel, Wen Jiabao (Premier of the StateCouncil of the People’s Republic of China), Education and Re-search Minister Annette Schavan, and Lower Saxony's MinisterPresident David McAllister.

The Hermes Award 2012 was presented by Prof. Dr. Schavan,Minister for Education and Research, to Phoenix Contact Com-pany (established in 1923 and based in Blomberg, North Rhine-Westfalia), for the innovative LM-S lightning current measuringsystem. Phoenix Contact developed a system that measurespower surges in lightning conductors and makes operationalevaluations immediately available to the remote maintenancecenter via the internet. Lightning strikes are responsible formost incidents involving damage to the rotor blades of modernwind turbines. The award winning system facilitates continu-ous monitoring and ensures that maintenance work subse-quent to a lightning strike is initiated quickly. The system isbased on the electro-optical Faraday effect and measures thefull course of the lightning surge as well as the impact on eachof the individual rotor blades. The deployment of this systemimproves unit availability and increases the reliability of theelectrical power supply. Maintenance work can be targetedmore effectively and implemented with greater cost savings.

“Now in its ninth round, the Hermes Award has established itself worldwide as the ‘Oscar’ for engineering. The intensity ofresearch in industry has increased sharply over the last threeyears and, correspondingly, an excellent pool of applicants pro-vided the jury with an exciting nose-to-nose race among the46 submitted entries competing for one of the five sought afternominations. New instruments in the High Tech Strategy suchas the Clusters of Excellence, future concept projects, and their

Prof. Wahlster Presents Hermes Award 2012 at the Hannover Messe

Prof. Wahlster honoring prize winner Phoenix Contact

Conferring of the Hermes Award 2012: (l.-r.) Prof. Annette Schavan, Federal Minister of Education and Research; Roland Bent, Phoenix Contact, Prof. Wolfgang Wahlster, Chairperson of the Jury; Dr. MartinWetter, Phoenix Contact; David McAllister, Prime Minister of Lower Saxony, Dr. Wolfram von Fritsch, CEO Deutsche Messe AG

Phot

o: H

anno

ver M

esse

News 2_2012 I © DFKI 11

coordination through the Science and Industry Research Unionhave given an enormous boost to the innovation process inGermany,” explained DFKI CEO Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Wahlster dur-ing the opening ceremony at the Hannover Messe. “This yearfocused on a technology megatrend: cyber-physical systems,which stand for the connection of the physical world of manu-facturing to the information-engineering cyber world of the in-ternet. Such cyber-physical systems form the basis for the 4thIndustrial Revolution, now on the advance in Germany with theFederal Government's decision to sponsor the future orientedproject Industry 4.0. Smart sensors record the operating envi-ronment, measured values are made available in real time viathe internet anywhere in the world, valves and other actuatorsin the plant are controlled by the Internet of Things, and indus-trial assistance systems facilitate even the employment of eld-erly workers with power enhancing exoskeletons.”

In addition to the winning Phoenix Contact, the other firmsnominated for the award were: ContiTech AG, Hannover; FestoAG, Esslingen; Linz Center of Mechatronics, Linz, Austria; andPepperl + Fuchs, Mannheim.

More informationwww.hannovermesse.de/en/hermesaward

SECURITY TECHNOLOGY

Crowd Monitoring Provides Greater Safetyat Major Events – Deployed at LondonOlympics

Large crowds of people can generate a risk situation: the in-teractions of crowds can be predicted only with great difficulty,security personnel are rarely able to respond and control a crit-ical situation fast enough. DFKI's Department of Embedded In-telligence has developed a method for identifying criticalproportions and influencing the situation in large gatheringsof people.

The design approach was supplied by a ubiquitous technology –sensors on smart phones: the visitors to a major event use anapp that anonymizes and transmits their position data whileat the same time supplying them with safety-relevant infor-mation. The data transmitted by the users on a voluntary basisis aggregated and visualized on a map. The process makes thesituation visible, showing in what direction and at what speedthe crowd is moving and where the crowd could perhaps reacha critical mass. This kind of “Crowd Monitoring” allows earlyestimation of situational risks and can provide event organizerswith timely information. If the system identifies, for example,a bottleneck, it can recommend the next available alternativevia a push-message.

The technology was created in the context of the four year EUproject SOCIONICAL, in which various universities and researchinstitutes studied the relationship of technology and social in-teraction. The system was officially deployed at the LondonOlympic Games 2012 and integrated in a smart phone app forthe City of London Police Department and the City of Westmin-ster. While thousands of sports fans streamed into the city cen-ter, authorities could observe and analyze the mass flows ofpeople in real time. Fortunately, there were no security inci-dents during the Games, but still the system proved the valueof direct communication with the users, for example, when the

underground lines were cancelled and detour routes could berecommended promptly. The great benefits for personal safetyand the integration of diverse data, for example, schedules ofevents during the Olympic Games, resulted in thousands of vis-itors contributing their anonymized data, adding to the repre-sentative total values.

Data privacy emphasizedThe scientists at DFKI place special emphasis on data protec-tion in this technology and ensure that the project is accom-panied by the appropriate consulting and assessmentmeasures. On one hand, the validity of Crowd-Monitoring viamobile phones depends on the number of people who are willing to contribute their position data, on the other hand,such collaborative activity surveillance raises judicial and ethi-cal issues. Accordingly, the users always remain anonymouswhen using the app and their position data is encoded beforeit is sent to the server. The transfer of data is restricted to a spe-cific area and is activated only in critical situations for a prede-fined period of time and only with the explicit approval of theuser. The user specifies if, when, and which data is made avail-able.

The smart phone app of the City of London Police is listed underthe name “City Police” in the App-Stores and provided for freedownload. The technologies used at the Olympics have beensuccessfully tested several times before: in 2011, at the open airfestival “Notte Bianca” in Malta, at the “Lord Mayor’s Show” inLondon in the context of the London Cultural Festival “WestEnd Live” in early 2012, and also at the “Vienna Marathon.”After the Olympic Games 2012, the technology will be suppliedfor use at other major events.

More informationwww.dfki.de/ei

Contact

Prof. Dr. Paul LukowiczHead of research department Embedded IntelligenceE-mail: ei@dfki.dePhone: +49 631 20575 4000

Tobias FrankeResearch department: Embedded IntelligenceE-mail: Tobias.Franke@dfki.dePhone: +49 631 20575 2049

MEDIA INDUSTRY

OrcaM – Orbital Camera System – is both hardware and soft-ware for the automated, three-dimensional recording and re-construction of real objects. The high resolution, sphericalscanner was planned and implemented by researchers at DFKI'sAugmented Vision department and engineers from NEK GmbH(Sustainable Energy Systems and Plant Construction, Kaisers-lautern).

The process has already been rolled out in an exemplary man-ner in cooperation with the Museum Pfalzgalerie, Kaisers-lautern. The non-invasive scanning process recorded anddigitally reconstructed Wilhelm Lehmbruck's sculpture “FemaleTorso” (1918, 67 x 40 x 25 cm, bronze) and Hermann Scherer's“Little Girl” (1924/25, 76 x 38 x 40,5 cm, Swiss pine), presentedto the public as a digital 3-D model in November 2011.

The 3-D reconstruction of the richly detailed statuette “Alle-gory, given to Prince Heinrich of the Netherlands by the grate-ful citizens of Luxembourg” was possible in cooperation withLion Systems based in Luxembourg and the Musée d'Histoirede la Ville de Luxembourg.

In contrast to traditional laser scanners, the system developedat DFKI's Augmented Vision Department is much more capableof producing precise color and texture data of the object. Thisallows an almost natural looking 3-D reconstruction, which inthe total of individual reconstructed features has never beforebeen possible and sets a new standard for quality. The possibil-ity of adding subsequent lighting, for example, to allow aseemless embedding of the object into a video recording of ac-tual scenes, as well as the precise geometry of the reconstruc-tions, which lies in the sub-millimeter range, give an indicationof the diverse range of potential application of the system:

whether for designing virtual museums, creating object repos-itories for digital worlds in computer generated films or PCgames, for internet applications like shops, catalogs, auctions,or simply to convert a hand made model into a digitally usefulrepresentation.

How OrcaM worksIn order to digitally reconstruct an object in three-dimensions,it must first be possible to optically scan it from all sides. Forthe 3-D scanner OrcaM, the object is positioned on a glass plateand photographed form various angles by multiple cameraswith a resoultion of 175 pixels per square millimeter, under de-fined lighting conditions. The data obtained in this way permitsa reconstruction of form, color, and texture of the object. Tiniestsurface imperfections, as in Lehmbruck's sculpture, are cap-tured and reproduced, which contributes substantially to thephotorealistic appearance of the 3-D model.

More informationhttp://av.dfki.de/projects_recent/orcam

www.nek-kl.dewww.lionsystems.lu

OrcaM – 3-D Digitalization of Objects

ContactProf. Dr. Didier StrickerHead of Research department Augmented VisionE-mail: Didier.Stricker@dfki.dePhone: +49 631 20575 3500

Comparison of photograph and reconstruction: Hermann Scherer's“Little Girl” made available by the Museum Pfalzgalerie, Kaiserslautern

Digital 3-D model of “Allegory” (l. – r.) Geometry, computed material properties under neutral lighting,HDR lighting, and ambient light reflection

OrcaM – Orbital Camera SystemReconstruction: Wilhelm Lehmbruck's “Female Torso” made availableby the Museum Pfalzgalerie, Kaiserslautern

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XML3D in Practice – Visualization Terminal for the Fortified City of Saarlouis© THESEUS Pressebüro

Since June 2012, the digital models of the historic fortifiedcity of Saarlouis have been available to the public at the Muni-cipal Museum where it is possible to wander virtually throughthe city on the touch screen terminal. “The challenge was in in-tegrating the 3-D models with the information and photoimages of the individual structures. This was only possiblethrough the use of our new XML3D technology,” said Prof. Slusallek, head of the research department Agents and Simu-lated Reality. The 3-D internet technology “XML3D” developedin Saarland extends the existing HTML standard to declarative,interactive 3-D content. The visualization terminal is its firstreal practical deployment.

XML3D is designed from the point of view of the web applica-tion developer and represents a minimal and seamless expan-sion of the current standards. Because well-known and provenmethods may continue to be used, there is no need to learn acomplicated, special graphic programming language. One setof elements for the specification of geometric structures, ma-terials, light, or camera perspectives is sufficient to embedthree dimensional content. To a large extent, the re-use and ex-pansion of familiar HTML elements allows a draft architectureto be proposed that increases the HTML standard only by whatis absolutely required. This ensures that the introduction of thisnew technology will not be burdened with insurmountable dif-ficulties.

This strategy has already met with high acceptance. W3C, theinternational standardization authority for the web, has crea-ted a “Community Group” for the advanced development andestablishment of a new 3-D internet technology. DFKI andFraunhofer Institute for Graphic Data Processing are among theoriginal founders of this group and DFKI has provided KristianSons to serve as the co-chair of the group. “Germany is a leaderin the development of declarative 3-D internet technology. Wehave an opportunity to establish a global standard and tocreate a brand new realm of possibilities for internet applicati-ons,” said Kristian Sons, head of the XML3D research group atDFKI.

In addition to application development and the standardiza-tion of the technology, deliberations have already begun on thenext step in web technology. Every modern smart phone has a

3-D chip with huge computing power, which can be used notonly for the display of 3-D content, but also for computing com-plex simulation models. Investigating how the new browsertechnologies can be further improved and how they reveal newuse concepts are the subjects of the EU research agenda for thefuture internet, subjects which Prof. Slusallek and his team areactively contributing: “The visualization terminal project forSaarlouis offered us the chance to prove the performance of ourdesign approach. Our vision is that, with the help of our tech-nology, this model can be made available to everyone on theweb in the coming years, similar to the way texts, photos, or vi-deos can be called up on the web pages of Saarlouis today.”

More informationhttp://staedtisches-museum.saarlouis.de

www.xml3d.org

ContactProf. Dr. Philipp SlusallekHead of Research department Agents and Simulated RealityE-mail: Philipp.Slusallek@dfki.dePhone: +49 681 85775 5276

Kristian SonsHead of the XML3D research group and vice-chairperson, Declarative 3D for the Web Architecture Community Group at W3CE-mail: Kristian.Sons@dfki.dePhone: +49 681 85775 3833

MEDIA INDUSTRY

Visualization of a section of the downtown Saarbrücken. The generatedstore fronts are based on the data recorded in OpenStreetMap

Out and About in the Virtual World – Geodata in the 3-D Internet

3-D view of Saarbrücken based on Open-StreetMap data. Tooltips on the individualobjects provide additional information

Whether a personal location reference on Facebook, exactdirections from a route planner, or precise information aboutthe traffic situation from a navigation system – geodata is afact of everyday life for the private user.

The geodata combined, prepared, and presented in a Geo-In-formation System (GIS) provides information about the infra-structure of an entire city district or serves as a tool for the cityand urban planners, for example, for information aboutwhether or not a given location is suitable for development asa technology park or for a corporate relocation. Simulated sce-narios of rescue operations at the scene of a disaster or the im-pacts of climate change on protected land areas and large citiesare created on the basis of GIS data.

Three-dimensional representations of this data play an ever in-creasing role. 3-D models of cities or landscapes provide moreplasticity for more flexible access options if integrated in aweb-GIS.

“RealGIS” is a joint venture of DFKI Simulation and Visualiza-tion Group and CAIGOS Company for the purpose of developingDFKI's XML3D visualization platform as an extension to the“CAIGOS-GIS” geo-information system. Using XML3D it is quiteeasy to connect 2-D and 3-D web content by means of standardtechnologies seamlessly with one another in a single web ap-plication and to create new applications. This is facilitated bythe declarative approach for a simple introduction for program-mers to start working with 3-D models as well as by the avail-ability of WebGL capable browsers for a user friendly use of thetechnology.

The software allows the user to automatically create a virtualmodel of a real city or landscape on the basis of the availablegeodata and present it interactively in a web browser. Throughthe direct interaction possibilities with the 3-D geometry, amodel is created that not only allows a three dimensional rep-resentation of GIS data, but also refers 3-D objects back againin relationship to the stored expert data.

The visualization options developed for this are not limited touse in commercial geo-information systems, rather they canalso access open source geodata like OpenStreetMap (OSM) inorder to generate interactive 3-D city models, which can thenbe presented in the web browser. OSM is probably the bestknown data source for open source geodata and supplies a va-riety of information about land use, road networks, buildingfloor plans, and points of interest.

The global expansion of the data sets is a special challenge thatplaces specific requirements on the administration of the 3-Dobjects like trees, street signs, street lamps, or detailed modelsof prominent landmark buildings that are used for the repre-sentations. This is the issue currently being examined in the de-velopment of a database-aided administration system forXML3D scenes.

The RealGIS project is funded by the SMEs innovation program(Zentrales Innovationsprogramm Mittelstand, ZIM) of the Fed-eral Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi).

ContactDr. Hilko HoffmannResearch department: Agents and Simulated RealityE-mail: Hilko.Hoffmann@dfki.dePhone: +49 681 85775 7742

Lothar BubelCAIGOS GmbH66459 Kirkelwww.caigos.deE-mail: lbubel@caigos.dePhone: +49 6849 6004 0

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MEDIA INDUSTRY

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CeLTech Developments Used in Educational Counseling and Innovative Teaching Methods in Medical Schools

BMBF Project “ReverB” Enables Technology-based Educational Counseling in Saarland

ReverB search concept supports se-lection of educational counselingservices in the region

The Regionalverband (Regional Association) Saarbrücken anda network of foundations in collaboration with CeLTech (Centrefor e-Learning Technology) have been developing “Regional As-sociation Makes Educational Management” – a project knownas “ReverB.” They have created a brand new type of online por-tal in Germany, which is now entering the statewide trial phaseas scheduled at the end of the project.

ReverB provides a platform for educational counseling in sup-port of life-long learning, which is not only useful for institu-tional consulting, but also for individual consults regardingcontinuing personal development. Funded by the Federal Min-istry of Education and Research (BMBF) under the “Learning inPlace” program, ReverB aims to develop a coherent educationalmanagement system to include associated communicationand network structures based on an educational monitoringapproach.

The priority lies on the establishment and coordination of aneducational counseling network with expanded online infra-structure for counselors and end clients, innovative trainingconcepts, e.g., e-Learning modules for specific target groupsand finally, improved engineering science skills for youths.

The online portal conceived and implemented at CeLTech is akey component of the educational counseling system, whichprovides local support to counselors as they perform daily workand, quite possibly, improves their efficiency. The portal is basedon a comprehensive database containing an overview of re-gional and nationwide educational guidance centers and serv-ices and enables the networking of various counselors. On thebasis of a differentiated rights management system, educationproviders can place their service offers on the portal and, in thisway, make them available to the nationwide consulting net-

work. Currently there are more than 25 counselors using thenetwork being able to access over 160 educational service of-fers in the Regional Association Saarbrücken.

This is possible due to the development of an intelligent searchconcept. Using pre-defined categories and free keywords, indi-vidual living situations can be taken into consideration whilesearching for the appropriate educational opportunities andthe corresponding institutions. Details regarding the counsel-ing services are also displayed along with the addresses. Themap location closest to the client can be selected and, with theappropriate function, the exact route to that location can bedetermined, printed, and handed directly to the client to takealong. This provides a local, competent, regionally networkededucation guidance service for people of all ages and in allwalks of life.

The functionalities of ReverB will be expanded by a self-assess-ment service to be developed at CeLTech's “Psychological As-sessment Technology Lab” under the management of Prof. Dr.Frank M. Spinath. The self-assessment service consists of teststo determine interests, motivation, work habits, and personalitytraits. The questionnaires prepared by the counselors can beeasily completed prior to the meeting from a mobile tablet PC.Clients and counselors are provided individual feedback in ad-vance of the counseling session.

More informationhttp://reverb.saarlernnetz.de

AI-based Learning System “Active Med” to Be Deployed in All Hessian University Clinics

ContactCeLTech – Centre for e-Learning Technology at DFKIPD Dr. Christoph IgelManaging DirectorE-mail: Christoph.Igel@celtech.de Phone: +49 681 85775 1051 or -1052

Student closing a wound under the supervision of a doctor

In the latest BMBF collaborative project, the aims are to pro-mote the practical clinical skills of medical personnel – studentsand practicing doctors – by systematic, technology-aidedteaching and to strengthen the professionalism of the teach-ers.

In addition to CeLTech, technology partners in this project in-clude: the medical faculties and corresponding university clinicsof Goethe University Frankfurt, Justus Liebig University Gießen,Philipps-University Marburg as well as the German Society forSurgery, the Society for Medical Training, and the German As-sociation of Medical Students.

The initial project phase is dedicated to the development of theauthoritative national learning objectives under the lead man-agement of the Working Group “Teaching” of the German So-ciety for Surgery (Chirurgische Arbeitsgemeinschaft Lehre derDeutschen Gesellschaft für Chirurgie) in cooperation with var-ious professional associations. The teaching materials neces-sary to achieve these learning objectives are stored in theAI-based learning content management system developed atCeLTech. The system identifies the user's level of knowledgeand adjusts the course content with appropriate learning ob-jects, for example, texts, films, and photos. Thanks to the inte-gration of the so called Digital Imaging and Communicationsin Medicine Viewer, it is possible to display the DICOM stan-dards frequently used in medicine as well as, for example, x-rayimages.

Furthermore, testing includes the use of multiple-choice prob-lems to evaluate professional knowledge. In parallel, the cur-ricula at the participating universities are being expanded interms of the learning objectives, teaching methods are beingsystematically reviewed in terms of the evidence, and proposalsfor a restructuring are being made as well as the coordinatingof their implementation. New training programs and careerpaths for doctors will be demonstrated at the participating uni-versities, which should optimize teaching in a clinical environ-ment as well as raise the level of interest in professionalteaching careers. A “Train-the-Teacher” program, which will beprovided to all 36 German medical faculties, exposes youngerdoctors to the necessary teaching skills. The AI learning systemfrom Active Med, which is based on DFKI's intelligent-adaptivelearning system “Active Math,” is now designed to operatewith mobile devices, especially Tablet PCs.

First course in Active Med: Teaching the theoretical basis of woundtreatment

More informationwww.celtech.de

News 2_2012 I © DFKI 17

HEALTHCARE MANAGEMENT

The Centre for e-Learning Technology would be pleased todiscuss these and other topics with you. Visit CeLTech atone of the following conferences, trade fairs, and events:

September 17 – 22, 2012: Science Week 2012. Saarbrücken

September 18 – 21, 2012: EC TEL 2012 – European Confe- rence on Technology Enhanced Learning. Saarland Uni- versity. Saarbrücken Campus.

September 19 – 21, 2012: Technologies of Play – Game- Based Aesthetic Education. Between Performative Prac- tice and Institutional Design, College of Fine Arts, Saar- brücken.

September 24 – 27, 2012: KI 2012. Saarland University, Saarbrücken Campus.

September 25, 2012: Innovation in HR Development. Macromedia University for Media and Communication, Hamburg.

September 25 – 26, 2012: “Abitur” then what? Conference Hall Saarbrücken, Saarbrücken.

November 13 – 14, 2012: Social Media and Personnel De- velopment in Companies. Economics and Technology in Dialog, European Academy Otzenhausen.

November 22 – 23, 2012: Campus Innovation 2012. Multimedia Kontor Hamburg, Hamburg.

February 4 – 8, 2013: e-Learning@UniGR. University of the Greater Region, Luxemburg.

News 2_2012 I © DFKI18

In the government's “Excellence Initiative,” universities in Bremen and Saarland have posted an impressive record

In the third round of the Excellence Initiative for Cutting-Edge Research at Institutions of Higher Education, the Univer-sity of Bremen was ranked among the top German universities.The north German university is one of eleven elite “universitiesof excellence” in Germany and took the top honors with itsentry “Ambitious and Agile” in the funding line “Future Con-cepts.” Successes all along the line: the university also prevailedin two other funding lines - “Clusters of Excellence” and “Grad-uate Schools.” Overall, it will receive 98 million Euro. Of thisamount, 50 million Euro is for the implementation of futureconcepts. 39 million Euro is for the excellence cluster “TheOcean as an Earth System - Center for Marine EnvironmentalSciences (MARUM),” an area in which DFKI Bremen collaboratesin the field of underwater robotics. The grad school “BremenInternational Graduate School of Social Sciences” (BIGSSS) willreceive nine million Euro. Prof. Rolf Drechsler, Head of DFKI Research Department Cyber-Physical Systems since October2011, can honestly say at the end of his term of office in Brementhat he is handing over an “excellent university” to his succes-sor as Deputy Head of Research and Young Scholars. In the fu-ture, under the framework of a tri-lateral cooperationsagreement, DFKI Bremen will have closer ties to the ComputerScience Faculty of the university and the German AerospaceCenter (DLR) in Bremen: the aim is the expansion of the grad-uate program “System Design.” In 2014, plans call for the es-tablishment of the interdisciplinary chair of “IntelligentCinematics.”

At Saarland University, the “Multimodal Computing and Inter-action” Cluster of Excellence was extended for five years in thissecond phase of the Excellence Initiative. The successes of theinformation science institutions in Saarbrücken will bring fund-ing support over the next five years amounting to nearly 59million Euro and provide jobs for numerous highly qualified sci-entists. Furthermore, Saarbrücken's Graduate School of Com-puter Science will receive about seven million Euro in continuedfunding from the German Research Foundation (DFG). “This isabout 60 percent more than the previous funding amount,which is a financial acknowledgement of the past achieve-ments and the convincing plans for continued expansion,” saidProf. Raimund Seidel, Director at the Max-Planck Institute forComputer Science and speaker for the Saarbrücken ExcellenceCluster. Besides Saarland University, the other organizationsparticipating in the Cluster of Excellence and the grad schoolsare Max-Planck Institute for Computer Science, Max-Planck In-stitute for Software Systems, and the German Research Centerfor Artificial Intelligence.

An important aspect of the future concept is the close cooper-ation with respected institutes external to the university likeDFKI: “Excellence accompanies DFKI,” said Prof. WolfgangWahlster while adding: “All of the proposals submitted by theSaarland and Bremen universities were successful! This is a re-inforcement to the required basic research at DFKI and plantsa seed for future success in application oriented research.”

More informationwww.dfg.de

www.mmci.uni-saarland.dehttp://gradschool.cs.uni-saarland.de

www.bmbf.de/en/1321.php

Excellence Accompanies DFKI – Support for the Universities in Bremenand Saarland

June 15, 2012 – The University of Bremen is one of 11 institutions classedas an “Elite university” in Germany. (r.-l.): Professors Wilfried Müller, Rec-tor of the University of Bremen, Rolf Drechsler, Deputy Head of Researchand Young Scholars at University of Bremen and Head of DFKI Depart-ment Cyber-Physical Systems, and Joachim Treusch, President of JacobsUniversity Bremen

Banners unfold as University of Bremen celebrates its success afterbeing named one of Germany’s elite “Universities of Excellence”

Federal Minister Prof. Annette Schavan Visits DFKI Saarbrücken

Prof. Wolfgang Wahlster and Prof. Annette Schavan with the “Industry4.0” report, an “Investing in the Future” project

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Federal Minister Schavan and Minister President Kramp-Karrenbauerwith Software Campus PhD. candidates Sandro Castronovo and SabineJanzen

medium-sized food company Juchem Food. Juchem celebratedthe age of digital cookies and its selection as a “Landmark inthe Land of Ideas 2012” on September 10, 2012 in Eppelborn.

In the DFKI Visualization Center, Prof. Dr. Philipp Slusallek pre-sented sample applications of XML3D, the extension of the weblanguage HTML, which enables development and display of 3-D content on the Internet quickly and easily without anybrowser plug-ins. Example applications include 3-D Wikipediapages about Venice, or a virtual reconstruction of the historicwalled city Saarlouis with defensive fortifications (p. 14), three-dimensional enriched tours of virtual museums, or 3-D designconfigurators for the automobile industry.

The system demonstrator “IT in the context of resource conser-vation and alternative energies” showed the initial results fromthe BMBF project “RES-COM: Resource conservation throughcontext activated machine-to-machine communication.” Theprototype demonstrates the possibility for intelligent energymonitoring in private homes, which helps the consumer to rootout hidden power guzzlers and reduce the monthly electricalbills.

The Minister was introduced to Sandro Castronovo and SabineJanzen, two doctorate students completing post-grad IT pro-jects at the “Software Campus”, funded by the Federal Ministryof Education and Research. Each year, approximately 80 to 100students will be accepted into the Software Campus and theirprojects will be funded with up to 100,000 Euro over a maxi-mum of two years.

More informationwww.innovative-retail.de

www.qkies.dewww.res-com-projekt.de

www.softwarecampus.de

Prof. Dr. Annette Schavan, Federal Minister of Education andResearch, together with Saarland's Minister President AnnegretKramp-Karrenbauer and Andreas Storm, head of the statechancellery at the time, visited DFKI-Saarbrücken on March 20,2012. The focus of discussion was on the promising opportuni-ties of Industry 4.0, the 4th industrial revolution, using specificexamples from Saarland.

Industry 4.0 stands for a paradigm shift in industrial manufac-turing and is one of the key technology projects in Germany'sHigh-Tech Strategy 2020. In digitally upgraded production fa-cilities, the so-called “smart factories” new types of cyber-phys-ical systems are linked via IP-based wireless protocols andsemantic technologies and are integrated with industrial as-sistance systems for employees. Products and manufacturingplants become active system components that control theirown production and logistics. This means that quick productchangeovers and a greater number of options, even for thesmallest of lot sizes, can be efficiently produced.

The digital upgrade of the business processes creates alterna-tive business models and improves the economic performanceof the company. Whether supplier or master craftsman, smallbusiness or global market leader, this is the next generation ofbusiness software and is being researched and developed inthe “Software Cluster” – Europe's Silicon Valley, bounded by thecities of Darmstadt, Kaiserslautern, Karlsruhe, and Saarbrücken.

One of the Software Cluster's living labs, the Innovative RetailLaboratory (IRL) established by DFKI and GLOBUS WarehouseHolding, presented company-wide software solutions for theretail trade and some specific application examples that arebeing tested and brought to market. For example, an intelligentfresh foods counter that can recognize gestures, a paymentmodel for mobile phones based on near-field-communication(NFC), and QKies – cookies with QR-Codes for a web link thatcontains information, for example, about an invitation to acompany event or key product information. QKies is the resultof Software-Cluster joint venture of DFKI with Saarland's

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BesMan is sponsored by the Space Agency of the German Aero-space Center with funds from the Federal Ministry of Econom-ics and Technology as provided by resolution of the GermanParliament.

More informationwww.dfki.de/robotik

Learning Space Robots with Manual Dexterity – Software from DFKI

ContactProf. Dr. Frank KirchnerHead of research department Robotics Innovation CenterE-mail: Frank.Kirchner@dfki.de Phone: +49 421 17845 4100

Dr. José de Gea FernándezProject leader BesManE-mail: Jose.de_Gea_Fernandez@dfki.de Phone: +49 421 17845 4112

Adaptive software will give robots the capability of human-like movement of the upper body, the arms, and the hands. Ro-bots of the future will be capable of learning, capable of solvingtricky problems on foreign planets with precision and sensitiv-ity – for example, erecting a solar sail for power supply gener-ation. The learning platform is being developed by researchersof the Robotics Innovation Center at the German Research Cen-ter for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) and the Robotics WorkingGroup at the University of Bremen.

Project BesMan (“Behaviors for Mobile Manipulation”) is a newproject with about 3.8 million Euro in funding from the GermanAerospace Center (DLR) for a term of four years. Prof. Dr. FrankKirchner and his team are developing methods for single anddouble arm handling, which robots can learn via a human in-terface. In parallel, scientists are writing new planning algo-rithms to allow the robots to act without human intervention.

It all functions according to the building block principle: therobot already carries into space a series of learned abilities suchas grasping, lifting, and turning in its travel bag. It is aware ofchanges in its environment and can react independently tothem. It can create a new plan for each situation. The robotshould be able to free itself from a difficult situation or mastera new task. Failing at this, the learning platform comes intoplay: back on earth, a human performs the required move-ments in the lab, which should help the robot to get itself outof trouble (programming by demonstration). This data is trans-mitted into space via a port and executed by the robot.

“The software has to work in robots of different designs – forexample the multi-legged climbing robots or the more hu-manoid systems,” explains project leader Dr. José de Gea Fer-nández. Scientists first tested their algorithms on a humanoidrobot named AILA.

Human is the learning standardScientists take humans as the example for creating the effi-cient series of movements of the arms and hands: so called mo-tion-tracking-cameras record the motions of a person in the labenvironment. The learning platform then separates the motionautomatically into individual segments. A simulation repro-duces the series and transmits it to the robot in space. Therobot then performs the series of movements, taking over eachmovement and entering them into its repertoire of behaviors.

The construction of an infrastructure requires robots – even inunexpected situations – that are motorically fit: crates have tobe lifted, solar panels erected, and small plugs connected. “Wehave to build systems that come close to replicating the abili-ties of humans,” says Prof. Dr. Frank Kirchner, Head of the DFKIRobotics Innovation Center and the Robotics Group at the Uni-versity of Bremen. Immense cost savings are possible throughthe employment of intelligent robots because, compared tomanned space missions, significantly less weight must betransported into space.

DFKI scientists test adaptive software and algorithms for fine motorskills on the AILA model. In the future, this technology will be integra-ted in space robots

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DFKI Interview – Dr. José de Gea Fernández

Dr. José de Gea Fernández is Deputy Head of Department Mobility and Manipulation at the DFKI Robotics Innovation Center

What do you see as the application potential ofyour research?My research area is robotic manipulation, specifi-cally the area of so called mobile manipulation,which involves performing complex manipulationactions in unstructured and dynamically changingenvironments. In general terms, this research areaaims at getting robot manipulators out of typicalindustrial, pre-determined and enclosed environ-ments and deploy them in real-world scenariosand conditions. That for example would mean tohave robots helping at home, at hospitals, closelycooperating with humans in industrial environ-ments.

When did your interest in Artificial Intelligencebegin and how have AI processes changed sincethat time?The interest arose as soon as I started working atthe Robotics Group of the University of Bremenheaded by Prof. Kirchner back in 2003. It was verymotivating to hear about “behaviors” when refer-ring to robots or the use of biologically inspiredconcepts for controlling them. Having an engineer-ing degree in which we studied cumbersome clas-sical robotics, it was very refreshing to see howcontrol methods used by simple biological systemscould be also used to robustly control robots. Andafter studying simple biological systems, nowa-days we look to higher vertebrates and humans tounderstand how to master more complex opera-tions.

What are the greatest challenges and opportuni-ties for AI systems?It is always difficult to know exactly where we arein AI. At the famous Dartmouth conference morethan 50 years ago, they already thought that a ma-chine as intelligent as a human would be availablewithin one generation. We do not have it yet, butin the last decades we have seen important ad-vances in the area of robotics. We can now makeuse of extremely compact and miniaturized com-ponents: from sensors to powerful actuatorsthrough highly powerful computational resources,all available in the robot itself. This gives us newpossibilities to truly integrate very complex controlalgorithms within highly complex mechanical ro-botic systems that could innervate a new categoryof intelligent systems.

Dr. José de Gea Fernández, Senior Researcher and Project Leader of BesMan and Robofoot

What do you enjoy doing when you are not work-ing as a research scientist?Travelling as much as I can afford has been alwayson top of my list. On a daily basis, cooking and dis-covering new restaurants or playing football andgoing to the gym are other activities to disconnectfor a few hours. On a more cultural level, I like read-ing about neuroscience and the brain, which actu-ally started as a hobby and ended up being usefulin my job.

What are your current projects?I am currently leading the four-year DLR-fundedproject BesMan and the European Project ROBO-FOOT. In the recently started project BesMan, wewill develop generic software to allow robots ofdifferent morphology to learn and autonomouslyperform complex manipulation actions. Keywordsof this project are whole-body manipulation inwhich we integrate tasks, external forces, and bodyconstraints into a single control framework; au-tonomous manipulation planning, and program-ming by demonstration in which the robot willlearn new skills after observing a human operatorperforming a task.

The Praying Mantis Is the Model for a Six-legged Robot Designed to Build Infrastructure in Space

A mantis for the moon, Mars, and meteorites: The “Mantis”robot, with the arms similar to its namesake in the insectworld, is designed to independently explore the planets andbuild an infrastructure using its gripper arms. The hardwareand software is developed by scientists at the DFKI Robotics In-novation Center and the University of Bremen.

Thanks to a bio-inspired body and various walking patterns, itcan master steep craters and debris fields as well as manipulateobjects with its front legs. Capable of learning from experience,it should be able to take goal-oriented actions. The new LIMESproject is funded for a term of four years with about 3.7 millionEuros from the German Aerospace Center (DLR). The nameLIMES stands for “Learning Intelligent Motions for Kinemati-cally Complex Legged Robots for Exploration in Space.”

The robot is named after the praying mantis – a member of theorder of Mantodea (raptorial legs). The robot's body form is bor-rowed from nature: The system uses the front two of its six legsfor more than walking, also using them to grasp objects. Itstands with upraised forelegs – like its namesake – to securelygrasp and hold things.

“The challenge is to learn walking patterns for a variety of dif-ferent surface conditions, in which all six legs work in harmonydespite performing different tasks,” explained Prof. Dr. FrankKirchner, Head of the DFKI Robotics Innovation Center and theRobotics Group at the University of Bremen. The many jointsdistributed across multiple legs enable many different patternsof movement. In this way, the robot can adapt its body positionto the conditions and maneuver safely on unfamiliar territory.

Robot makes situational selections from its “repertoire of be-haviors”The aim of the project is to give the robot sufficient algorithmsfor various maneuvering modes. These could be, for example,an energy saving or a cautious movement mode. Stumblingblocks, craters and inclines are navigated by Mantis with thehelp of tactile sensors built into the soles. The camera mountedin the head provides a 3-D image of the surroundings. The data

Contact

Prof. Dr. Frank KirchnerHead of research department Robotics Innovation CenterE-mail: Frank.Kirchner@dfki.dePhone: +49 421 17845 4100

Sebastian BartschProject leader LIMESE-mail: Sebastian.Bartsch@dfki.dePhone: +421 17845 4321

News 2_2012 I © DFKI22

Insect raptor arms as inspiration: the “Mantis” robot does more than justwalk on its forelegs – it can manipulateobjects as well

are transmitted via satellite to Earth. Humans then give therobot instructions about what target is to be approached.“Mantis chooses the appropriate motion pattern from the datain its so called behavior repertoire. It identifies obstacles andautomatically avoids them,” said Sebastian Bartsch, DFKI com-puter scientist and project leader. After each action, the robotevaluates its decision. “For example, it questions: Was my ac-tion efficient in terms of energy consumption? If not, future ac-tions when facing a similar situation will be different,”explained Bartsch. In this way, the robot is continuously ex-panding its range of know-how.

The movement patterns are pre-learned in simulations that re-produce extraterrestrial conditions: gravitation, light condi-tions, slopes and gradients. Actual tests follow in the SpaceExploration Hall at DFKI, a 288 sqm test area with an artificial,cratered landscape.

LIMES is sponsored by the Space Agency of the German Aero-space Center with funds from the Federal Ministry of Econom-ics and Technology as provided by resolution of the GermanParliament.

More informationwww.dfki.de/robotics

Vice world champion in the World Cup: Bremen's robot soccer team B-Human

RoboCup 2012

The student team B-Human from Bremen captured the viceworld champion title at RoboCup 2012. The three time worldand four time European champions lost in the final match onJune 23, 2012 to the US-Team Austin Villa 2:4 in Mexico City.

B-Human has dominated the Standard Platform League for thepast three years: The team from the University of Bremen DFKIhad been undefeated. This year several competitors were ableto narrow the performance gap to the defending champion. 25 teams from 17 countries competed for the title. In the Stan-dard Platform League, teams use the same standard hardware,the two-legged NAO robot built by the French company Alde-baran Robotics.

Team B-Human had a fairly easy time in the early rounds. A 10:0win over the Portuguese team and another 10:0 score againstthe Greek team Kouretes easily brought B-Human to the second round. The next victims for the B's were the ChineseTeam TJArk with 8:0 and the Austrian Kangaroos with a 9:1 result. Things were a little tighter in beating the rUNSWiftteam from Australia 4:3, who finished the tournament in thirdplace overall. The energy picked up after the quarter finalswhen the 10:0 win over Team Edinferno from England advanced B-Human into the semi-finals. It came down to thepenalty kicks in overtime before B-Human was able to take thematch 4:3 from Leipzig's Nao-Team HTWK.

The World Cup 2012 was plagued by technical problems. Theuneven, vibrating playing floor let the robots sense the motionof their teammates and threw the NAOs off their own timing.The radio network used for robot communications was fre-quently interrupted, which resulted in very little team playbeing possible. On the positive side, the robots were well servedby their new cameras considering the poor lighting on the play-ing field.

“In the end the construction of the field was what sealed B-Human’s fate in the final match,” said Team Manager Dr.Thomas Röfer: “Our opponent Austin Villa was more successfulon this surface because they use smaller strides.” Austin Villa’smotion algorithms were created by B-Human, which releasedits last year's software to the public. Six other teams also relyon the B-Human technology - including Edinferno and the Aus-trian Kangaroos.

Background: B-Human and the RoboCupB-Human is a student project for the computer science degreeprogram at the University of Bremen. It is supervised by scientistsfrom DFKI's Department of Cyber-Physical Systems, managed byProfessor Rolf Drechsler. Every year it competes in the RoboCup.

The RoboCup is an international initiative aimed at promotingresearch in the areas of artificial intelligence and robotics. Thelong term goal is to develop a team of autonomous, humanoidrobots that can defeat the reigning human soccer championsin the year 2050. In order to achieve this vision, five differentleagues have been established, each with a different majorfocus of research. In the Standard Platform League, for exam-ple, the challenge is in the software development – i.e., the ar-tificial intelligence of the robots.

Thanks to support from the economic development initiative“Bremen Innovative” (WFB) and the University of Bremen, TeamB-Human was able to work with a team of six robots of the lat-est NAO version 4. This new version has a much higher com-puting capacity.

More informationwww.b-human.de

www.robocup2012.org

Bremen's Team B-Human Vice World Champion in Robot Soccer World Championships

Contact

Dr. Thomas RöferResearch department: Cyber-Physical SystemsE-mail: Thomas.Roefer@dfki.dePhone: +49 421 218 64200

Contact

Dr. Christoph StahlProf. Dr. Bernd Krieg-BrücknerBremen Ambient Assisted Living LabResearch department: Cyber Physical SystemsE-mail: [Christoph.Stahl | Bernd.Krieg-Brueckner]@dfki.dePhone: +49 421 218 64257 oder 64220

News 2_2012 I © DFKI24

Smart assistants: “iWalker” and “Rolland”

HEALTHCARE MANAGEMENT

Mobility assistants like walkers orwheelchairs are essential to many seniorsin order to stay healthy and enjoy mobil-ity in daily routines. In case of deficits inmotor abilities such as unsteady gait,problems with balance, or dizziness, thesupport provided by such equipment isappreciated. However, these aids do notprovide further safety to the user: theycannot identify obstacles, adjust thetempo to the surface conditions, or findthe right path. The research projectknown as ASSAM (Assistants for Safe Mo-bility) develops assistance systems forseniors to help them compensate for cog-nitive impairments such as impaired vi-sion or early stage senile dementia.

As a technology partner in ASSAM, DFKIdeveloped a modular assistance conceptthat is oriented on the needs of the indi-vidual user. The navigation aid extends astandard platform by GPS and odometry(wheel sensors) for accurate positioningand provides the user with navigation in-structions. The driving aid further im-proves safety by introducing an obstaclewarning system that uses a laser scanneron the immediate surroundings to iden-tify gates, curbstones, or potholes. In themost advanced configuration, the navi-gation assistant can assume control of aplatform with electric drive and can by-

pass obstacles by automatically applyingspecific steering and braking actions.Completely autonomous movement iseven possible indoors if the interior ismapped.

ASSAM is funded jointly by the FederalMinistry of Education and Research(BMBF) and the EU under the AmbientAssisted Living Joint Program for a termof three years under the lead manage-ment of DFKI. The navigation componentis developed in collaboration with part-ner companies Budelmann Elektronikand Neusta Mobile Solutions. The Span-ish partners Universitat Politècnica deCatalunya, Lifante Vehiculos, and Ecobikedevelop the new platforms for walkersand safer 3-wheeled electric vehicles.ASSAM relies on a User Centered Designapproach, which is supported by theUtrecht School of the Arts and the chari-

table organizations Johanniter UnfallHilfe, Bartiméus Foundation (Nether-lands), and the Centre de Vida Independ-ent in Spain.

More informationwww.assam-project.euwww.baall.net

Navigation, Warnings, Braking – Safer Mobility Assistance Systems for Seniors

ASSAM

ready!

In the town of Bad Lippspringe, a group of experienced ther-apists at the German Active Running and Therapy Center havetested a prototype of a mobile training assistant in real-life con-ditions. The participants used uRun to develop and test theirown mobile applications especially for runners.

uRun is a product of the uService project (funding ID01IS09020D) supported by the Federal Ministry of Educationand Research (BMBF) and successfully completed in 2012.

“Mobile services for the people and by the people” is the visionthat was followed in uService. uRun provides users with the op-tion to develop innovative sport and health apps for runners.The major difference to other apps like Runkeeper or miCoachMobile is the integrated recommendation system developed atDFKI that adapts to the runner's individual situation. uRuntakes into consideration the individual preferences of the jog-ger and the training plan, recommending the optimal routewith respect to the surface conditions so that even on unfamil-

iar terrain the best possible training can be performed. Usingintegrated body sensors, uRun knows when the runner is over-training and recommends a break at a nearby café. If the runnerwants to quit the course, uRun will show the location of thenext bus stop and the times of departure.

One important requirement in the development of uRun wasthe intuitive access for users who may not be technically in-clined. The integrated recommendation system offers assis-tance in all functionalities, even for the creation and sale ofindependent running apps as well as for searching for the ap-propriate apps for individual training. This support was posi-tively received by all participants in the field tests in BadLippspringe.

The successful development of the recommendation systemand the positive feedback from the testers demonstrates thefeasibility of uRun and affirms the utility and market relevanceof the application. This points the way for a rapid transfer tothe commercial industry. The project clearly shows that the in-novative idea of mobile apps for the people and by the peoplecan be applied in practical application solutions.

More informationhttp://iwi.dfki.de

www.uservices.de

uRun Successfully Tested – New Sport and Health Apps

Contact

Dr. Dirk WerthHead of Business Integration TechnologiesInstitute for Information Systems (IWi) at DFKIE-mail: Dirk.Werth@dfki.dePhone: +49 681 85775 5236

Alexandra ChapkoProject leaderInstitute for Information Systems (IWi) at DFKIE-mail: Alexandra.Chapko@dfki.dePhone: +49 681 85775 4092

News 2_2012 I © DFKI 25Examples of user-generated running apps

Phot

os: C

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oth

HEALTHCARE MANAGEMENT

Users test their self-designed running apps under real-life conditions

RETAIL AND LOGISTICS

The Shopping World of Tomorrow at the “ThyssenKrupp IdeenPark 2012”

Simply point to the desired goods at thecheese counter, compare the ingredients and nu-tritional values of similar products on yourscreen, ask your intelligent shopping cart theway to the smart cookies with QR-Code, and,when finished, pay for it all from your mobilephone – without unloading the cart and withoutcash. This, or a similar scenario, is how you coulddo your shopping in the supermarket of the fu-ture thanks to intelligent assistance systems forcustomers and employees. This is the vision ofretailing introduced by DFKI at the ThyssenKrupp IdeenPark 2012 located at the fairgroundsin Essen.

The visitors to the “StadtLabor” (City Lab) in Hall3 experienced how innovative technologies cansupport the increased mobility of the user while,at the same time, allowing a natural and intu-

itive use of assistance systems. It takes the fu-sion of information from various data sourcesand a semantic interpretation of it to generateknowledge from information.

Such systems are being developed and tested atthe DFKI Innovative Retail Lab (IRL), establishedat the headquarters of GLOBUS WarehouseHolding in St. Wendel, Germany. These close tiesto the subject matter experts from Globus allowthe alignment of individual projects to the spe-cific requirements and future potential of theDIY warehouses and accelerate the transfer ofresearch results to the marketplace.

The “Digital Age of Cookies” Featured in “365 Landmarks in the Land of Ideas” Competition

The food producer Juchem, distributor of “QKies”, was chosenas one of “365 Landmarks in the Land of Ideas” in the nation-wide competition on September 10, 2012. The “QKies” – cookieswith QR codes and custom messages – are marketed as a bak-ing mix in a joint venture with the DFKI Innovative Retail Lab-oratory. The QR-Codes are printed on edible paper with foodcoloring and encode any message the sender wishes to conveyin the most delicious way. Anyone can link the code to digitalcontent, for example, web pages, videos, photos, invitations toa company event, or key product information. The two-dimen-sional barcodes can be read by nearly every type of smartphone with an appropriate free, standard application.

The competition “365 Landmarks in the Land of Ideas” has beenpart of the government initiative “Germany – Land of Ideas”since 2006 and is co-sponsored by Deutsche Bank. Sylvia Leiner,corporate customer business manager at Deutsche Bank Saar-brücken, presented Andrea Juchem, managing director ofJuchem Foods, the award as a “Selected Landmark 2012” withthe words: “Juchem is a good example of the innovative spiritof mid-sized enterprises. In a country lacking in raw materialslike ours, it is ideas, above all, that bring us progress.”

Andrea Juchem expressed her appreciation for the award: “Weare very proud to have been selected as a Landmark in the Landof Ideas. The cookies with QR codes are an example of how avery traditional product can be positioned to an entirely newsegment when people from very different areas depart fromtheir traditional and often entrenched ways of thinking, andopen their minds to work with other disciplines.”

More informationwww.qkies.de

www.land-der-ideen.de/enwww.juchem.de/en

Contact

Prof. Dr. Antonio KrügerHead of research department Innovative Retail LaboratoryE-mail: Antonio.Krueger@dfki.dePhone: +49 681 85775 5075

(l.-r.): Prof. Antonio Krüger, Andrea Juchem, Sylvia Leiner, Emanuel von Bodmann (Initiative „Germany – Land of Ideas”)

W3C Events presents the ultimate web platform of the futureat Xinnovations 2012

The W3C German-Austrian office organized “W3C Events”on September 10-11, 2012 in Berlin with the aim of presentingand discussing the latest developments regarding the technol-ogy standard called HTML5. To further this purpose, HTML5 or-ganizers invited expert Michael[TM]Smith from the World WideWeb Consortium (W3C), who gave a keynote address filled withfirst hand information about the newest browser technologies.In addition to the usual lecture program in the framework ofthe W3C Days, this year for the first time there was also a W3CStart-Up Day, which provided young entrepreneurs a platformfor the exchange of ideas, options, and requirements concern-ing HTML5. By expanding the program, the German-AustrianW3C office continues its long-term cooperation with the organ-izers of Xinnovations, the Berlin Forum for Internet, Politics, andInnovation.

HTML5 will change the World Wide Web, now widely used innearly every industry: from the automobile industry to publish-ing to logistics, communications, and entertainment. Never be-fore was it so easy for a web developer to create and distributemultimedia content in the WWW and to develop intuitive userinterfaces that are both easy to operate and wireless-friendly.What will change in the current apps market? What new webproducts will arise?

In an effort to answer these and other questions, W3C organ-ized “W3C Events” in the context of Xinnovations 2012 in Berlin.Michael Smith is the HTML5 expert of W3C and, as the guestspeaker and contact person for this event, made this his firstvisit to Berlin. Visitors heard from him first hand about the lat-est HTML5 developments, related technologies, and currentopinions from industry concerning HTML5.

Mike Smith had this to say about the importance of HTML5 forthe web of the future:“These are really exciting times. We're in the midst of a gener-ational change to the Web, and that change is at least as trans-formative as the early days of the Web. HTML5 is the buzzwordthat many have come to use to describe the change, but reallythe change is about making the Web a fully-featured applica-tion and communications platform – what we're calling simplythe Web Platform. And we really are just at the beginning ofbuilding it. It's the platform that our children and our children'schildren are going to be using for their lifetimes, and the plat-form they're going to keep building on further. It's the platformfor the future.”

Dr. Feiyu Xu, research scientist and project leader at DFKI,founder and managing director of Yocoy Technologies, deliv-ered a talk about “Language Technologies for Semantic Weband their Applications.” “The web today is far away from thesemantic web,” said Dr. Feiyu Xu. “Language technologies haveto be considered as core technologies that are transforming theweb as we know it into a semantic web.” To underscore this,

Feiyu Xu presented key applications developed at DFKI andYocoy for the future semantic web. These include: semanticsearch engines, Q&A engines, and social media monitoringtools.

The World Wide Web Consortium created W3C Day and W3CStart-Up Day to serve as a platform for the web industry topresent current HTML5 developments, share ideas, and discussfurther requirements to advance HTML5. Of major importanceto W3C was to hear varied opinions regarding the current sta-tus of HTML5 technologies and debate further strategies con-cerning the future and advanced development.

W3C Events was organized by Dr. Felix Sasaki, professor at theUniversity of Applied Sciences Potsdam, Senior Researcher atDFKI-Berlin, and Head of W3C German-Austrian Office.

More informationwww.xinnovations.de/w3c-events.html

www.w3c.de

Exciting Times for the Web –HTML5 Is Changing the World

Contact

Prof. Dr. Felix SasakiResearch department: Language TechnologyHead of W3C German-Austrian OfficeE-mail: Felix.Sasaki@dfki.dePhone: +49 30 23895 1807

MEDIA INDUSTRY

News 2_2012 I © DFKI 27

Mike Smith, HTML Activity Lead in W3C

News 2_2012 I © DFKI28

At Least 21 European Languages Facing Digital Extinction

A recent study by Europe’s leading languagetechnology experts warns: most European lan-guages are unlikely to survive the Digital Age asthey are in danger of digital extinction. This isthe finding of the study “Languages in the Euro-pean Information Society” that assessed the lev-els of language technology support available for30 of the approximately 80 European lan-guages. The experts conclude that digital sup-port for 21 of the 30 languages investigated is“non-existent” or “weak” at best. The study wascarried out by META-NET, a European network ofexcellence that consists of 60 research centersin 34 countries.

The study, prepared by more than 200 expertsand documented in 30 volumes of the META-NET White Paper Series, assessed language tech-nology support for each language in fourdifferent areas: automatic translation, interac-tive speech, text analysis, and the availability oflanguage resources. A total of 21 of the 30 lan-guages (70%) were rated by the experts at leastonce in the worst category, “support is weak ornon-existent.” Several languages, for example,Icelandic, Latvian, Lithuanian and Maltese, re-ceived the lowest score in all four areas. Whileno language was considered to have “excellentsupport”, at the other end of the spectrum, onlyEnglish was assessed as having “good support”,followed by languages such as Dutch, French,German, Italian and Spanish with “moderatesupport”. Languages such as Basque, Bulgarian,Catalan, Greek, Hungarian and Polish exhibit“fragmentary support”, placing them also in theset of high-risk languages.

“The results of our study are most alarming. Themajority of European languages are severely

under-resourced and some are almost com-pletely neglected. In this sense, many of our lan-guages are not yet future-proof,” says Prof. Dr.Hans Uszkoreit, coordinator of META-NET, scien-tific director at DFKI, and co-editor of the study.The study’s other co-editor, Dr. Georg Rehm(DFKI), adds: “There are dramatic differences inlanguage technology support devoted to thevarious European languages and technologyareas. The gap between ‘big’ and ‘small’ lan-guages is continuously widening. We have tomake sure that we equip all smaller and under-resourced languages with the needed base tech-nologies, otherwise these languages aredoomed to digital extinction.”

Although Europe has succeeded in removing al-most all physcial borders between its countries,one border still exists and it seems to be impen-etrable. This is the invisible barrier of languageand it hinders the free flow of knowledge andinformation. It is also an obstacle to the long-term goal of establishing a single digital marketwith free flowing goods, products, and services.Modern language technology has the potentialto eliminate language barriers through machinetranslation systems. However, the results of theMETA-NET study clearly show that many of theEuropean languages have not been prepared.There are significant gaps in technology becauseof the English-language focus of most R&D, thelack of commitment and financial resources, andalso the absence of a clear research and technol-ogy vision.

A coordinated European effort of sufficient scalehas to be made to transfer the technology to themajority of languages as well as to developmissing technologies. There are a number of rea-

News 2_2012 I © DFKI 29

Contact

Prof. Dr. Hans UszkoreitHead of research department Language TechnologyDr. Georg RehmE-Mail: [Hans.Uszkoreit | Georg.Rehm]@dfki.dePhone: +49 30 23895 1833

sons to approach this immense challenge as a community ef-fort involving the European Union, its member states and in-dustries. This approach is justified, for example, by the highper-capita financial burden to smaller language groups, the re-quired technology transfer between languages, the lack of in-teroperability of resources, tools, and services and, the fact thatlinguistic borders often do not coincide with political borders.Europe must take action to future-proof its languages for thedigital age. They are a precious component of our cultural her-itage and must not be neglected in the effort to remove the re-strictions on future digital markets.

The META-NET White Paper SeriesThe META-NET Language White Paper series “Languages in theEuropean Information Society” reports on the state of 30 Euro-pean languages with respect to language technology and ex-plains the most urgent risks and chances. The series covers allofficial EU Member State languages and several other lan-guages spoken in Europe. While there have been a number ofvaluable and comprehensive scientific studies on certain as-pects of language and technology, until now there has been nogenerally understandable compendium that presents the mainfindings and challenges for each language with regard to atechnology-supported multilingual Europe. The META-NETWhite Paper Series fills this gap. META-NET shows why mostlanguages face serious problems and identifies the mostthreatening gaps. In total, more than 200 authors and contrib-utors helped in preparing the Language White Papers.

The white papers (available both online and in print) have alength of about 100 pages each and were written for the fol-lowing European languages: Basque, Bulgarian, Catalan, Croa-tian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French,Galician, German, Greek, Hungarian, Icelandic, Irish, Italian, Lat-vian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Norwegian (Bokmål and Nynorsk),Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovene, Spanish,and Swedish. Each Language White Paper is written in the lan-guage reported on and includes a complete English translation.

About META-NET and METAMETA-NET, a Network of Excellence consisting of 60 researchcentres from 34 countries, is dedicated to building the techno-logical foundations of a multilingual European information so-ciety. META-NET is forging META, the Multilingual EuropeTechnology Alliance. More than 600 organizations from 55countries have already joined this open technology alliance.

The META-NET Network of Excellence is co-funded by the 7thFramework Program of the European Commission through thefollowing grant agreements: T4ME Net (no. 249119), CESAR (no.271022), METANET4U (no. 270893) and META-NORD (no.270899).

More informationwww.meta-net.eu

www.meta-net.eu/whitepapers

“Europe's inherent multilingualism and our scientific ex-pertise are the perfect prerequisites for significantly ad-vancing the challenge that language technology poses.META-NET opens up new opportunities for the develop-ment of ubiquitous multilingual technologies.”

Prof. Dr. Annette Schavan, Federal Minister of Education and Research

In July 2012, the successes of the collab-orative research projects in the SoftwareCluster were officially acknowledged: Theinternational jury for the German gov-ernment's Leading-Edge Cluster Compe-tition made the recommendation afterthe second interim evaluation to con-tinue the funding of the Software Clusterresearch projects. Since the initial desig-nation in 2010, many renowned compa-nies and research institutions in theregion in and around the cities of Saar-brücken, Kaiserslautern, Darmstadt, andKarlsruhe, have been studying the foun-dations of the future business software –“emergent software.” The key factor isthe dynamic integration of various ser-vices from different suppliers, to permitrapid and customized responses to indi-vidual customer requirements. Emergentsoftware will enable the simple and se-cure integration of systems, processes,and components beyond corporateboundaries and lead to real innovationsin the digital enterprise. Three research findings from SoftwareCluster partners were specifically refer-enced as exemplary:

The Intelligent Views GmbH, togetherwith Software AG and TU Darmstadt, isdeveloping the topic of “Governance andCompliance Solutions” for emergentsoftware systems. Considering the dy-namic combination of a number of com-ponents from different suppliers, the bigchallenges for emergent software sys-tems are the administration of thesecomponents and ensuring compliancewith the regulatory and legal provisions.Partners have created a demonstratorthat facilitates this with the aid of a se-mantic search feature. In this approach,changing requirements can be receivedwith more flexibility and the value-addedchain can be adjusted accordingly.

In the value-added chains that are con-trolled by emergent software and extendbeyond the corporate boundaries, theprotection of sensitive customer dataand the implementation of security guid-ance is an entirely new challenge. Re-searchers at Fraunhofer Institute forExperimental Software Engineering(Kaiserslautern) and TU Darmstadt havebuilt a demonstrator that shows how

control over private and personal datacan be achieved through appropriate se-curity guidance even in integrated value-added chains extending beyondcorporate borders, without having tochange the services delivered or the un-derlying software.

The third area cited is the emergentknowledge system developed at DFKI'sInnovative Retail Lab together with imccompany that offers a cross application,context sensitive, and customizable userassistance function. Dependent on userand situation, the system makes specificdata for business processes, companyproducts, or organizational backgroundinformation available in the respectivesoftware. Traditional help information forstandard applications like Office, SAP, orinternet applications can be extended byemergent software.

News 2_2012 I © DFKI30

Enterprise Software of Tomorrow –Cross-company Integration of Value-added Chains in Food Industry

Software-Cluster exhibits “Emergent technologies and services for the workplace” at CeBIT 2012

What do these individual results look likewhen combined in practice? The food in-dustry provides a good example:

Increasingly, one of the selection criteriafor many customers is the level of carbondioxide emission in the production andtransport of the product. Consequently, aretail chain of bio-supermarkets decidedto add its own brand of blueberry yogurtto the product line, which features an es-pecially favorable carbon footprint. Thepurchasing department of the chainlooked for a food producer to supply a yo-gurt with the appropriate CO2 balancefor an acceptable price and then con-cluded an exclusive supply contract withthe winning company.

In terms of integrated business processmanagement, this results in a multitudeof challenges for the food producer: Thecarbon footprint is a complex value thatcan be influenced by nearly every stepalong the value-added chain, not justwhether the yogurt comes from a re-gional producer or not. There are alreadybig differences in agricultural farmingand its preliminary outlays – milk prod-ucts, in fact, produce an especially largeamount of CO2 associated with the highemissions of methane by the cows. Thereare also many variables even in the sub-sequent steps in the supply chain forblueberry yogurt - dairies, transport,packaging, storage, refrigeration – thatcan influence the CO2 balance: is the rawyogurt shipped for fermentation else-where or are the blueberries importedbased on season?

A producer that needs to develop a CO2optimized blueberry yogurt reaches forthe aspects of an emergent software sys-tem described here for the managementof the production processes. He employsa governance and compliance systemthat monitors all of the value-addingstages as well as the compliance with thedefined CO2 threshold value in additionto the costs of each stage in one inte-grated process. In this way, the suppliers– dairies, agricultural enterprises, trans-port companies, etc. – that best satisfythe overall minimization of the carbonfootprint can be selected and integratedin the value-added supply chain. If a bot-tleneck arises with one supplier, it will besidestepped and another appropriatesupplier gets the order. The high degreeof complexity in an emergent softwaresystem remains manageable because dif-

ferent components can be dynamicallyintegrated and it permits a fast and flex-ible response to changing requirements.

In the example application scenario usedhere, to ensure that manufacturing andmarketing are always provided with themost current information about produc-tion, the emergent knowledge system isintegrated at the work stations. The sys-tem is adaptive and makes cross-processinformation available selectively to therespective user: whether the employee isin purchasing, logistics, or in quality man-agement, they can view the evaluationsof a specific supplier in the internal socialnetworks or display information on theCO2 related certifications.

The embedded security guidance in theemergent process management softwareguarantees that sensitive data is alwaysdisplayed exactly and only where it is re-quired in the cross-company value-addedchain. In this way, it is assured that nei-ther the individual supplier nor the buyercan know the total process that leads tothe favorable CO2 balance. Emergentsoftware can be used to create new prod-ucts, retain competitive advantage, makea profit, and satisfy customer demand.

News 2_2012 I © DFKI 31

Software-Cluster exhibit booth at CeBIT 2012

Software-Cluster at CeBIT 2012 “lab talk”

Press Contact

Bernd HartmannSoftware-Cluster Coordination OfficeMornewegstraße 3264293 DarmstadtE-mail: Bernd.Hartmann@software-cluster.orgPhone: +49 6151 1675 212

DFKI Robotics Innovation Center presented current projects in the area of underwater robotics as part of a special exhibit at the25th Shipbuilding, Machinery & Marine Technology International Trade Fair (SMM) on September 4-7, 2012. The SMM is the world'sleading trade show for shipbuilding and maritime technologies. The special exhibition is dedicated to the subjects of offshore oiland gas, offshore wind energy and marine technology. In the “SeeGrip” project, a deep sea manipulator hand is being developedthat can withstand the pressure at 6,000 meters below the surface. Another project is the underwater vehicle “Dagon”, a productof the “CUSLAM” project, which aims to create a stand-alone map of the sea floor one day. Both projects are sponsored by the FederalMinistry of Economics and Technology (BMWi).

Underwater Robots at SMM in Hamburg

Lisa Ollinger, staff member of DFKI's Innovative Factory Systems (IFS), was given the Best Paper Award at the “Symposiumon Information Control Problems in Manufacturing (INCOM-2012)” in Bucharest for her submission on “Service-orientedprocess control with Grafchart and device profiles for web services.” INCOM is one of the world's most respected confe-rences for the promotion of research projects in the field of mechanical engineering.

Best Paper Award for Lisa Ollinger

Parliamentarians were informed about the innovative technologies at DFKI in combination with modern media and theinternet in an external session held on August 16, 2012. The committee controls the media policy and advises the govern-ment of Rhineland-Palatinate on matters relevant to the state concerning public broadcasting and net policy.

At DFKI Kaiserslautern, a team of researchers lead by Prof. Dr. Andreas Dengel demonstrated selected projects to parlia-mentarians, for example, a software-aided video analysis, a “Crowd Monitoring” method to promote greater safety atmajor events (p.12) and the “PAMAP” project, a sensor based training system for senior citizens. The Mobile AgriculturalPortal Rheinland-Pfalz (MAPrlp) and Project iGreen clearly explained how modern cloud-structures and map based posi-tioning data can be employed to promote environmentally friendly production as well as for quality-related declarationof origin on food products.

Parliamentary Committee for Media and Network Policy Visits DFKI Kaiserslautern

32

NEWS IN BRIEF

News 2_2012 I © DFKI

At the EU-summit on the Future Internet held in Helsinki, Prof. Dr Wolfgang Wahlster was chosen byunanimous vote to serve as the chairperson of the advisory board for the Future Internet Public-PrivatePartnership (FI-PPP). The aim of the FI-PPP Initiative is to ensure that the European share of the globalinternet economy steadily increases. FI-PPP is Europe's flagship research program. The goals are to ex-plore the fundamentals and applications of the future internet, to create the necessary technologicalplatforms and implement them on an industrial level, to advance the competitiveness of Europe inthe area of future internet technologies and systems, and to support the emergence of new internetapplications.

Wahlster Is Chairperson of the Highest EU Advisory Board for Research on the Future Internet

Space robots Aramies and Cesar are guests at Bremen's Übersee Museum starting in October. The specialexhibit “Adventurer, Explorer, Researcher” is scheduled to last until March 2013 and shows pioneers inthe history of research. Discovery trails to James Cook, Charles Darwin, Marie Curie, and others lead thevisitors to the “Future Lab” where they meet the DFKI robots and other exhibits that explain current aswell as future research approaches. More information: www.uebersee-museum.de

“Adventurer, Explorer, Researcher” Exhibit in Bremen –Robots Present DFKI

The space robot Aramies

1st row: (l.-r.) Dr. P. Turkama, Prof. W. Wahlster, P. Lyons, Dr. R. E. Kahn, Dr. P. Gatellier, Prof. A. Oliveira;2nd row: (l.-r.) D. Carter, G. Persival, Prof. Y. Neuvo, Prof. W. Jonker, P. Fatelnig, Prof. A. Azcorra, Dr. J.-C. Hourcad

Technology transfer of the award-winning research results of DFKI

Innovation coaching and start-up consulting in the Public-Private-Partnership sector

Individual design, development and implementation of innovative application solutions

Market studies, expert surveys, feasibility analysis and empirical user studies

Component development with AI-functionality, enhancing the performance of complex software systems

Scientific advice on the selection and implementation of complex software solutions

Customization, implementation, deployment and maintenance of our AI-solutions

Scientific evaluation and benchmarking of software solutions

Application-oriented basic research

Independent assessment of IT-security and privacy

Technology workshops, training and practice

Scientific monitoring of data collections and their evaluation

Business engineering: Process analysis and development

Innovation coaching and turnaround management

Strategic and technical Due Diligence consulting for companies in the ICT sector

Technical and organizational support for the standardization in the IT sector (including W3C, ISO)

Design, construction and operation of Living Labs

As an internationally renowned Center of Excellence for innovative software

systems based on Artificial Intelligence (AI) methods, DFKI is offering the fol-

lowing services with more than 20 years of experience in basic and applied R&D:

DFKI Service Offering

News 2_2012 I © DFKI 33

The German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) wasfounded in 1988 and has research facilities in Kaiserslautern, Saar-brücken, Bremen and a project office in Berlin. In the field of innova-tive commercial software technology using Artificial Intelligence,DFKI is the leading research center in Germany.

Based on application oriented basic research DFKI develops productfunctions, prototypes and patentable solutions in the field of infor-mation and communication technology. Research and developmentprojects are conducted in eleven research departments, ten compe-tence centers and five living labs. Funding is received from govern-ment agencies like the European Union, the Federal Ministry ofEducation and Research (BMBF), the Federal Ministry of Economicsand Technology (BMWi) and the German Federal States as well asfrom cooperation with industrial partners. Twice a year, a committeeof internationally renowned experts (Scientific Advisory Board) auditsthe progress and results of publically funded projects. In addition,BMBF evaluates DFKI every five years. The most recent assessmentwas again very successfully concluded in 2010.

Apart from the state governments of Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarlandand Bremen, numerous renowned German and international high-tech companies are represented on the DFKI supervisory board. TheDFKI model of a non-profit public-private partnership (ppp) is nation-ally and internationally considered a blueprint for corporate structurein the field of top-level research.

DFKI is actively involved in numerous organizations representing andcontinuously advancing Germany as an excellent location for cutting-edge research and technology. Far beyond the country’s borders DFKIenjoys an excellent reputation for its academic training of young sci-entists. At present, 424 highly qualified researchers and 252 graduatestudents from more than 60 countries are contributing to more than160 DFKI research projects. DFKI serves as a stepping stone to leadingpositions in industry and successful careers as founders of spin-offcompanies. Over the years, more than 60 staff members have beenappointed professors at universities in Germany and abroad.

In 2011 the total annual budget of €39.2 million once again exceededthe previous year’s record result.

German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence

Established1988

Legal FormNon-profit organization (public-private partnership)

Executive BoardProf. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Wolfgang Wahlster, CEODr. Walter Olthoff, CFO

Supervisory BoardProf. Dr. h.c. Hans-Albert Aukes, Consultant tothe Management Board, Deutsche Telekom AG, Chairman Heinz-Josef Mentges, Department Head, Mi-nistry of Education, Science, Further Educa-tion and Culture of Rhineland-Palatinate, Vice Chairman

LocationsKaiserslautern (registered office), Saarbrücken,Bremen, Berlin (project office). Further opera-ting sites in Osnabrück and St. Wendel

ShareholdersAstrium GmbH, BMW Group Forschung undTechnik GmbH, Daimler AG, Deutsche MesseAG, Deutsche Post AG, Deutsche Telekom AG,Empolis Information Management GmbH,Fraunhofer Gesellschaft e.V., Harting KGaA, IntelCorporation, John Deere European Office, KIBGGmbH, Microsoft Deutschland GmbH, RICOHCompany Ltd., SAP AG, Software AG, Universityof Kaiserslautern, Bremen University, SaarlandUniversity

Equity HoldingCenter for the Evaluation of Languages andTechnologies Srl (CELCT), Trento - GraphicsMedia.net GmbH, Kaiserslautern - Ground TruthRobotics GmbH, Bremen - PMC e.G., Bremen -SemVox GmbH, Saarbrücken - Yocoy Technolo-gies GmbH, Berlin

ContactReinhard KargerCorporate Spokesperson

German Research Center forArtificial Intelligence GmbHStuhlsatzenhausweg 366123 Saarbrücken, Germany

Phone: +49 681 85775 5253Fax: +49 681 85775 5485E-mail: uk@dfki.dewww.dfki.de

Kaiserslautern Site Saarbrücken Site Bremen Site

Company Profile

News 2_2012 I © DFKI34

Project Office Berlin

Intelligent Solutions for the Knowledge Society

Research & Development

Scientific Directors and Research Departments

Kaiserslautern SiteProf. Dr. Prof. h.c. Andreas Dengel:Knowledge ManagementProf. Dr. Paul Lukowicz:Embedded Intelligence Prof. Dr. Didier Stricker:Augmented VisionProf. Dr.-Ing. Detlef Zühlke:Innovative Factory Systems

Saarbrücken SiteProf. Dr. Antonio Krüger:Innovative Retail Laboratory, St. WendelProf. Dr. Peter Loos:Institute for Information SystemsProf. Dr. Philipp Slusallek:Agents and Simulated RealityProf. Dr. Hans Uszkoreit:Language TechnologyProf. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Wolfgang Wahlster:Intelligent User Interfaces

Bremen SiteProf. Dr. Rolf Drechsler:Cyber-Physical SystemsProf. Dr. Frank Kirchner:Robotics Innovation CenterProf. Dr. Joachim Hertzberg:Robotics Innovation Center, Branch Office Osnabrück

Project Office BerlinProjects and cooperation in the German capital region

Living LabsTesting, evaluation, and demonstration of innovative tech-nologies in comprehensive application scenariosBremen Ambient Assisted Living Lab, Innovative Retail Lab,Robotics Exploration Lab, Smart Factory Lab, Virtual Office Lab

Competence CentersCoordination of research activities in particular areasAmbient Assisted Living, Case-Based Reasoning, Computa-tional Culture, e-Learning, Human-Centered Visualization,Language Technology, Multimedia Analysis & Data Mining,Semantic Web, Safe and Secure Systems, Virtual Office of theFuture

International Scientific Advisory BoardBi-annual evaluation of publically funded projects

Prof. Dr. Horst Bunke, University of Bern, Switzerland, Chairman

Leading-Edge Research DFKI is the only German institute for computer science toparticipate in each of the three leading-edge research clus-ters

Cluster of Excellence “Multimodal Computing and Inter-action” funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG)Leading-Edge Cluster “Software Innovations for the Digi-tal Enterprise” funded by BMBFEuropean Institute of Innovation and Technology - Infor-mation and Communication Technology Labs (EIT ICT Labs)

Networks of ExcellenceAt present, DFKI is a coordinator or core partner in four Eu-ropean Networks of Excellence

Promoting Young TalentDFKI is a founding member and core partner of the SoftwareCampus to promote managerial talent in the IT industry

Academic ChairsMore than 60 former staff members have been appointedprofessors at universities in Germany and abroad

Spin-offsOver 60 spin-off companies have created approximately1,700 highly skilled jobs

Key Figures

Annual Budget 2011€ 39.2 million

Total Assets 2011€ 123.6 million

Employees424 professional staff, 252 graduate student staff

Scientific Excellence and Transfer

DFKI is represented by its scientific directors on numerouscommittees and academies

Scientific and Government Committees Research Alliance of the German Federal Government,Feldafinger Kreis, Münchner Kreis, Technology and Innova-tion Council Berlin, Advisory Board of the Future InternetPublic-Private Partnership Programme of the EuropeanUnion (FI-PPP), Coordinator of the European Alliance Multi-lingual Europe Technology Alliance (META-NET), Manage-ment Board of the International Computer Science Institutein Berkeley, and others

Business CommitteesInternational SAP Research Advisory Board, GovernanceBoard of the Intel Visual Computing Institute, and others

Scientific AcademiesRoyal Swedish Academy of Sciences, German National Acad-emy of Sciences Leopoldina, Berlin-Brandenburg Academyof Sciences, Academy of Sciences and Literature, NationalAcademy of Science and Engineering, European Academy ofSciences, and others

Committees and Academies

News 2_2012 I © DFKI 35

As of September 10, 2012

Intelligent Solutions for the Knowledge Society

Kaiserslautern Site

Trippstadter Straße 122

D-67663 Kaiserslautern

Phone: +49 631 20575 0

Fax: +49 631 20575 5030

www.dfki.de | info@dfki.de

Saarbrücken Site

Campus D 3 2

D-66123 Saarbrücken

Phone: +49 681 85775 0

Fax: +49 681 85775 5341

Bremen Site

Robert-Hooke-Straße 5

D-28359 Bremen

Phone: +49 421 17845 4100

Fax: +49 421 17845 4150

Knowledge & Innovation Community

EIT ICT Labs

Knowledge management and document analysis

Virtual worlds and 3D internet

E-Learning and e-Government

Development of provably correct software

Innovative factory systems

Information extraction from text documents

Intelligent web retrieval and web services

Multi-agent systems and agent technology

Multimodal user interfaces and language understanding

Visual computing

Multimedia analysis and data mining

Augmented vision

Mobile robotic systems

Shopping assistance and intelligent logistics

Semantic product memories

Safe and secure cognitive systems

Semantic web and Web 3.0

Ambient intelligence and assisted living

Intelligent solutions for safety and security

Driver assistance systems and Car2X communications

Cyber-physical systems

DEASNNOVAT ON

PROSPER TYThe High -Tech Strategy for Germany

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