F r a u n H o F E r - i n s t i t u t F o r

C o M P u t E r G r a P H i C s r E s E a r C H i G D

indUStriE 4.0as a key to the faCtory of the future

FraUnHoFEr on tHE WaY to UndiSCoVErEd SHorESroCking Boat in plaCe of massiVe laB

for applieD researCh

tHE HoME oF tHE FUtUrEan insight offereD By Dr. anDreas Braun

ViSUal CoMPUting at tHE CliniCimage-BaseD proCessing of eXistential health

reCorDs makes life easier for CliniCal physiCians

Dear Partners and Friends,

Do you remember where you were on July 10, 1989, and what

you were doing? No? Then you should be in good company.

Hardly anyone has any specific memories of that day. It’s a

different story for November 9 of the same year, on the other

hand, although it was almost as long ago. What happened on that

day shaped world affairs and, in particular, the very personal fate

of over 16 million GDR citizens. Two states were reunited after

having been rigidly separated from each other despite belonging

together.

November 9, 1989 also helped to shape Fraunhofer IGD. After

all, this day laid the foundation for the institute’s structure today.

The future of the Computer Graphics Research Group at Rostock’s

Department of Computer Science was uncertain after the fall of

the wall and the collapse of the GDR. Fraunhofer IGD, therefore,

took the group in as part of the institute in Rostock. Since then,

employees in Darmstadt and Rostock have been working hand in

hand. Celebrating the motto “Joint research without borders,” we

celebrated our very personal unification of East and West on June

17, 2015. However, we did not only review the past during the

ceremony; we also asked where Fraunhofer IGD stands today and

we looked ahead. In the future, our research institute will mainly

be oriented towards research networks.

Preserving cultural heritage

When we look at today’s world affairs, they are also shaped by

radical events – unfortunately, fewer wonderful than horrifying,

such as the destructive rage displayed by the Islamic State terror

organization. The IS wants to demonstrate its power by means of

attacks against cultural heritage. In May 2015, for instance, the

Editorial

e D i t o r i a l

jihadists seized the ancient oasis city of Palmyra, looted several

mausoleums, smashed sculptures, and blew up the approximately

2000-year-old Baal Shamin temple. The dismay at the destruction

of this UNESCO world heritage resounds around the world.

looting, war, and natural disasters also continue to take their toll

and decimate the number of art objects in the world.

In a sense, we need to live with it. Wars and natural disasters are

hard to eliminate completely. Nevertheless, we can do something.

At Fraunhofer IGD, for instance, we work on preserving the

objects of art for posterity, even if we should fail to preserve

them from destruction. How? By digitizing the treasures, museum

exhibits, and historico-cultural sites. In this way, they can be used

at any time and even in parallel: while scientists study a digitized

temple, museum visitors from all over the world can virtually stroll

through the antique structure at the same time.

Visual computing in industrie 4.0

There is no question, unfortunately, that the preservation of

cultural objects is a task that could not be any more current today.

The potential of digitization is thus far from being exhausted. Even

in the corporate world, digitization is in high demand, particularly

in the context of Industrie 4.0. The production of tomorrow

will be completely different from today’s: production plants are

intelligent and can communicate with each other and, thus,

respond fl exibly. The products, in turn, are aware of their status

and know what they are missing to become a fi nished item. This

fl exible production process can only work, however, if the digital

and the real worlds coincide, and at any time. We at Fraunhofer

IGD have coined the term cyber-physical equivalence for this

congruence. Visual computing is the key here; it opens the door

to cyber-physical equivalence as well as the gate to Industrie 4.0.

Reaching far beyond industrial applications applies both for the

digitization process and the technologies developed here.

As much as technology may change the industrial landscape,

man still takes center stage in the industry of the future. The 27th

Conference of Academia Europaea, organized by Fraunhofer IGD,

was held in Darmstadt from September 7 through 10, 2015. The

conference revolved around the question of how man and tech-

nology can be brought closer together. High-ranking researchers

from various disciplines looked at the bigger picture together and

made Darmstadt once again the center of science.

In the Annual Report at hand, we will let you know which other

innovative technologies our researchers have devised. We hope

you will enjoy reading all about them.

Dieter W. Fellner, Professor Dr. Matthias Unbescheiden

01

Prof. Dr. Dieter W. Fellner (right), Director of Fraunhofer IGD,together with his deputy, Dr. Matthias Unbescheiden.

02 C o n t e n t

01 EDitorial

04 inDustriE 4.0 – Visual CoMPutinG as a KEY to tHE

FaCtorY oF tHE FuturE

Virtualizing reality, realizing virtuality–it all becomes possible

with visual computing technologies for Industrie 4.0. Emplo-

yees can virtually see on a screen what the machines are really

doing at the same moment–and even what they will do in the

near future.

09 “sEEinG” tECHnoloGY – HElPFul in inDustrY anD

tourisM

MEvery once in a while, technology needs “eyes” such as when

reality is to be captured and enhanced with additional information.

At the end of 2015, scientists from different institutes competed in

this art in the “Tracking Challenge” contest of the VW Group. The

researchers of Fraunhofer IGD were far ahead in the game.

10 FraunHoFEr on tHE WaY to unDisCoVErED sHorEs

The researchers of Fraunhofer IGD are used to developing

a great many things on their computers and in their labs. In

the summer of 2015, some of them went on an adventurous

expedition in the Skagerrak.

13 aCross tHE Color sPECtruM

Coloring in 3D printing used to be a delicate subject. The

Cuttlefish printer driver put an end to this dilemma and became

famous overnight. The researchers at Fraunhofer IGD also

provide solutions for other color issues.

14 tHE HoME oF tHE FuturE

The researchers of Fraunhofer IGD want to take an active part in

shaping future homes. We will find out how they are going to

make our four walls intelligent and how this will benefit us in an

interview with Dr. Andreas Braun.

18 DiGitiZinG WorKs oF art non-stoP

Museums often harbor large collections of art objects buried in

basements and storage rooms. A digital scanning facility now

makes it possible for us to digitize these vast amounts of treasu-

res in a fully automated process. A new object can be scanned

every ten minutes.

20 Visual CoMPutinG at tHE CliniC

A picture is worth a thousand words, as the saying goes. In

daily hospital routines, however, images often only reveal their

secrets after tough analysis. Clinical physicians must invest a lot

of time evaluating computer-tomography or magnetic-resonance

images. The right tools to speed up this process are provided by

Fraunhofer IGD.

24 Joint rEsEarCH WitHout BorDErs

Summing up 25 years of Germany’s reunification at the “Joint

research without borders event,” Fraunhofer IGD asks questions

about the shared research history of the sites in Darmstadt and

Rostock.

V i s u a l C o m p u t i n g a s a k e y t o t h e f a C t o r y o f t h e f u t u r e

What can visual computing provi-de in industrie 4.0? many things, according to the researchers of fraunhofer igD. industry in the future will link the virtual and the real world much closer together than before.

f r a u n h o f e r o n t h e Way t o u n D i s C o V e r e D s h o r e s

a rocking boat in place of a massive lab? for seven days, this scenario became a reality for three resear-chers from fraunhofer igD: they tested their novel environmental monitoring system on the research ship fs alkor.

t h e h o m e o f t h e f u t u r e

experts are certain that residential environments are changing. But where is the road taking us? living at home will become intelligent. an interview with Dr. andreas Braun provides insight.

04 10 14

03C o n t e n t

27 FlEXiBlE soFtWarE CoMPosition

In the future, urban planners no longer need to buy one stan-

dard software package but may compose the tools themselves

according to their wishes and needs by means of the modular

system, GEOToolbox.

28 Visual CoMPutinG@DarMstaDt

One of the special talents of the science city of Darmstadt is

visual computing, as Darmstadt is in fact home to Fraunhofer

IGD. Darmstadt is also home of the Technical University’s “Inter-

active Graphics Systems Group,” GRIS for short, which celebra-

ted its 40th anniversary this year.

30 Mr. 3D intErnEt

“This is never going to work out!” Dr. Johannes Behr was

bombarded with such prophecies of doom when he devoted

himself to his vision in the year 2000. He wanted to put inter-

active three-dimensional images on the internet. His customers

thought this idea was abstruse – after all, their patience was

already put to the test when opening a PDF file. How on earth

was this supposed to work for large 3D images?

32 YounG talEnt – CoME on in!

Gone are the days of overcrowded lecture halls in natural and

engineering sciences. Young talent is rare. Therefore, Fraunhofer

IGD wants to excite young people about visual computing early

on.

34 BroaDEninG HoriZons – FAIRS AND EVENTS

36 PlaYFullY ProViDinG inForMation

During frontal presentations, some people might get bored

and slump down in their chairs. Content can be learned in a

completely different way, however, if viewers need to actively

move through it.

38 aBout nEtWorKinG WitH KnoWlEDGE EXCHanGE

In September 2015, Darmstadt was the center of European

science. High-ranking researchers gathered at the 27th Annual

Conference of Academia Europaea, organized by Professor

Fellner, Director of Fraunhofer IGD and the GRIS Department at

TU Darmstadt.

40 FraunHoFEr iGD in ProFilE

44 FraunHoFEr linKED in

46 FraunHoFEr-GEsEllsCHaFt

48 CustoMErs anD CooPEration PartnErs

50 PuBliCations

52 sErViCE anD ContaCts

56 HoW to FinD us

57 EDitorial notEs

V i s u a l C o m p u t i n g at t h e C l i n i C

X-rays, etcetera, allow doctors to look inside our bodies. But the images are often reluctant to reveal their secrets. Visual computing can make life easier for clinical physicians.

J o i n t r e s e a r C h W i t h o u t B o r D e r s

After the German reunification, the future was uncertain for many employees of the Computer science Department at the university of rostock. in the 25th year of the reunited german nation, scientists from Darmstadt and rostock conduct research hand in hand.

m r . 3 D i n t e r n e t

three-dimensional games, CaD models of new cars – without Dr. Johannes Behr, 3D content online would not be what it is today. the portrait of a dynamic computer science visionary.

20 24 30

work step 7fi nished in 4 minutes

magazine empty, please refi ll !

i n D u s t r i e 4 . 006

basic technologies, as we need computer vision and 3D models

to make the systems intelligent,” explains Professor André Stork,

head of the Interactive Engineering Technologies Competence

Center at Fraunhofer IGD. One example is capturing the geome-

try of components: was the part produced as requested? Or did

an error occur?

Virtualizing reality, realizing virtuality

“Industrie 4.0 makes 3D models much more important–

Industrie 4.0 will refuel our research once again,” Professor

Stork says. Why? Industry in the future will link the virtual and

the real world much closer together than before. For instance, it

will be possible in the future to communicate with any machine

from any work station. Employees can virtually see on a screen

what the machines are really doing at the moment, and even

what they will do in the near future. Currently, daily routines

still present a different picture: man surveys real production sites

by means of laser scanners, if at all, then manually transfers the

data to a digital format. Either virtual representation constantly

lags behind in terms of up-to-dateness or no data are available

at all. One big goal of Industrie 4.0 is, therefore, that we would

like to virtualize reality and realize virtuality, in real time. Digital

representation should thus correspond to reality at all times.

The term Digital Twins is also used in this context. “However,

we have coined the term cyber-physical equivalence for it, CPE

in short. The term Digital Twins is also used for avatars, as it

happens,” explains Stork.

The researchers of Fraunhofer IGD have already come much

closer to this equivalence of the real and digital worlds. With

depth-sensing cameras, they record the machine or hall

30 times per second. “This is how we are able to capture

movements and reflect them back to the virtual world instantly,

i.e. with immediate effect,” specifies Stork. Visitors to Hannover

Messe were able to witness how well this works. Here, the

What can visual computing provide in industrie

4.0? many things, according to the researchers

of fraunhofer igD.

The times are over when people - celebrating their solitude - sat

in front of the TV at home alone. Now they virtually huddle

around with numerous friends, be it via social networks or news

portals. So far, so good. However, this development does not

concern only us; no, it is not even limited to living beings. In

the future, even production machines will “talk” to each other

and to people-devices, in fact, which have previously been con-

sidered to be rather uncommunicative, working along without

regard for their environment. In the case of production plants,

of course, it is not about living out social relations, huddling

around with as many friends as possible. They will, rather, work

more effectively this way.

“What is the point then?” you might wonder. There are many

reasons for this development, called Industrie 4.0. One of those

reasons is that Industrie 4.0 makes production processes more

flexible, making it possible to produce individual products, i.e. in

a perspective lot size of one. Customers can design their product

on a computer at home, send the data to the appropriate

company, and receive the object of their desire in a package

some time later. It already works this way for simple products.

In the future, it should also be within the realms of possibility

for more complicated items. However, it all depends on whether

production plants coordinate with each other – by sorting out,

for instance, which machine takes over which process step

when.

What can visual computing accomplish in the context of

Industrie 4.0? “In the process, 3D visualization is one of the

CONTACT: BODO URBAN, ANDRE STORk, JöRN

kOHlHAMMER, AlExANDER NOUAk

07i n D u s t r i e 4 . 0

researchers presented a mini-robot by fischertechnik GmbH.

With a depth-sensing camera, they recorded its movements and

transferred them to the virtual world, live of course.

Based on this CPE demonstrator, the researchers are currently

developing another exhibit at Hannover Messe 2016 to convey

the idea of customized production to visitors. In principle, the

visitor can make any shape with bristle blocks, representative

of the customized product, then two to three depth-sensing

cameras take a picture of the structure and create a 3D model

from it. The software analyzes in which order the blocks

were assembled and, in turn, derives some sort of assembly

instructions. Based on these instructions, a robot will then

recreate the “product.”

Which other solutions have the researchers developed in the

field of cyber-physical equivalence? The results can be seen

in an Industrie 4.0 lab in Rostock. Here, companies can get

information and see different demonstrations. The Rostock

showroom was awarded as a Selected landmark in the land

of Ideas 2015, an award the site obtained for the third time

already, and the fifth time for Fraunhofer IGD.

transparent production plants facilitate forward-looking analyses

Industrie 4.0 may be different from today’s production in many

ways, but both production methods have one requirement

in common: the machines and production plants must run

smoothly. Enormous costs are incurred when production lines

are stopped. If a machine no longer operates well, sensors de-

tect this at an early stage, thus preventing a system failure at a

later time. However, such sensors generate enormous amounts

of data, which to date can only be evaluated sporadically. A

new software by Fraunhofer IGD helps here. With it, technical

experts can visually analyze the large amounts of data and

compare the results of different machines. What do data from

intact machines look like? Which data change in operation?

“We are, therefore, moving away from the evaluation of the

past towards an analysis allowing us to act more effectively

in the future,” says Professor Jörn kohlhammer, head of the

Information Visualization and Visual Analytics Competence

Center at Fraunhofer IGD.

Supporting man with flexible and relevant assistance systems

As intelligent as machines might become, it is safe to say that

man will continue to play an important role in the production

halls even in times of Industrie 4.0. “We therefore develop

different assistance systems to provide the best possible support

for employees,” says Professor Bodo Urban, Director at the

Rostock site of Fraunhofer IGD. Control stations, for instance,

compile complex information for specific tasks and the shift

leaders consequently see at a glance what is going on in their

production area. For this purpose, the researchers prepare a

three-dimensional model of the entire production plant, which

the employee can view on a multitouch display. If the power

consumption of the saw gets out of hand, for instance, the

relevant display changes to red. Detailed information can be

retrieved by touch, revealing the power consumption of the last

minutes, hours, or days.

When it comes to assistance systems, researchers rely on

flexibility. “Rigid systems are not much help if processes

become flexible. After all, workers should not be managed

apathetically but be able to bring in their practical knowledge,”

says Urban. For instance, the researchers track tools picked up

by the employee, deriving what he is in the process of doing to

be able to respond flexibly to the employee’s current situation.

Another key point is currentness, mainly when it comes to new

products. For example, if the product range is adjusted,

i n D u s t r i e 4 . 008

employees must be guided and trained such as, for example if

they need to assemble new car models. Up to now, employees

needed to laboriously enter the assembly data into an associ-

ated training system by hand. Occasionally, however, new

changes were made on the car model while the employees

were already feeding the training system data. In other words,

the training data were, for the most part, already obsolete

again. “For the automobile manufacturers Opel and Volvo,

we use the data from production design directly for training

purposes, without having to process them any further. The

data used to train the assembly operators are therefore always

up-to-date,” explains Stork.

In the long term, these assistance systems are also intended to

enable man and machine to cooperate better, just like human

coworkers do. The metal men are to perceive what man does,

coordinate with him and assist him. “Our assistance system lets

the robot know which tasks are up next,” explains Urban.

Secure data management by means of biometrics

Transparency is of great importance in Industrie 4.0 – all the

more important that data do not fall into the wrong hands.

Personal features might increase security; it is impossible to pass

on the shape of your ear or the pattern of your iris like a key or

even a PIN. losing them is also not an option. So far, such per-

sonal features have rarely been used. “The main goal is to use

biometric systems which can be discreetly incorporated in the

workflow,” says Alexander Nouak, head of the Identification

and Biometrics Competence Center at Fraunhofer IGD. “The

best example is Apple’s iPhone. Here, the user barely notices the

biometric identification of his or her fingerprint.”

It is even safer and more user-friendly if not only one feature,

but several characteristic marks are captured. Multi-modal bio-

metrics, for instance, combines facial recognition, iris pattern,

fingerprint, and auricle shape. If the camera only moderately

recognized the face, the user no longer needs to look at the

camera again as before. Instead, the system unambiguously

identifies the employee by his or her ear or fingerprint. Which

recognition features are applied in the process all depends on

the circumstances. Mainly, things often touched by the user are

appropriate for authentication, e.g. by providing them with a

finger sensor. If the user needs to write a lot, the dynamics of

his or her handwriting or personal way of typing on a keyboard

can be analyzed.

Biometrics is limited to living beings. “However, the concepts

are transferable or conceivable for objects as well,” says Nouak.

“We are currently identifying certain features in workpieces

which are suitable for recognition.” These are also called

“physical unclonable functions,” or PUF. For instance, product

piracy could be proven more reliably. “If we previously applied

a pattern on the relevant workpieces and products,” says

Nouak, “we now intend to examine the characteristics inherent

in the workpiece.” In this manner, the workpieces should also

become somewhat intelligent and thus be well equipped for

the industry of the future.

09a u g m e n t e D r e a l i t y

in first in three of the four categories. In the fourth task, which was

about recognizing a component, they finished second.

time traveling with ar – at the Burg Castle on the Wupper river

Not just carmakers like VW are interested in this recognition tech-

nology. It offers benefits in completely different fields as well, such

as tourism. Visitors to the Burg Castle on the Wupper in Solingen,

for instance, can travel more than one hundred years back into

the past by means of AR and find out what the ruins looked

like at that time. This is made possible by the free app, “Schloss

Burg.” The app will recognize where the visitors are currently

located by means of the camera integrated in their smartphones.

At twelve different locations, it provides them with short texts and

images on the topics of trivia, history, ruins, and reconstruction or

historical 360-degree views. If the visitors are standing inside the

castle courtyard, they can switch back and forth between today’s

view and the historical one. If users take a picture of the painting

inside the knights’ hall, the app will reveal the secret of who was

actually portrayed there by displaying information on the people

depicted.

Mankind is a real masterpiece. Even babies learn to recognize people

in their surroundings. Technology needs some coaching in what the

world’s citizens visually register on their own, not only when it comes

to recognizing people by means of their characteristic attributes as in

biometrics, but also when identifying objects. It is this recognition and,

mainly, the tracking of moving objects, however, that is essential in

terms of Augmented Reality (AR), tracking being the basic technology,

so to speak.

Who best to “teach” technology?

How important it is to lend “eyes” to technology is evidenced by the

Tracking Challenge contest advertised by the carmaker VW. Here,

scientists from different institutes compete in an attempt to provide

ideal solutions to the given scenarios. In the process, the researchers

register in a local system of coordinates and orient themselves by

means of tracking. The tasks are based on the requirements of the

automotive industry as well as on current scientific issues.

In 2015, the challenge included four different tasks. In one, for

example, a moving object needed to be tracked – e.g. a steering

wheel attached to a robotic arm and guided through space along

curves, twists and bends. But there is more. The researchers were not

only to keep their eyes on the object but also overlay it with virtual

three-dimensional geometries in the process for as long as possible.

The researchers from Fraunhofer IGD entered the contest and came

“SEEing” tECHnologY – HElPFUl in indUStrY and toUriSMEvery once in a whi le , technology needs “eyes ,” such as when rea l i ty i s to be captured and enhanced with

addi t iona l informat ion. Sc ient i s t s f rom d ifferent inst i tutes recent ly competed in th i s ar t in the VW Group’s

Track ing Chal lenge and the researchers of F raunhofer IGD were far ahead in game. The appl icat ions ranged

f rom automot ive engineer ing a l l the way to cast le tours .

CONTACT: UlI BOCkHOlT

a rocking boat in place of a massive lab? for seven days, this scenario became a reality for three resear-chers from fraunhofer igD: they successfully tested their novel environmental monitoring system on the research ship fs alkor.

FraUnHoFEr on tHE WaY FraUnHoFEr on tHE WaY to UndiSCoVErEd SHorES to UndiSCoVErEd SHorES

11r e s e a r C h s h i p e X p e D i t i o n

July 4, 2015, 2:00 pm, somewhere in the middle of the Skagerrak,

a part of the North Sea. The waves are breaking on the hull of

the FS Alkor. Here, the air is filled with tense anticipation. Twelve

scientists are crowded around the railing. Crew members, deck-

hands and officers are industriously bustling around. The FS Alkor

is actually a research ship, and the moment of truth is drawing

near for the team of researchers. Will their design deliver on its

promise? Or were the efforts of the past months in vain? While

the captain is keeping the ship as still as possible, the crew on deck

activates a winch. As a result, a hexagonal metal structure about

three meters high is lifted up on a thick wire, swings back and

forth, moves over the railing towards the water and then slowly

submerges. But, despite of all fingers being crossed, the waves are

too high and some parts of the structure come loose. There is a

lot of hustle and bustle as the winch lifts the structure back out of

the water, complete with the detached parts, and dozens of hands

reach for the frame, carefully guiding it onto the ship’s deck. While

the Fraunhofer IGD researchers evaluate the data from the cameras

attached to the structure, their colleagues pull out their wrenches

to tackle the hardware, i.e. the frame. And then the operation

starts all over again, this time successfully.

Sensor system FlexMoT instantly detects underwater leaks

But what exactly are the scientists testing? “We have developed

the modular sensor system, FlexMoT, together with colleagues

from three industrial partners and GEOMAR. The system measures

different parameters in the ocean, such as temperature, salt

content, or methane dissolved in water,” explains Thomas Ruth,

Head of Fraunhofer IGD Group Visualization, in a quiet moment.

He coordinates the project on board, together with his two

colleagues. “For instance, the sensor system would be able to

CONTACT: THOMAS RUTH

detect any leakage around drilling platforms at an early stage.” In

fact, marine researchers are already using such profiling systems

to some extent, but they put them together themselves, for the

most part, fiddling about sometimes for several years. “We, on

the other hand, are working on a ready-made system. This could

also be applied for long-term surveying, with smaller and more

readily available ships, such as supply vessels,” adds Ruth.

The principle: once the metal structure reaches the bottom of the

ocean, it releases a buoy which rises to the top. Ten meters below

the water surface is the maximum, however; the system cannot

be stretched any further. In this way, the buoy is not exposed to

the sometimes heavy swells on the surface. Due to its buoyancy,

the rope is tightened while being attached to the structure on the

seabed. From time to time, a little elevator moves up and down

the rope. Both metal structure and elevator are equipped with

sensors, so that the structure records data on the ocean floor

while the elevator delivers results from the entire water column.

Furthermore, the system allows for real-time monitoring by

sending a data balloon up to the water surface every day.

12 r e s e a r C h s h i p e X p e D i t i o n

Here, the balloon connects to the mobile network and sends its

data to a shore station where they can be evaluated. In the case

of remote sites, the data balloon communicates via satellite. The

system displays great longevity; it can remain in the water for up to

one year before the batteries die. Most conventional systems need

to be recharged after one or two months.

But enough theory. Back on board. The deck has almost been

cleared. The structure has been submerged in the water and

the current position of the ship and depth of the water have

been registered by the system configuration with a click on the

tablet. Now, the scientists are gathered around a little flickering

black-and-white screen inside the ship-based lab. What they can

see there is somewhat reminiscent of a moon landing: a little

explosive charge separates the structure from the rope winch so

that it settles on the ocean floor. Now, the researchers dart out to

the top deck above the ship’s bridge. Armed with binoculars and

tablet, they are on the lookout for the first little data buoy, which

is supposed to come up after ten minutes. There it is! But no, it

was only a lemon-colored jellyfish. But then somebody catches

sight of the buoy and immediately checks the tablet to see if the

data arrived safe and sound. lo and behold, the connection is up

and running, the data buoy reliably transmits the results recorded

by the different sensors underwater. Smiling faces all around.

spotting anomalies at a glance

Now, a little peace and quiet is restored. Almost leisurely, the

scientists begin evaluating the data received, so there is plenty

of time to look over Thomas Ruth’s shoulder. “We developed the

software at Fraunhofer IGD, for the most part,” he explains while

looking at the monitor. “On the one hand, there is the operating

software. It sinks down to the ocean floor so to speak, initiating

boot commands for the data buoys from there. And on the other

hand, there is an evaluation software on the so-called ‘topside,’

which we are in the process of using here.” A dashboard shows

how the individual parameters, such as the methane concentra-

tion or temperature, behave, and creates a corresponding site

map of the surroundings. “You can see anomalies at a glance,”

rejoices Ruth. “If, for instance, the temperature curve shows an

anomaly, the user can zoom in this time frame with the touch of

a finger and will then also see all other parameters for this time

period.” The software also requests and saves additional data

from special providers, such as the marine weather at the survey

site, as well as the wave height. It was much more complex and

lengthy for previous systems to evaluate the data together; as

every sensor manufacturer has its own evaluation software, the

software needed to be changed for each parameter.

A day and a half later. A storm rages at sea. It is impossible to

continue working. The researchers actually intended to stay in

the Skagerrak for four days but the weather threw a monkey

wrench in their plans. Instead, the structure needs to be retrieved

and relocated to calmer waters to continue testing there.

Back at home in the lab, Ruth summarizes, “All components are

working and our sensors are delivering reliable results, even if we

needed to assist here and there and adjust things. And teamwork

on board the ship is unique. While we normally all just research

along inside our labs, we deliberate in a large group there. life

on a ship had many inspirations in store for new developments

and future technologies. In a word, there is no substitute for

having experienced daily work routines on a research ship.”

13C o l o r & i m a g i n g

aCroSS tHE Color SPECtrUM

lEDs is attached to a one-meter-long moving arm. This allows the

researchers to realize numerous different light compositions, be

it daylight or the light of various lamps. The light falls on the test

colors of the 3D printer from any direction, and the reflected light

can be detected from any direction. In this manner, the scientists

determine the exact effects of each color composition, enabling

them to precisely calibrate the printer.

Darmstadt – hub of color sciences

The international IS&T Color and Imaging Conference was another

highlight in the field of color. It is the premier event of its kind

when it comes to color sciences. For the first time, it did not take

place in the US, but in Germany, in Darmstadt to be precise.

The Program Chair was Philipp Urban, head of the 3D Printing

Technology Competence Center at Fraunhofer IGD. Together

with his colleague, Michael Murdoch of the Rochester Institute of

Technology (RIT), he was responsible for the scientific program.

The organization was handled by Urban with his team on site.

They managed the framework program, booked hotel rooms, and

raised funds from the German Research Foundation DFG. The con-

ference was extraordinarily well received. Instead of the expected

150 guests, 189 people exchanged views at the event and, as in

the 22 previous years, they came from all over the world.

It was overnight–and completely unexpected–that the software

“Cuttlefish” turned into a media star. The reason it became

famous was a scientific article published by the researchers of

Fraunhofer IGD in mid-2015. Most of the time, such publications

go unnoticed in the media landscape, but it was a different story

for Cuttlefish: the magazine MIT Technology Review’s article

described the software in easily comprehensible terms and got

the ball rolling. The researchers had “solved the last big challenge

of 3D printing,” read the title of the article, and all of a sudden

the words “3D printing” and “Fraunhofer IGD” resounded in the

press all over the world.

What is behind the name creating such a stir? Cuttlefish is a

printer driver that makes it possible to create “shockingly realistic

color prints,” as expressed by the 3D Printing Industry web portal.

Cuttlefish not only imitates the color, but also the texture of the

original object deceivingly well, thus making it possible for 3D

printers to produce exact copies of objects.

Color calibration for 3D printers

Yet, the researchers of the 3D Printing Technology Competence

Center are not concerned only with 3D printing per se. They

are also a step ahead when it comes to calibration. With their

gonioreflectometer, they are able to achieve a level of color

accuracy that is globally unique. Viewed from the outside, the

device seems unspectacular. You only see a black box that is over

two meters long and just as wide. Dark velvet on all walls keeps

all the light out. Inside, however, a light source loaded with 22

Co lo r u sed to be a de l i c a te sub j ec t i n 3D p r in t i ng – i t was ha rd l y pos s ib l e to rep roduce co lo r s rea l i s t i c a l l y .

Cu t t l e f i sh pu t an end to th i s d i l emma and became famous ove r n igh t . The re sea rche r s a t F r aunhofe r IGD

a l so have so lu t i ons i n s to re fo r o the r co lo r i s sues .

CONTACT: PHIlIPP URBAN

experts are certain that residential environments are changing. But where is the road taking us?

tHE HoME oF tHE FUtUrE tHE HoME oF tHE FUtUrE tHE HoME oF tHE FUtUrE tHE HoME oF tHE FUtUrE tHE HoME oF tHE FUtUrE tHE HoME oF tHE FUtUrE tHE HoME oF tHE FUtUrE tHE HoME oF tHE FUtUrE tHE HoME oF tHE FUtUrE tHE HoME oF tHE FUtUrE tHE HoME oF tHE FUtUrE

15i n t e l l i g e n t l i V i n g

Home mainly relates to comfort and a sense of security. This is

what some people think. Not everyone sees this priority, which is

not to say that comfort is less important to others. It is paramount,

however, to assist residents in their everyday life and equip

apartments with intelligence. Dr. Andreas Braun, head of the Smart

living & Biometric Technologies Competence Center at Fraunhofer

IGD, will tell us what this means for day-to-day life.

Dr. Braun, how will we live at home in the future?

living at home will become more and more intelligent, without

the required technology becoming visible, as such. We also speak

of Ambient Assisted living, AAl in short. Mainly elderly people will

benefi t from it. After all, technology allows them to live in their

apartments as long and as independently as possible. The basic

requirement is that the devices need to understand what residents

would like to do, to understand and implement their wishes. If

they would like to dim the light, for instance, it should be enough

for residents to point at the lamp and say, “dim the light.” For

more complex wishes, it is necessary to develop some kind of

communication between the devices, meaning the devices must

talk to each other in the background to virtually coordinate who

can make which contribution to fulfi ll the residents’ wishes.

that sounds unusual. What is the status quo of intelligent

living?

There are already numerous solutions for intelligent living. Special

bathroom mirrors remind residents to take their medicine. The

stove will switch off automatically if no pots are on it. And if the

person leaves the bed at night, the light will guide him or her to

the bathroom. However, these have so far been isolated solutions,

so each application had its own software. A combination with

other approaches often caused problems. What had been missing

in the past was an open platform with a shared control button for

the different devices and sensors, a platform allowing the devices

CONTACT: ANDREAS BRAUNACTUATORS

SENSORS

ing, sitting, or walking – or whether he or she has fallen down

and is lying on the ground helplessly. In this case, the sensors will

call for help. We are expanding these tests at the WoQuaZ after

having tested CapFloor inside the lab on a surface area of just a

few square meters. So far, we have installed the sensors in three

apartments; after 2016, they will be found in all apartments, on a

total surface area of over a thousand square meters. Completely

different issues can arise in such a huge area than in a small corner

of a lab. There are no final results yet, but the users are happy so

far.

The applications of CapFloor are not only limited to falls, by the

way. For instance, the sensors can ensure that the light is turned

on in the bathroom if the resident walks towards it. They can also

turn off the heat if nobody is at home, or they can warn residents

if electrical devices are still running or the window is open when

they leave their home.

Can interested developers buy the intelligent apartment

as a complete solution already?

Such a complete solution was previously not available. Rather, you

had to pick up the individual solutions little by little. This gap was

closed by the spin-off, Assisted Home Solutions. My predecessor,

Dr. Reiner Wichert, founded the company in the summer of

2015. Assisted Home Solutions offers a comprehensive package

of intelligent services based on universal that already comes very

close to the complete solution for an intelligent apartment. The

offer includes sensors and actors by different producers as well

as various internet services. The user can therefore rely on quite a

large number of services.

In addition, Assisted Home Solutions assists developers, be it

in new buildings or in the conversion of existing buildings, as

experience shows that, for the most part, AAl applications are not

well planned in the construction phase of a house. The employees

to exchange their information among each other. We therefore

teamed up with partners and developed such a platform. The

result is called “universAAl.”

How far has the development of this software platform

evolved already?

It is currently being tested, namely in the scope of the large-scale

practice test “Make it ReAAl,” which was initiated by the EU and

in which more than 5000 people in eight countries are currently

participating. In their homes, AAl technologies from a total of 30

producers are running on the universal shared software platform.

So far, we have received positive feedback. Systems which used to

not talk to each other are now communicating without any issues.

let’s take an automatic blood pressure monitor and a personal

scale. Normally, the devices determine their data separately, so

the caregiver needs to look at two different software systems and

transfer the results to an overall chart. He or she records the data,

directly saving them in a shared list. The caregiver will therefore

see all examination results at a glance, gaining more information

and saving the manual transfer of the values. Eventually, this also

creates more time for personal, face-to-face care.

Another practice test is being run at the Weiterstadt

Center of living and accommodation, WoQuaZ for short.

What exactly are you studying there?

Here, it is also about testing the universAAl platform, although on

a different level. The focus is less on the amount of data. The

WoQuaZ actually only consists of 20 apartments, one shared-hous-

ing arrangement for dementia patients, and one day-care center.

Rather, it is about integrating and controlling individual sensor

systems in the platform as closely to everyday life as possible. For

instance, our CapFloor system uses sensors hidden in the floor

underneath the laminate to register whether the resident is stand-

16 i n t e l l i g e n t l i V i n g

17

of the spin-off will therefore support developers in an advisory

capacity to ensure that everything will work as planned.

Dr. Braun, which technologies can we expect from you

in the future?

We are working to replace motion sensors with less noticeable

technologies, as they are not always nice to look at hanging

from the ceiling in boxes. What is more, they are not particularly

precise. Changing light conditions, for instance, can cause interfer-

ence. In short, we would like to make the sensors less noticeable

and more fault-resistant.

One approach is providing furniture with “intelligence.” In the

future, couch and office chair will know whether someone is

sitting on them. If so, the light in the room next door is switched

off and the heat is turned down. The bed, in turn, might check

the sleeper’s breathing activity, which allows conclusions on how

restful his or her sleep was. For this purpose, we use a sensor

emitting a weak electric field. This field changes as the chest

moves up and down. Essentially, it is the same technology as in

CapFloor. Such intelligent furniture can almost provide the same

information as motion detectors but are much better integrated in

the design of the home.

a u g m e n t e D r e a l i t y

Not everyone can be in the spotlight – this applies to art

treasures as well. Museum visitors only marvel at and appreciate

some works that we shine the spotlight on. Many other works

are waiting in museum basements to be rediscovered. Some

of these buried collections are huge. Therefore, it used to be

impossible to completely digitize them.

A development by Fraunhofer IGD, therefore, attracted a lot of

attention at Digital Heritage 2015 in Granada, Spain, from Sep-

tember 28 through October 2. At the conference, visitors could

watch a fully automated scanning facility work. The researchers

scanned the QR code of the object in which the inventory

number is coded, put the object on a tray, and everything else

happened automatically. Out came a three-dimensional digital

copy of the object, and at a mind-boggling speed. A new object

can be digitized every ten minutes. It is therefore possible to

transfer entire collections to the digital world for the first time.

scanning facility – fully automated and fast

let’s take a look at how the Cultlab3D scanning facility works.

Once the art object is put on the tray, it is first taken to a

scanning arc equipped with nine cameras. A second arc, moving

parallel to the first scanning arc, provides the required lighting

with nine light sources. Once the object is placed underneath

the arcs, these move into nine different positions from which

they take a total of 153 different images. Duration? About one

minute. The underlying software creates a first three-dimensional

reconstruction from the 60 best images, a so-called preview

model. In the meantime, the scanning arc is taking more pictures

from positions it had not covered before. Added are pictures

from below, taken by nine stationary cameras through the

transparent tray. The status after five minutes: a first 3D model

and over one hundred additional images.

On the 3D model, the system will detect if there are any under-

cuts. Are there any “holes” in the digital art object? The second

scanning point – a robotic arm with a camera and a diffuse light

source – moves into specific positions where gaps still exist. The

scanning facility sends a total of 350 to 400 images to a comput-

er, which then creates the final digital “twin” of the object. This

takes another two hours, give or take. As the PC performs the

computation offline, however, the required computing power is

easy to supply.

C u lt l a B 3 D18

digitiZing WorKS oF art non-StoP

CONTACT: PEDRO SANTOS

Museums often harbor large col lect ions of art objects buried in basements and storage rooms. A digital scanning

faci l i ty now makes it possible for us to digit ize these vast amounts of treasures in a ful ly automated process. A new

object can be scanned every ten minutes..

1919

I N T E R V I E W

tHE “FUllY aUtoMatEd SCanning FaCilitY”

Ped ro San tos , head o f the D ig i t i z a t i on o f Cu l tu ra l

He r i t age Competence Cente r a t F r aunhofe r IGD ,

answer s some ques t i ons about the s cann ing f ac i l i t y .

Mr. Santos, you exhibited the CultLab3D scanning fa-cility at the Digital Heritage in 2013 for the fi rst time. What is new in 2015?

In 2013 we showed the fi rst prototype of the scanning facility. It

conveyed the idea, but we were just starting out at the time. In

2015, we put forward a fully automated scanning facility suited

to digitize entire collections for the fi rst time, due to its high

throughput.

What else is special about the scanning facility?

Currently, the scanning facility captures the geometry and texture

of an object, it is color-calibrated and registers the real size of the

objects. We calibrated the cameras for this purpose. We therefore

know the pixel-to-meter ratio and can convert the images

accordingly. We calibrate the cameras for color fastness via a color

scale. We “showed” a color palette to each camera and scaled it

in this manner. As we conceived the scanning concept like some

type of assembly system, additional scanners may be added at any

time. Currently, art treasures with a height of up to 60 centimeters

can be scanned from the top and the bottom. One might also

add scanners, however, to record volumetric data, such as an

ultrasound scanner.

When can museums and other interested parties use the scanning facility?

For spring 2016, we plan to test the fully automated scanning

facility at other museums fi rst. Then it is to be commercialized.

Moreover, we are developing the scanning facility further. In

addition to the shape and look of the object, in the future it will also

capture, in an equally fully automated manner, the optical material

properties, such as the refl ective properties.

21m e D i C i n e

A picture is worth a thousand words, as the saying goes.

Sometimes, however, even pictures only reveal their secrets

after lengthy and tough analyses, such as in daily hospital

routines. While fractures on an x-ray image are visible to the

trained eye at first glance, it often takes clinical physicians

many hours to evaluate computer-tomography or magnetic-

resonance images. In the process, the analysis in the head and

neck region is particularly challenging, for there are numerous

different structures located in a relatively small area.

tumor radiation in the head and neck region

Before clinical doctors radiate a tumor in the head region, for

instance, they study the relevant computer-tomography images

for about four hours, marking the regions of individual struc-

tures on the image data, such as spinal cord, blood vessels and

larynx. A precisely planned approach is vital for the patient’s

survival: In radiotherapy, the doctors “shoot” the tumor with

highly energetic rays, after all, destroying it in this manner.

Sensitive organs in close proximity must not be damaged too

much by the rays.

Visual computing makes it much easier for doctors to identify

structures. “With kOHAlA, our ‘kOpf-HAls-Atlas’ (head-neck

atlas) for radiation therapy, the evaluation only takes four

minutes instead of four hours,” confirms Dr. Stefan Wesarg,

head of the Visual Healthcare Technologies Competence

Center at Fraunhofer IGD. The heart of kOHAlA is the CoSMo

model. The “Coupled Shape Model” recognizes the different

structures, marks them accordingly, and segments them – it

virtually outlines their shapes.

The software has already been evaluated at the Sana Clinic

of Offenbach and at the University Clinics of Gießen and

Marburg, where physicians tested it on 20 patient records.

Currently, the researchers are increasing the accuracy of the

segmentation. Once this is accomplished, the industrial partner

Medcom GmbH, a Fraunhofer spin-off, plans to bring kOHAlA

to the market.

Minimally invasive surgeries in the head region

Many surgeries are minimally invasive and, therefore, much less

of a strain on the patient. Such a procedure actually does not

require a large cut; if polyps need to be removed, for instance,

doctors insert the endoscope through the nose. As the tool

comes rather close to the brain on its way, however, doctors

need to practice such procedures several times. Phacon GmbH

in leipzig offers training systems for this purpose: an artificial

head with a gaping hole in the place of the nose. Doctors

can insert different attachments and remove the polyps, for

example.

l o o k i n g i n s i d e a l i v i n g b o d y i s d i f f i c u l t , i f n o t i m p o s s i b l e . x - r a y s , e t c e t e r a , a l l o w u s t o t a k e a l o o k

i n s i d e a h u m a n b o d y , b u t t h e i m a g e s o f t e n o n l y re v e a l t h e i r s e c re t s a f t e r l e n g t h y a n a l y s i s . V i s u a l

c o m p u t i n g – m o re p re c i s e l y , t h e i m a g e - b a s e d p ro c e s s i n g o f e x i s t e n t i a l h e a l t h re c o rd s – c a n m a k e l i f e

e a s i e r f o r c l i n i c a l p h y s i c i a n s .

CONTACT: STEFAN WESARG

ViSUal CoMPUting at tHE CliniC

22 m e D i C i n e

OraMod developments will be integrated in the overall forecast

model and fed with the first data, including the software by

Fraunhofer IGD.

Specific treatment for prostate cancer

Which treatment is best for the patient? The answer to this

question is often as individual as the progression of the disease.

Medical experts therefore save the patients’ data – in line with

data protection laws, of course – because they want to find similar

cases to be able to treat patients as specifically as possible. This

is done at a private clinic affiliated with the University Hospital of

Hamburg-Eppendorf, where the doctors have already collected

20,000 data records of people suffering from prostate cancer – a

data jungle barely manageable with conventional tools. The team

around Professor Jörn kohlhammer, who heads the Information

Visualization and Visual Analytics Competence Center at Fraun-

hofer IGD, now offers a solution. “We have developed a software

to recognize the commonalities between the data records and

divide them with the doctor’s help into different groups,” says

kohlhammer. The University Clinic has been using the software

since 2013, although only in research for the time being. The

medical experts are trying to find out which commonalities exist

in patients whose treatment only resulted in little success. In this

way, the doctors also hope to answer the question of which genes

are responsible for the various forms of prostate cancer.

The employees of Phacon GmbH are using different com-

puter-tomography patient images as a basis for the models,

which they laboriously evaluate by hand. The researchers at

Fraunhofer IGD are therefore expanding their CoSMo model to

include the nose and sinuses. By summer 2016, the first version

of the software should be up and running. In the long term,

it is even conceivable for doctors to play through very difficult

operations on patient-specific models first.

Reliably and quickly detecting oral cavity cancer

Visual computing can even be of good service in cases of oral

cavity cancer, the sixth most common cancer in the world. The

tricky part about this type of cancer is that, in most people,

it can be easily treated at first, but recurs later in every other

patient. Are there indicators to show this development early

and reliably? Scientists want to answer this question in the EU

project, OraMod; they are creating a model to determine how

likely a recurrence is by means of a whole bundle of individual

patient data. One of the possible indicators are enlarged lymph

nodes. The researchers at Fraunhofer IGD are concentrating on

this piece of the puzzle from the OraMod project.

In order to examine the lymph nodes, the doctor regularly

slides his patient into the magnetic resonance scanner. Next is

a laborious task: the medical experts look for the nodes on the

current images and mark them. Bit by bit, they then work their

way through the older images. Where can the relevant nodes be

found? Did they grow? “This is much easier with our software.

Then it will suffice for the doctors to mark the lymph nodes in

the current image at the click of a mouse,” explains Wesarg.

Everything else runs automatically. Without any effort on the

part of the medical expert, the lymph nodes are segmented,

their volume is computed and compared to the relevant nodes

on older images. For test purposes, the researchers have already

rolled out their software to clinics. In 2016, all individual

S H O R T N E W S

MEaSUring Vital data – and StaYing HEaltHY

How high is your pulse rate? Under which conditions does your

heart rate change? How intensive is your breathing? Activity and

vital data provide a variety of information about a person and

allow important conclusions regarding his or her physical and

mental development. First, the data must be recorded and then

evaluated – this is what the cooperation network TakeCare is

concerned with. Here, users, service providers, producers, and

research institutions like Fraunhofer IGD jointly develop innovative

assistance systems and services for people. The network provides

technologies, facilitates their operation, prepares the market

launch, and supports a sustainable creation of value.

People are at the focus of TakeCare, for the assistance by means

of activity and vital data can support physical performance in

the long term and well into old age. Appropriate apps on a

smartwatch, for instance, can detect when the user falls down

and will notify caretakers or call for help if the vital data change

dramatically. Furthermore, vital data can indicate low blood sugar

levels at night or the onset of dementia. They are also helpful

when it comes to analyzing the effectiveness of drugs, treatment

concepts or preventive measures.

Joint rESEarCH Joint rESEarCH Joint rESEarCH Joint rESEarCH Joint rESEarCH Joint rESEarCH Joint rESEarCH Joint rESEarCH Joint rESEarCH Joint rESEarCH Joint rESEarCH Joint rESEarCH Joint rESEarCH Joint rESEarCH Joint rESEarCH Joint rESEarCH Joint rESEarCH Joint rESEarCH Joint rESEarCH Joint rESEarCH Joint rESEarCH Joint rESEarCH Joint rESEarCH Joint rESEarCH Joint rESEarCH Joint rESEarCH Joint rESEarCH Joint rESEarCH Joint rESEarCH Joint rESEarCH Joint rESEarCH Joint rESEarCH Joint rESEarCH Joint rESEarCH Joint rESEarCH Joint rESEarCH Joint rESEarCH Joint rESEarCH Joint rESEarCH Joint rESEarCH Joint rESEarCH Joint rESEarCH Joint rESEarCH Joint rESEarCH Joint rESEarCH Joint rESEarCH Joint rESEarCH Joint rESEarCH Joint rESEarCH Joint rESEarCH Joint rESEarCH Joint rESEarCH Joint rESEarCH Joint rESEarCH WitHoUt BordErSWitHoUt BordErSWitHoUt BordErSWitHoUt BordErSWitHoUt BordErSWitHoUt BordErSWitHoUt BordErSWitHoUt BordErSWitHoUt BordErSWitHoUt BordErSWitHoUt BordErSWitHoUt BordErSWitHoUt BordErSWitHoUt BordErSWitHoUt BordErSWitHoUt BordErSWitHoUt BordErSWitHoUt BordErSWitHoUt BordErSWitHoUt BordErSWitHoUt BordErSWitHoUt BordErSWitHoUt BordErSWitHoUt BordErSWitHoUt BordErSWitHoUt BordErSWitHoUt BordErSWitHoUt BordErS

25r e V i e W & p r e V i e W

Af te r the f a l l o f the wa l l , t he fu tu re was unce r ta in fo r many emp loyees o f the Compute r G raph i c s Re -

sea rch Group a t the Depa r tment o f Compute r S c i ence o f the Ros tock Un i ve r s i t y . These emp loyees were

hung ou t to d r y , so to speak . They were t aken i n by P ro fe s so r Jo sé lu i s Enca r nação , the D i rec to r o f

F r aunhofe r IGD a t the t ime . I n the 25 th y ea r o f the reun i t ed Ge rman na t ion , s c i en t i s t s f rom Da rms tad t and

Ros tock conduc t re sea rch hand in hand , w i thou t bo rde r s .

Germany in ecstasy−the wall that had divided the country for

such a long time was open. Inconceivable. Equally inconceivable

as the preceding division. What followed has not been easy,

people coming together from one and the same country, whose

experiences could not have been more different. 25 years later,

on June 17, 2015, to be exact, Fraunhofer IGD summed things up

and asked questions about the shared research history of the sites

in Darmstadt and Rostock at the Joint research without borders

event. The ceremony was organized within the scope of the

“crossing borders” of the German state of Hesse series of events.

The emeritus professor José luis Encarnação, who headed Fraun-

hofer IGD at the time of the German reunifi cation, his successor,

Professor Dieter W. Fellner, and Professor Bodo Urban, head of

Fraunhofer IGD in Rostock, remember the time before, during,

and after the reunifi cation, and look ahead.

Professor Urban, you were a member of the Computer

Graphics research Group at the rostock university, from

which today’s rostock site of Fraunhofer iGD emerged. How

did you experience the time in the GDR from a researcher’s

perspective?

Professor Urban: Prior to the reunifi cation, we were the strongest

computer graphics group in the GDR. As such, we naturally

followed the work of Professor Encarnação, who developed the fi rst

graphics standards on the other side of the wall. Overall, natural

and engineering sciences were not as politicized in the GDR as

social sciences; our technical developments were not tied as closely

to political interpretations, after all. The limitations we experienced

were therefore less in terms of content than of a cultural and social

nature – regarding, for instance, what and where we were allowed

to publish, contacting other scientists, traveling, and certainly

equipment.

What happened after the reunifi cation?

Professor Urban: First of all, the reunifi cation meant for us

that our cooperation partners vanished into thin air. Now, the

question was what was to happen with our group? At the time

of the reunifi cation, we had already made contact with Professor

Encarnação – he did a lot for us.

Professor Encarnação: First, I founded a branch offi ce of the

Darmstadt Center for Computer Graphics in Rostock and picked

up employees in this way. In January of 1992, we then had the

chance to establish a Fraunhofer network.

Professor Urban: IIn the set-up phase, we had a lot of support

from Darmstadt. The colleagues there integrated us in EU projects,

for instance - completely new ground for us, of course. In the East,

we also had a defi cit in terms of IT because current technologies

were often not accessible to us. However, we were able to close this

gap quickly. One of these EU projects was one of the fi rst applica-

tions of the World Wide Web, spreading information on European

research funding. Those were very exciting times!

CONTACT: BODO URBAN

26 r e V i e W & p r e V i e W

Professor Encarnação, what about people who had been

involved in the Stasi or SED?

Professor Encarnação: Of course, the Rostock research group

was not free from people who had been members of the party

or affi liated with the secret police. However, a distinction must

be made: some of them were only part of these organizations

to open up the required research opportunities for themselves

and the computer graphics group- i.e. to be able to travel to

conventions and conferences. It was those causing harm to

others by being loyal to the party line who were dangerous.

They were not acceptable in the group. The employees basically

solved this issue among themselves, in fact in a very confi dent,

goal-oriented, but also very fair and cooperative manner. They

consciously thought about these questions with the future in

mind and acted. In doing so, they intensively looked forward

and had these discussions, supported by shared hopes and

goals, and found good solutions as well. They continued to

work with each other constructively, without wasting time on

any destructive dealings with the past. I see this as another

reason for the group’s great success.

Which other strengths did you see in Rostock?

Professor Encarnação: The natural scientists and engineers in

the GDR had very good mathematical training. Furthermore,

they were used to working with limited resources. Their

approach was, therefore, very systematic and scientifi c. While

we had a rather pragmatic American approach in the West

and applied trial-and-error methods sometimes, the Rostock

employees already took care of any potential errors beforehand.

With their limited resources, they could not afford any failed

experiments.

The participants of the panel discussion “Grenzenlos gemeinsam forschen” at Fraunhofer IGD in Darmstadt on June 17, 2015: f. l. t. r. Dr. Norbert Niebert (Ericsson), Dr. Robert Heinrich (House of IT), Prof. em. Dr. Jose L. Encarnação (TU Darmstadt), Prof. Dr. Bodo Urban (Fraunhofer IGD), Dr. Michael Horn (“Darmstädter Echo”).

Professor Urban, how did you feel about the young

cooperation between Rostock and Darmstadt?

Professor Urban: From the very beginning, we worked together

on equal terms. Tearing down mental walls was much easier in a

scientifi c environment than in other areas. There were never any

condescending remarks, only a great need to know about how

things worked in the GDR. There are no more borders between

Darmstadt and Rostock today. If there ever were any, we have

overcome them.

Professor Fellner, you became the Director of Fraunhofer IGD

in 2006. Where will the road take us in the future?

Professor Fellner: In a sense, I am continuing the legacy of

Professor Encarnação. I provide the environment for both

German sites to continue their good cooperation in the future.

It is my goal to bring Rostock and Darmstadt closer together

conceptually. For example, this is shown by the Fraunhofer

strategy process: we are not developing a Rostock and Darmstadt

strategy, but a shared visual-computing strategy, applicable to

Fraunhofer IGD as a whole with all of its four sites.

The cooperation is also refl ected by various projects. Is there

something like a joint lighthouse project?

Professor Fellner: I could name a few. One of them is certainly our

Industrie 4.0 lab, which we are in the process of establishing both in

Rostock and Darmstadt. It serves as a kind of demo room, in which

we can demonstrate our developments in the fi eld of Industrie 4.0 to

industrial customers. The Industrie 4.0 concepts shown there stand

for our entire family of researchers. Rostock and Darmstadt not only

symbolize how to overcome mental borders, but also how to connect

geographically distant locations.

27

Sometimes you feel like pulling your hair out. Where in the world

is this or that setting on your smartphone? let’s be honest, most

smartphones offer far more functions than we use every day.

Searching for one particular setting can therefore take a lot of

time and nerves. Users of complex geographic information systems

(GIS) may feel the same way while navigating through their

software. These systems are real multitalents indeed. They can do

virtually anything your heart desires. However, this also makes the

programs extremely complex and a little confusing. Plus you need

to dig quite deep into your pocket.

Customizing software

In line with the motto “less is more,” the researchers at Fraun-

hofer IGD have now developed the modular system GEOToolbox.

The key benefi t is that users are able to customize their individual

software package with it. They only acquire the components they

actually need – the software thus becomes more manageable and

cost-effective.

The GEOToolbox is based on CityServer3D, which was also

created by Fraunhofer IGD and which makes it possible to use

3D city models in an animated way. The researchers have now

modularized the CityServer3D by taking out all operable services,

and offering them on a separate, stand-alone basis. In this

way, the scientists are much more fl exible in meeting customer

requirements. Alternatively, customers may compose their

software by themselves, tailored to their needs. For the long term,

the researchers plan to offer the individual services additionally

as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS): customers who only need the

In the future, urban planners no longer need to buy one standard software package but may compose the tools

themselves according to their wishes and needs by means of the modular system GEOToolbox.

software occasionally would not be required to buy it but could

use it in the form of a service offered by Fraunhofer IGD.

There are many examples of such micro services. For instance, the

GEOToolbox can convert data formats – e.g. a standard 3D format

into a visualization-capable format. Another example is tiling

for buildings: in order to avoid having to load data of a digital

building model, it is subdivided into tiles which can be loaded in

a fl exible way. Such tiles can be created and adapted with the

GEOToolbox.

Cloud computing

In addition, all individual components of the GEOToolbox are

cloud-enabled. The computing power is thus not supplied by

the respective end device, but by the cloud. This has multiple

benefi ts. On the one hand, the user can use end devices which

would otherwise have too little processing power for the

applications, such as a smartphone. On the other hand, the user

can adapt the computing capacity to the required computing

power and therefore process and visualize even large amounts of

data quickly and effi ciently. The computer would quickly reach its

limits with complex calculations, so patience would be called for.

The cloud is different. Here, the computing power can be scaled

up if need be. Moreover, the user can have several processes

running simultaneously, regardless of whether they are run by

the same or different applications.

g e o to o l b o x

FlEXiBlE SoFtWarE CoMPoSition

CONTACT: EVA klIEN

Bernt Schiele 2004-2010

Dieter W. Fellner 2007-heute

Michael Goesele

2007-heute

Stefan Roth

2007-heute

Jose L. Encarnacao

1975-2009

1990 20101980 2000

Marc Alexa 2002-2005

Reinhard Klein 1999-2000

Arjan Kuijper 2015-heute

Wolfgang Strasser 1978-1986

Konrad Schindler

2009-2010

29V i s u a l C o m p u t i n g @ D a r m s t a D t

ViSUal CoMPUting@darMStadt

From a bird’s eye view, it must seem like countless ant trails – more

than 40,000 students fl ock to Darmstadt’s lecture halls, libraries, or

cafeterias every day. It is not by chance that the “little” big city with

a population of 150,000 is considered a city of science: in addition

to the university, over 30 other institutes and research institutions

are actually based here.

Visual computing – a special gem

The Hessian city is particularly strong when it comes to visual

computing, for Fraunhofer IGD is located here; the VC know-how

of the researchers there is illustrated by the Annual Report at hand.

One part of their expertise is based on the close scientifi c ties to

TU Darmstadt. The GRIS department, short for Interactive Graphics

Systems, was founded by Professor José luis Encarnação 40 years

ago. Today, several departments in the fi eld of visual computing

work closely together. The Interactive Graphics Systems is headed by

Professor Dieter W. Fellner; Professor Michael Goesele is responsible

for Graphics, Capture, and Massively Parallel Computing; and the

department of Visual Inference is directed by Professor Stefan Roth.

new cooperation and honorary professorships to streng-then the connection between TU and Fraunhofer IGD

Another department was added in mid 2015. Within the scope of

a cooperation professorship, Professor Arjan kuijper has devoted

himself to the topic of Mathematical and Applied Visual Computing,

which means that kuijper conducts his research mainly at Fraunhofer

IGD as before. 20 percent of his time, however, is reserved for the

TU, where he is setting up his own research group. And what is

behind the seemingly complicated name of the professorship? In a

nutshell, you could say that kuijper closes the gap between math-

ematics and computer science. While mathematicians often have

a hard time dealing with applications, computer scientists on the

other hand are beginning to falter when it comes to mathematical

concepts. In short, TU Darmstadt needs one person who can speak

both languages and translate from a middle position; this person is

Arjan kuijper.

In recognition of his scientifi c accomplishments, Professor Jörn

kohlhammer was awarded an honorary professorship in 2015; he

can, therefore, intensify his cooperation with the students and link

fundamental and applied research in visual computing even closer

together. The focus of kohlhammer’s research is User Centered

Visual Analytics; i.e. kohlhammer would like to learn how users think

and involve them more closely in all VC developments.

The new umbrella brand VC@Darmstadt also shows how important

the topic of visual computing is in Darmstadt. It was introduced at

the 40th anniversary of the GRIS department on December 3 and

provides the VC professorships with a joint superstructure for their

public image.

CONTACT: JöRN kOHlHAMMER, ARJAN kUIJPER

Eve r y p l a ce has i t s gems , a s does the s c i ence c i t y o f Da rms tad t . One gem i s v i sua l comput ing , a s Da rms tad t

i s i n f a c t home to F raunhofe r IGD a s we l l a s to the Techn i ca l Un i ve r s i t y ’s I n te rac t i ve Graph i c s S y s tems

Group , GR IS fo r sho r t , wh i ch ce l eb ra ted i t s 40 th ann i ve r sa r y th i s yea r.

The new professors 2015: Prof. Dr. Jörn Kohlhammer and Prof. Dr. Arjan Kuijper.

31

used. Meanwhile, they no longer need to worry about this issue –

they simply deliver their files of any size to the technology and the

rest happens automatically. This is particularly interesting for the

automotive industry, among others, as the browser is sufficient to

visualize an entire car. Previously, special devices were required.

Currently, Johannes Behr is working on security. Delicate 3D data,

such as a new car model, might be risky to load onto end devices.

If the data are in the cloud, however, other drawbacks are involved.

The researcher therefore relies on a hybrid technology. “We are

switching back and forth between cloud and end device, depend-

ing on what is better suited for the respective application at hand.”

Behr reshapes 3D internet

Among experts, the avid climber continues to be visible and very

well known. One might say that Johannes Behr is the face of 3D

internet. For instance, the head of the competence center serves

on the Board of Directors of the Web3D Consortium, which

brings together employees of international research institutions

and their colleagues from industrial companies. They develop

basic technologies hand in hand to facilitate the swift loading of

three-dimensional data online. Behr also chairs another group at

W3C-CG, Declarative 3D, which is all about standardizing web

technology. In short, the formerly belittled visionary has turned

into an expert whose opinion is appreciated in specialist circles,

and who has revolutionized a small puzzle piece of the

internet.

“This is never going to work out!” Dr. Johannes Behr was

bombarded with such prophecies of doom when he devoted

himself to his vision in the year 2000. He wanted to put interactive

three-dimensional images on the internet. His customers thought

this idea was abstruse. After all, their patience was already put to

the test when opening a PDF file. How on earth was this supposed

to work for large 3D images? But Behr remained persistent. Now,

a decade and a half later, his success proves him right. “It paid off

to bet on the internet at such an early stage,” smiles the 47-year-

old computer scientist. “Meanwhile, the topic ‘Internet and 3D’ is

of high industrial relevance; my entire team is working on it with

ten to twelve people.” So the wind has completely changed. While

Behr was feeling a strong headwind in the beginning, a favorable

tailwind is now pushing him forward.

3D internet – moving out of the specialist corner

Behr successfully pursued his vision. This is reflected, for example,

by the Innovation Award he won at the 20th Conference of the

Web 3D Consortium in recognition of his achievements in making

3D content internet-ready. For instance, Behr developed an

integration model in 2009 allowing HTMl developers to do what

only specialists were able to accomplish before: make 3D content

available online. “We moved the three-dimensional concept out of

the specialist corner,” summarizes the father of a six-year-old son.

The technology reached its limits, however, when it came to

large data volumes. In a further step, Behr and his team therefore

worked hard to make the web integration of large data

amounts – so-called “Big Data” – possible. Previously, HTMl de-

velopers needed to customize their applications to the end devices

3 D - i n t e r n e t

F rom three-d imens iona l games to CAD mode l s o f new car s , 3D content on l ine wou ld not be what i t i s today

without Dr. Johannes Behr.

CONTACT: JOHANNES BEHR

32 y o u n g a C a D e m i C s

together. This is what everyday life is like: while the employees of

Fraunhofer IGD work out how certain industrial challenges can

be solved, the eight current VCRIC doctoral students try to gain

insights into the underlying basics. The Fraunhofer researchers

take up the doctoral students’ conceptual solutions, converting

them into practical applications. Vice versa, they seek out

applied-research topics in need of basic research. It is a win-win

situation for both sides.

Indeed, the VCRIC doctoral students can be found in the labs

and offices of Fraunhofer IGD every day, but their bank accounts

show salary payments from the University of Rostock. The required

project resources are made available by the Ministry of Education

in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and the University of Rostock.

Computer science rally in Darmstadt

Much younger research fans met at the German National

Computer Science Contest, where they demonstrated their

knowledge in three rounds over the course of about a year.

Fraunhofer IGD supported this year’s contest in Darmstadt. The

Fraunhofer researchers participated in the computer science rally,

which provided the participants with insights into current research

projects.

They have evolved for millions of years. We are talking about human

perception and recognition mechanisms. A quick glance is enough,

and we know within a matter of seconds who or what is in front of

us. But what exactly is behind all this? And how can we implement

these findings if we would like to visually represent connections

and circumstances? These and similar questions were addressed by

doctoral students as well as young and experienced scientists from

the US, the Uk, Austria and Germany at the one-week “International

Summer School on Visual Computing” in Rostock in August 2015,

which was organized by Fraunhofer IGD together with the University

of Rostock.

Each course day took place under a certain theme, such as “Visual

Perception” or “Man-Computer Interaction.” The participants were

able to increase their knowledge in tutorials before scientists reported

on their work in exciting research lectures. The evenings were entirely

dedicated to mutual exchange and networking – the barbecue tongs

were put to good use, and a night watchman guided the participants

through the moonlit city of Rostock.

research center for doctoral students

Fraunhofer IGD also supports young scientists before and after this

week in August, among others at the Visual Computing Research

and Innovation Center (VCRIC), a joint institution of Fraunhofer

IGD and the University of Rostock. The goal: to unite the strengths

of both institutions and bring basic and applied research closer

YoUng talEnt – CoME on in!Gone a re the days o f overc rowded lec ture ha l l s in natura l and eng ineer ing sc iences . Young ta lent i s ra re .

There fore , F raunhofer IGD wants to enthuse young peop le fo r v i sua l comput ing ear l y on .

CONTACT: BODO URBAN

35f a i r s & e V e n t s

“let’s think outside the box” is a fi gure of speech. We all want

to provide our customer with tailored solutions or fi nd solutions

to technical issues on our own, but what are we doing to achieve

this? One method is to sit in your offi ce, think, and research. An-

other way is to go outside, exchange professional views, or seek

dialog with potential customers – this is how we fi nd out where

exactly the shoe pinches. And this is how we broaden not only our

own horizons, but also our customers’ horizons.

appealingly appeal to customers

Be it at trade shows or events, customers should be taken away

and actively involved in dialog. A demonstrator is not always at

hand, and a simple PowerPoint presentation is often not enough.

Modern software tools which can be used on tablets are the

better choice to go into more detail or easily access information.

Interdisciplinary and intradisciplinary exchange

The box outside of which you should sometimes think might

concern your own research fi eld, in our case computer graphics.

But the buck does not stop there. Sociopolitical issues need to

be discussed and can be refl ected upon with your own research

fi eld – for instance at the annual conferences of the Academia

Europaea. These conferences result in exciting discussions time

and again and stand for direct networking with knowledge

exchange.

Fairs anD EVEnts 2015

Here is a small selection of fairs and events in which

Fraunhofer IGD participated in 2015:

Jugend forscht 2015 – regional compe tition Southern Hesse,

Darmstadt, Germany, February 12 ,2015

CeBit 2015, Hanover, Germany, March 16–20, 2015

Hannover Messe 2015, Hanover, Germany, April 13–17, 2015

aal-Kongress 2015, Frankfurt/M., Germany April 29–30, 2015

science meets Business “Grenzenlos gemeinsam Forschen”,

Darmstadt, Germany, June 17, 2015

Web3D ACM Conference 2015, Heraklion, Griechenland,

June 18-21, 2015

iWoar 2015, Rostock, Germany, June 25–26, 2015

siGGraPH 2015, los Angeles, USA, August 9–13, 2015

summer school 2015, Rostock, Germany, August 17–21, 2015

Go-3D 2015, Rostock, Germany, Septemer 3, 2015

academia Europaea 2015, Darmstadt, Germany,

September 7–10, 2015

intErGEo, Stuttgart, Germany, September 15.9–17, 2015

Go-Visual 2015, Berlin, Germany, October 8, 2015

Color and imaging Conference 2015, Darmstadt, Germany,

October 19–23, 2015

Digital Heritage 2015, Granada, Spanien, 28.9. – 2.10.2015

Medica 2015, Düsseldorf, Germany, November 16–19, 2015

rsna, Chicago, USA, November 29 – December 4, 2015

40 Jahre Gris, Darmstadt, Germany, December 3, 2015

www.igd.fraunhofer.de/en/EventsMessen

BroadEning HoriZonS

fa i r s a n D e V e n t s

PlaYFUllY ProViding inForMation

During frontal presentat ions, some people might get bored and s lump down in their chairs . Much of what is sa id

passes by the l i s tener’s percept ion unnot iced. With presentat ion tools l ike instantPresentat ion and Infoland,

however, l i s teners can act ive ly move through content effort less ly and intuit ive ly .

created via a hidden editing function. Comments and notes are

also saved directly on the table in meetings with customers.

Clearly, the software is not limited to usage at trade shows like

CeBIT or Hannover Messe, nor is its equivalent, the software tool

Infoland, developed by researchers of Fraunhofer IDM@NTU in

Singapore together with their colleagues of Fraunhofer Austria.

Both tools are perfect for foyers or presentation rooms at com-

panies. There, they may illustrate the organizational structure or

present the different projects in a playful form. In short, the tools

are suited wherever complex data rooms are to be portrayed in an

exciting and catchy way. Infoland, for instance, is used at the Ger-

man Embassy in Singapore. Visitors of the embassy can navigate

through the content stored on a multitouch table in a playful and

intuitive manner, familiarizing themselves with Germany. If current

events are to be featured, each authorized user can update the

content quickly and easily, even if the customer is in the process

of using the presentation. No programming skills are needed. In

many cases, a multitouch table may be the perfect gateway to

information, but it is not needed. Both software tools are in fact

web-based and can run on any touch-enabled end device, be it a

fl at-screen, tablet, or smartphone.

What? How? Christmas already!? And off you go to buy some

last-minute gifts in a hurry. Many fair exhibitors might be

reminded of this annual rush when the long-known trade show

date suddenly closes in on them. And so, a mad rush often breaks

out when setting up the booth. They notice, for instance, that the

presentation for the exhibit is not up-to-date, but an older version

has slipped in. You will be well prepared for such spontaneous

changes with the software tool instantPresentation by Fraunhofer

IGD: within a matter of seconds, the old slides will be replaced

by the latest version, even though the software accommodates a

whole lot of other content.

When the trade show visitor stands in front of the appropriate

multitouch table a little later, he or she will see all content stored

there in the shape of several tiles. These tiles may represent, for

example, different exhibits or software demos. When the user taps

on one of these tiles, the view changes: he or she now sees all

information stored on the selected exhibit, be it videos, images,

PowerPoint presentations, or interactive 3D models. If the trade

show visitor would like to watch a movie, it will also be played

on a big screen placed behind the multitouch table. What makes

it so special? While the customer is doing that, the exhibitor can

already open other content he would like to show to the interest-

ed person afterwards. And should there be a need to adjust the

virtual exhibits once again during the trade show, the exhibitors

are able to edit them directly in the presentation system: new

content can be integrated by touch, the arrangement of content

on the screen can be changed, or additional virtual exhibits can be

CONTACT: THOMAS RUTH, VOlkER SETTGAST

36 f a i r s & e V e n t s

37f r a u n h o f e r i g D i n s o Z i a l e n n e t Z e n

S H O R T N E W S

HigHtECH For UndEr-

WatEr aPPliCationS

Fraunhofer Maritim was the smallest of all joint

Fraunhofer booths at Hannover Messe 2015.

Size did not matter, for the key term “joint” was

important: fi ve Fraunhofer institutes set up a joint

exhibit of their underwater technologies by means

of instantPresentation.

It certainly comes as no surprise that Fraunhofer

carries out research on underwater technologies.

Five Fraunhofer institutes used the theme area

InwaterSolutions at Hannover Messe to present

their underwater technologies together. To start

a conversation with customers, however, they

abstained from displaying large devices at the

trade show booth.

The presentation tool InstantPresentation was

able to convey which solutions the Fraunhofer

researchers have to offer when it comes to

sensor technology, processing and analyzing

images, or in the prototype design of completely

remotely-controlled and autonomous underwater

vehicles. Together, they showed the typical high

technology Fraunhofer has in store. As with many

things, the crux is in the detail – to get to it,

customers and Fraunhofer researchers will enter

into direct dialog.

Man wants and needs to economically exploit the

oceans and he needs appropriate technologies

for a sustainable approach. It is not without

reason, after all, that seas and oceans are at the

focus of the 2016 Year of Science. It is, therefore,

guaranteed to be continued.

39f a i r s & e V e n t s

aBoUt nEtWorKing WitH KnoWlEdgE EXCHangEI n September 2015, Darmstadt was the cente r o f European sc ience . H igh- rank ing researchers gathered a t the

27 th Annua l Conference of Academia Europaea , o rgan ized by P rofessor Fe l lne r, D i rec tor o f F raunhofer IGD

and the In te rac t i ve Graph ics Sys tems Group (GR IS ) a t TU Darmstadt . Darmstadt i s a l so cons idered to be the

c rad le o f computer g raph ic s : 40 year s ago , P ro fessor Encarnação founded the academic cha i r he re , thus

p rov id ing the breed ing ground fo r F raunhofer IGD.

Fellowship, a prize for young scientists.

40 years of Gris – cradle of computer graphics

Darmstadt as the city of science was not only one step ahead

during the conference. The city already pioneered computer

graphics 40 years ago. At that time, Professor José luis

Encarnação founded the Interactive Graphics Systems Group

at TU Darmstadt – the first one of its kind. Here, everything

began with the question of how to project data on a screen.

Twelve years later, Fraunhofer IGD emerged from this nucleus

of the GRIS.

To this date, the GRIS department and Fraunhofer IGD are still

closely connected. The topic of visual computing has widened

its spectrum. How important the topic has meanwhile become

in Darmstadt is shown by the new Visual Computing@Darm-

stadt umbrella brand, which comprises four professorships:

The aforementioned GRIS, as well as Graphics, Capture and

Massively Parallel Computing, Visual Inference, and Mathemat-

ical and Applied Visual Computing, which have each emerged

from the GRIS. On December 3, the GRIS celebrated its 40th

anniversary with a ceremony, scientific presentations, and

awards of scientific papers.

We easily climb stairs, gallantly taking two steps at a time. No

big deal, you might think. After all, we already learn as toddlers

how to overcome such hurdles. looking at this sequence of

movements from a scientific perspective, however, we are mys-

tified. Mathematically, what we are doing is simply impossible.

So how can human beings teach robots to climb stairs?

This was one of the question that concerned visitors of the 27th

Annual Conference of Academia Europaea, which took place in

Darmstadt from September 7 through 10, 2015. The topic: the

synergy of man and technology. In other words, how can man

and technology be brought closer together? The Conference

aims, most of all, to bring together excellent representatives

of various disciplines, thus generating new ideas by thinking

outside the box. Germany’s Nobel laureate in Chemistry of the

year 2014, Professor Stefan W. Hell, was also involved. He is

Director at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry

and department head at the German Cancer Research Center.

Dieter W. Fellner, Director of Fraunhofer IGD and Professor of

the Interactive Graphics Systems Group, organized this year’s

Conference. He was enthusiastic about making Darmstadt the

center of European science once again. As special treat, his

former doctoral students kawa Nazemi (Fraunhofer IGD) and

Tatiana von landesberger (GRIS) were awarded the Burgen

CONTACT: ARJAN kUIJPER

pa rt- t i m e e m p l o y e e *

t h e e tat

f u l l - t i m e e m p l o y e e *

* f u l l t i m e e Q u i Va l e n t

191

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HI R D - PA R T Y F U N D S

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41f r a u n h o f e r i g D i n p r o f i l e

For over 25 years, Fraunhofer IGD has been developing

technologies and applications based on visual computing. In

cooperation with its partners, technical solutions and market-rel-

evant products are created. In doing so, Fraunhofer IGD places

users at the forefront, providing them with technical solutions

to facilitate computer work and make it more efficient. The

institute’s solutions are dealing with the highly developed ability

of the human brain to quickly grasp and process complex issues

visually. Owing to its numerous innovations, Fraunhofer IGD

raises man-machine interaction to a new level. Man is able to

work in a more result-oriented and effective way by means of

the computer and visual-computing developments.

As early as in 1987, the story of Fraunhofer IGD began with the

task force established by Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft at TU Darmstadt.

In 1992, the Rostock location was added. The ”Visual Computing”

Business Unit of Fraunhofer Austria in Graz and Fraunhofer IDM@

NTU in Singapore followed in 2008 and 2010, respectively.

Since October 2006, Dieter W. Fellner has been Professor

for Computer Science at TU Darmstadt and Director of

Fraunhofer IGD. Prior to that, he held academic positions at TU

Graz, TU Braunschweig, the University of Bonn, the Memorial

University of Newfoundland, Canada, and the University of Den-

ver, Colorado. He is still associated with the Technical University

in Graz where he heads the Institute for Computer Graphics and

knowledge Visualization which he founded in 2005.

Darmstadt headquarters

In his role as professor at TU Darmstadt and as a director of

Fraunhofer IGD, Professor Fellner initiated a significant expan-

sion of the research field of visual computing in Darmstadt.

Thematically and organizationally, the institute is divided in

ten research competence centers and one service center. The

institute is working closely together with the institutes for

“Graphic-Interactive Systems” (GRIS) of the Computer Science

Department at TU Darmstadt. This cooperation is an asset for

the fundamental research at TU Darmstadt as well as the applied

research of Fraunhofer IGD. With applied research, the institute

decisively supports the industrial and business community in its

strategic development.

location rostock

In Rostock, targeted research is done in two core areas. At

the “Interactive Document Engineering” Competence Center,

researchers are processing issues in the field of visualizations

of existential data, in particular for mechanical and plant

engineering as well as the healthcare industry. The “Maritime

Graphics” Competence Center digitally, virtually and visually

supports customers from shipbuilding, ship operation and

maritime technology / maritime research. In the process, virtual

and augmented reality, image processing and knowledge

management are being used. The “Visual Computing Research

and Innovation Center” (VCRIC), also located at the premises

of Fraunhofer IGD in Rostock is a joint facility of Fraunhofer-

Gesellschaft and the University of Rostock. In a close cooperation,

preliminary fundamental research and add-on, Fraunhofer-typical

application research and development is done.

location Graz

In 2008, the Austrian affiliate of Fraunhofer IGD became oper-

ational under the roof of Fraunhofer Austria. The project office

of Fraunhofer IGD which had been in existence at TU Graz since

2007, was transferred to the “Visual Computing” Business Unit

of Fraunhofer Austria Research GmbH. The Fraunhofer location

in Graz develops target-oriented solutions and new products in

the fields of computer graphics, computer vision as well as virtual

and augmented reality. Together with their partners,

the researchers focus on the human being. The interaction

FraUnHoFEr igd in ProFilEFraunhofer IGD is the world‘s leading inst i tute for appl ied research in v isual computing. V isual computing is

image- and model-based information technology and inc ludes computer graphics, computer v is ion, as wel l as

v i r tual and augmented real i ty . In s imple terms, the Fraunhofer researchers in Darmstadt, Rostock, Graz and

Singapore are turning information into images and extract ing information from images. Prototypes and integrated

solut ions are developed in accordance with customized requirements. The research and des ign projects are

direct ly re lated to current economic issues.

42 f r a u n h o f e r i g D i n p r o f i l e

between man and machine is raised to a new level by visual

computing innovations. One of its focal points is the human

potential to quickly grasp complex issues visually. The researchers

at Fraunhofer Austria closely cooperate with the excellence

cluster “Visual Computing” established at TU Graz.

location singapore

In 1998, Fraunhofer IGD founded the Center for Advanced

Media Technology (CAMTech) with Nanyang Technological

University (NTU), from which the Project Center Fraunhofer

IDM@NTU emerged in 2010. It promotes research on current

economic issues and is committed to Interactive Digital Media

(IDM). The researchers are working on basic IDM technologies

and visual computing applications with the research priorities of

real-time rendering and visual analytics.

research areas

Research at Fraunhofer IGD is focused on five strategic research

areas:

Computer graphics

Computer graphics, “image synthesis”, is an essential core

discipline of “visual computing”. In this research area, techno-

logies and procedures are developed to generate images from

information. In the process, the data models used as the basis

for various application scenarios should be as consistent as pos-

sible. Fraunhofer IGD is researching procedures and methods

to provide and to handle this consistent data models in various

forms. The most efficient and flexible procedures are the goal

for this purpose.

Computer vision

Understanding and interpreting camera images (“computer

vision”) is becoming more and more important in automation

and engineering processes. Computer vision technologies

are used for object recognition via augmented reality and 3D

reconstruction procedures. At Fraunhofer IGD, special tracking

and digitization procedures are developed to faster capture, track

and reproduce – true to the original – objects, their position and

texture.

Human computer interaction

Today, the cooperation of man and machine considerably

exceeds previous standard forms of human computer interaction

(HCI). The interaction mechanisms are becoming increasingly

similar to the natural behavior of man. Furthermore, the ever

increasing amount of data are posing new challenges to visual-

ization as well as interaction. In this context, Fraunhofer IGD is

researching new interaction modalities, intelligent environments

and visualization methods.

(interactive) simulation

One core challenge for computer graphics consists of the sup-

port and acceleration of simulation processes. Simulation means

the virtual reproduction of the behavior of physical objects and

physical phenomena, such as the escape behavior of passengers

on ships. Fraunhofer IGD uses current methods with integrated

modeling, simulation and visualization in order to shorten the

design process and to allow users to directly influence the

simulation.

Modeling

Models are an integral part of visual computing. They offer an

abstract view of selected aspects of reality, thus making the

reproduction in an information-processing system possible.

Fraunhofer IGD researches, in addition to traditional two- or

three-dimensional model types, also more complex models to be

used in practice. In the process, additional information is often

included, and high-dimensional models to describe and evaluate

extensive data collections are developed.

Business fi elds

Based on these research areas, Fraunhofer IGD works in the

following business fi elds:

Visual decision-making

People want to understand contexts, gain insight and make

decisions. Visualizations make it possible to illustrate complex

and interrelated circumstances via models and simulations. Data

and experiences can be analyzed more quickly. This supports

the industry, public authorities and private individuals in making

easier and better decisions.

Virtual engineering

Nowadays, new cars or airplanes are almost exclusively created

on the computer. virtual engineering technologies accompany

the entire product life cycle. By means of 3D technologies, all

processes from manufacturing via training all the way to main-

tenance are realistically tested. Not only do users save time and

costs but they also improve the quality of their fi nished products.

Digital society

Intelligent living environments are assisting senior citizens, the

smart phone is turned into a tourist guide. Digitization and net-

working characterize our modern society. Acquiring, expanding

and storing knowledge is everyone’s goal. Digitization makes it

possible to capture and pass on experiences, thus enhancing the

quality of life of our society as a whole.

Technology laboratories

Fraunhofer IGD uses its labs to demonstrate the results of its

competence centers. In addition, experiments and studies for

project work are performed here.

The following Technology labs and demo centers are available to

Fraunhofer IGD:

� Ambient Assisted living laboratory

� Cultlab3D

� Evaluation laboratory for Biometric Systems

� lab 4.0

� Interactive Showroom & Innovation lounge

� laboratory for Augmented Engineering

� laboratory for High-Quality Image Acquisition and Display

� Maritime Graphics lab

� Distributed Ambient Assisted living laboratory

� Visual Analytics laboratory

� Service Center GEO

advisory Board

The advisory board of a Fraunhofer Institute acts as an advisory

board and at the same time as a supervisory board.

President

Dr. Gunter küchler lufthansa Systems AG

Vice-President

Prof. Dr. Reiner Anderl TU Darmstadt

Members

Dr. kai Beckmann – Merck kGaA

Prof. Dr. techn. Horst Bischof – TU Graz

Ekkehart Gerlach – Deutsche Medienakademie GmbH

Prof. Dr. Markus Gross – ETH Zürich

Prof. Alfred katzenbach – Daimler AG

Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Reinhard klein – University of Bonn

Dr. Ulrike Mattig – The Hessen State Ministry of

Higher Education, Research and the Arts

Dr. Torsten Niederdränk – Siemens AG

Gerhard Rauh – Finance Business

Dr. Albert Remke – 52° North GmbH

Prof. Dr. Bernt Schiele – Max-Planck-Institut für Informatik

Prof. Dr. Heidrun Schumann – University of Rostock

43f r a u n h o f e r i g D i n p r o f i l e

B i g D a t a

am

Bi e

nt a s s i s t e D l

i Vi n

g

em

B

e D D e D s y s t e m s

nu

me

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al

sim

ula

t i on o f p r o D u C t s , p r o C e s s e s

45f r a u n h o f e r l i n k e D i n

Fraunhofer alliances

Institutes or departments of institutes with different competences cooperate in Fraunhofer alliances to

jointly process and market a business field. Competence centers of Fraunhofer IGD have been working

closely together with other Fraunhofer Institutes in the Fraunhofer Alliances “Ambient Assisted living”,

“Big Data”, “Embedded Systems” and “Numerical Simulation of Products, Processes”.

www.fraunhofer.de/en/institutes/institutes-and-research-establishments-in-germany/fraunhofer-alliances.html

Fraunhofer Group information and Communication technology

Technically related institutes are organized within groups and join forces on the research and develop-

ment market. Fraunhofer IGD is a member of the Fraunhofer ICT Group. It bundles the competences

of the institutes of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft to develop and implement the IT solutions for various

industries and application scenarios. The Group permits business field specific, integrated and customized

approaches as well as competent technology consulting for industry, public authorities and media from a

single source. It provides companies and users with market knowledge, know-how, experts and state-of-

the-art technologies, independent of the manufacturer or system.

The Group represents 19 institutes with around 5000 employees. The office in Berlin-Mitte is service

provider and point of contact for companies, politics, media, and users when it comes to questions

about IT innovations.

Complementary focuses of the institutes comprehensively cover the value chains in the ICT

industry. The member institutes have a high innovation potential in technology development.

Professor Dieter W. Fellner (Director of Fraunhofer IGD) has been the new Chairman of the Fraunhofer

Group for Information and Communication Technology since January 1, 2016. The new Managing

Director is Alexander Nouak, formerly head of the Identification and Biometrics Competence Center at

Fraunhofer IGD.

www.iuk.fraunhofer.de/en

Business areas of the Fraunhofer

ICT Group:

� Mobility and Transport

� E-Government

� Public Safety

� Production and Logistics

� Media and Creative Industry

� Digital Services

� Business and Finance

Information Technology

� Medicine and Health

� Energy and Sustainability

Technology fields of the

Fraunhofer ICT Group:

� Numerical Software and

Simulation

� Usability and Man-Computer

Interaction

� Reliable Cyber-Physical Systems

� IT Security and Safety

� Digital Networks and Internet

� Graphics and Media Technology

� Imaging and Image Evaluation

� Big Data Management and

Analytics

� Automation Technology

� Automatisierungstechnik

nEtWorK

nu

me

riC

al

sim

ula

t i on o f p r o D u C t s , p r o C e s s e s

E M P l O Y E E S

R E S E A R C H V O l U M E

1,7 bil. eurosCONTRACT RESEARCH

I N S T I T U T E S A N D R E S E A R C H FA C I l I T I E S

67

24, 000

FraUnHoFEr in nUMBErS

2015

> 2 billion eurosFEDERAl AN

D STA

TE

GO

vERN

MENTS

INDUSTRIAl &

PUB

lIC R

ESEARC

H PRO JECTS

47f r a u n h o f e r - g e s e l l s C h a f t

FraUnHoFEr-gESEllSCHaFt

Putting research into practice is the central task of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft. The research organiza-

tion was founded in 1949 and conducts application-oriented research for the benefit of the economy

and in the interest of society. Its contractual partners and customers are industrial and service

companies as well as public authorities.

The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft currently operates 67 institutes and research units. Around 24,000

employees, mainly scientists and engineers, are developing the annual research volume of 2 billion

euros. Of this sum, around 1.7 billion euros are generated through contract research. More than 70

percent of this service range is derived from contracts with industry and from publicly-funded research

projects. Almost 30 percent is contributed by the German federal and state governments in the form

of basic funding, enabling the institutes to work ahead on solutions to problems that will not become

acutely relevant to industry and society until five or ten years from now.

International cooperations with excellent research partners and innovative companies worldwide

are providing a direct access to the current and future key scientific and economic areas. With its

clear orientation towards applied research and its focus on future-relevant key technologies, the

Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft is playing a central role in Germany’s and Europe’s innovation process. The

impact of its applied research extends beyond the direct benefit for its customers: With its research

and development work, the Fraunhofer Institutes are contributing to regional, German and European

competitiveness. They boost innovation, reinforce technological performance, improve acceptance

of state-of-the-art technology and provide for initial and continuing training of urgently required

scientific-technical talent.

The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft offers its employees an opportunity to develop their professional and

personal talents for demanding positions at their institutes, at universities, in business and society.

Students working at the Fraunhofer institutes have excellent prospects of starting and developing a

career in industry by virtue of the practical training and experience they have acquired.

The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft is a recognized non-profit organization and takes its name from Munich

scholar Joseph von Fraunhofer (1787–1826). He was equally successful as a researcher, inventor and

entrepreneur.

www.fraunhofer.de/en

Fraunhofer Executive Board:

Prof. Dr. Reimund Neugebauer

Prof. Dr. Alfred Gossner

Prof. Dr. Alexander Kurz

Fraunhofer IGD:

Institute Advisor

Dr. Birgit Geier

48 C u s t o m e r s a n D C o o p e r at i o n p a r t n e r s

“The lasting success of Fraunhofer IGD is based on our collaboration with strong partners. The institute cooperates with research

institutes and leading enterprises all around the world. Here is a small selection of our current customers and cooperation partners.”

� 2b AHEAD ThinkTank GmbH, leipzig, Germany � Adam Opel AG, Rüsselsheim, Germany � Airbus, Toulouse, France � Airbus, Manchingen, Germany � AIT – Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH, Vienna, Austria � Align Technology B. V., Amsterdam, the Netherlands � Arago GmbH, Frankfurt, Germany � ARCTUR d. o. o., Nova Gorica, Slovenia � Assisted Home Solutions, Darmstadt, Germany � Assyst GmbH, Aschheim-Dornach, Germany � ATHENA Research & Innovation Center, Athens, Greece � ATOS, Madrid, Spain � Audi AG, Ingolstadt, Germany � Autodesk GmbH, Darmstadt, Germany � AVl list GmbH, Graz, Austria � BioCurve S. l., Zaragoza, Spain � BluSky Services Group, Zaventem, Belgium � BMBF, Berlin, Germany � BOC Asset Management GmbH, Vienna, Austria � BOGE kOMPRESSOREN Otto Boge GmbH & Co. kG, Bielefeld,

Germany � British Telecom, london, United kingdom � BTechC Martorell, Barcelona, Spain � Bundesanstalt für landwirtschaft und Ernährung (BlE), Bonn,

Germany � Capvidia GmbH, Neuss, Germany � CARSA, Getxo, Spain � CIMNE, Barcelona, Spain � CIP4 Organization, Zurich, Switzerland � Clausohm Software GmbH, Neverin, Germany � Continental AG, Babenhausen, Germany � ConWeaver GmbH, Darmstadt, Germany � COSAWA Sanierung, Peine, Germany � CST AG, Darmstadt, Germany � CSUC – Consorci de Serveis Universitaris de Catalunya,

Barcelona, Spain � Daimler AG, Stuttgart, Germany � Daimler Protics, Ulm, Germany � Dassault Aviation, St Cloud, France � DATEV eG, Nuremberg, Germany � Delft University, the Netherlands � Deutsches Herzzentrum Berlin, Germany � DFkI GmbH, kaiserslautern, Germany � Die Johanniter, Berlin, Germany

� Dr. Horst Schmidt klinik, Wiesbaden, Germany � Dr. Ing. h. c. F.  Porsche Aktiengesellschaft, ludwigsburg, Germany � EASN, Patras, Greece � EPFl, lausanne, Switzerland � EU, Brussels, Belgium � EurActiv.com PlC, Brussels, Belgium � Eurocopter, Marignane, France � Eurofast - ID Partners, Paris, France � European Sensor Systems S.A., Athens, Greece � FCC, Stiftelsen Fh – Chalmers Centrum for Industrimatematik,

Gothenburg, Sweden � FICEP S. p. A., Gazzada Schianno, Italy � Fraunhofer-Institut für Integrierte Schaltungen IIS, department

Entwurfsautomatisierung EAS, Dresden, Germany � Fraunhofer-Institut für Elektronische Nanosysteme ENAS,

Chemnitz, Germany � Fraunhofer Institut für Nachrichtentechnik, Heinrich-Hertz-Institut,

HHI, Berlin, Germany � Fraunhofer-Institut für Arbeitswirtschaft und Organisation IAO,

Stuttgart, Germany � Fraunhofer-Institut für Bauphysik IBP, Stuttgart, Germany � Fraunhofer-Institut für Chemische Technologie ICT, Pfinztal, Germany � Fraunhofer-Institut für Fertigungstechnik und Angewandte

Materialforschung IFAM, Bremen, Germany � Fraunhofer-Institut für Materialfluss und logistik IMl, Frankfurt

am Main, Germany � Fraunhofer-Institut für Produktionstechnik und Automatisierung

IPA, Stuttgart, Germany � Fraunhofer-Institut für Produktionsanlagen und konstruktions-

technik IPk, Berlin, Germany � Fraunhofer-Institut für Techno- und Wirtschaftsmathematik ITWM,

kaiserslautern, Germany � FZI Forschungszentrum Informatik, karlsruhe, Germany � Gnúbila France, Argonay, France � GPB Arke Ing.-Büro für Umwelttechnik, Hemeringen, Germany � Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf – HNO-klinik, Düsseldorf,

Germany � Helic S. A., Maroussi, Greece � Hoch, Zoellner + Partner Management Systeme GmbH, Nor-

derstedt, Germany � Hochschule Darmstadt, Darmstadt, Germany � IGN Institut National de l’Information Géographique et Forestière,

Saint-Mandé, France � IMATI, Genua, Italy

CUStoMErS and CooPEration PartnErS

49C u s t o m e r s a n D C o o p e r at i o n p a r t n e r s

� INRIA, Sophia Antipolis, France � INRIA – Institut National de Recherche en Informatique et en

Automatique, France � Institut für Prävention und betriebliche Gesundheitsförderung,

Rostock, Germany � Institute of GeodesyInstitute of Geodesy, Cartography and

Remote Sensing, Hungary (FOMI), Budapest, Hungary � Introsys, SA, Moitra, Portugal � ISRA Vision AG, Darmstadt, Germany � Istituto Giannina Gaslini, Genua, Italy � iuem – Institut Universitaire Européen de la Mer, Plouzane, France � Jotne EPM Technology AS, Oslo, Norway � karde AS, Oslo, Norway � karlsruher Institut für Technologie (kIT), karlsruhe, Germany � lynkeus Srl, Rome, Italy � M. O. S. S. Computer Systeme GmbH, Taufkirchen, Germany � Martini-klinik am UkE GmbH, Hamburg, Germany � Medizinische Universität Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria � Merck kGaA, Darmstadt, Germany � Middlesex University, Middlesex, Great Britain � Missler Software, Ramonville, France � nablaDot, Zaragoza, Spain � NEOCOSMO GmbH, Saarbrücken, Germany � NOVATRA SAS, Varennes St Saiveur, France � NUMECA Ingenieurbüro, Altdorf b. Nuremberg, Germany � NUMECA International, Brussels, Belgium � Oncotyrol, Innsbruck, Austria � OneToNet Srl, Milan, Italy � Ospedale Pediatrico Bambino Gesù, Rome, Italy � PE International AG, leinfelden-Echterdingen, Germany � Phacon GmbH, leipzig, Germany � PROGNOS AG, Berlin, Germany � Reifenhäuser Reicofil, Troisdorf, Germany � Robert Bosch GmbH, Blaichach, Stuttgart, Germany � Rölke Pharma, Hamburg, Germany � S. k. M. Informatik GmbH, Schwerin, Germany � Scheller Systemtechnik GmbH, Wismar, Germany � SEAR GmbH, Rostock/Weißenfels, Germany � Seazone Solutions limited, Wallingford, Oxfordshire, United

kingdom � Serious Games Interactive, Copenhagen, Denmark � SES-Tec OG, Graz, Austria � SGM Solutions Global Media GmbH, Berlin, Germany � ShareDat, Rostock, Germany � Siemens AG, Germany � SimPlan AG, Maintal, Germany � SINTEF ICT, Oslo, Norway � SIV Software-Architektur und Technologie GmbH, Rostock, Germany

� Spatial Corp. Bloomfield, CO, USA � Spatial Technology GmbH, Saarbrücken, Germany � STAM S. r. l., Genoa, Italy � Stellba Hydro GmbH & Co kG, Herbrechtingen, Germany � STMicroelectronics Srl, Milan, Italy � SUPSI – Scuola Universitaria Professionale della Svizzera Italiana,

Manno, Switzerland � Technische Informationsbibliothek (TIB), Hanover, Germany � Technische Universität Darmstadt, Germany � Technologie- und Anwendungszentrum Vorpommern mbH,

Greifswald, Germany � Thermokon GmbH, Mittenaar, Germany � Thünen-Institut, Rostock, Germany � tim – traffic information and management GmbH, Dieburg, Germany � TRIVISIO Prototyping GmbH, Trier, Germany � Tronrud Engineering AS, Honefoss, Norway � TRW Airbag Systems GmbH, laage , Germany � TTS – Technology Transfer System S. r. l., Milan, Italy � UCl – University College london, United kingdom � UNITEC Informationssysteme GmbH, Hanau, Germany � Universidad de Zaragoza, Spain � Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain � Università degli Studi di Parma, Italy � Universität kassel, Germany � Universität Rostock, Germany � Universität Stuttgart, Germany � Universitätsklinikum Essen, Germany � Universitätsmedizin Rostock, Germany � University College of london, United kingdom � University of Edinburgh, United kingdom � University of Nottingham, United kingdom � University of Patras, Greece � University of Sheffield, United kingdom � Universtair Medisch Centrum Utrecht, the Netherlands � VCI, Athens, Greece � Verband Druck und Medien NordOst e. V., Hanover, Germany � vital & physio GmbH, Rostock, Germany � Volkswagen AG, Wolfsburg, Germany � Volvo Technology AB, Göteborg, Sweden � VTT, Tampere, Finland � VTT Technical Research Center Finland, Espoo, Finland � VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands � Werner Otto GmbH, Hameln, Germany � WoQuaZ GmbH, Weiterstadt, Germany � Worldbank Energy & Extractives, Washington, DC, USA � Zentral-Fachausschuss Berufsbildung Druck und Medien (ZFA),

Hannover, Germany � ZGDV e.V., Darmstadt, Germany

50 p u B l i C at i o n s

Braun, Andreas; Fellner, Dieter W.; kuijper, Arjan; Wichert, Reiner:

Capacitive proximity sensing in smart environments.

JAISE 7(4): 483–510 (2015)

Distler, Martin; Grosse-Puppendahl, Tobias; Hastall, Matthias

R.; kirchbuchner, Florian; kuijper, Arjan: ambient intelligence

from senior Citizens' perspectives: understanding privacy

Concerns, technology acceptance, and expectations.

AmI 2015: 48–59

Fellner, Dieter W.; Mueller-Roemer, Johannes; Stork, André; Weber,

Daniel: a Cut-Cell geometric multigrid poisson solver for

fluid simulation. Comput. Graph. Forum 34(2): 481–491 (2015)

Altenhofen, Christian; Fellner, Dieter W.; Mueller-Roemer, Johannes;

Stork, André; Weber, Daniel: Deformation simulation using

cubic finite elements and efficient p-multigrid methods.

Computers & Graphics 53: 185–195 (2015)

Bernard, Jürgen; kohlhammer, Jörn; May, Thorsten; Pehrke, Dirk;

Schlomm, Thorsten; Sessler, David: a Visual-interactive system

for prostate Cancer Cohort analysis. IEEE Computer Graphics

and Applications (CGA) 35(3): 44–55 (2015)

Burkhardt, Dirk; Fellner, Dieter W.; kohlhammer, Jörn; kuijper,

Arjan; Nazemi, kawa; Retz, Reimond: Visual trend analysis with

digital libraries. I-kNOW 2015: 14

Bockholt, Ulrich; Engelke, Timo; keil, Jens; Rojtberg, Pavel;

Schmitt, Michael; Wientapper, Folker: Content first: a concept

for industrial augmented reality maintenance applications

using mobile devices. MMSys 2015: 105–111

Bockholt, Uli; Gavish, Nirit; Gutiérrez, Teresa; Peveri, Matteo;

Rodríguez, Jorge; Tecchia, Franco; Webel, Sabine: evaluating

virtual reality and augmented reality training for industrial

maintenance and assembly tasks. Interactive learning Environ-

ments (IlE) 23(6): 778–798 (2015)

krämer, Michel; Senner, Ivo: a modular software architecture

for processing of big geospatial data in the cloud.

Computers & Graphics 49: 69–81 (2015)

Gutbell, Ralf; krämer, Michel: a case study on 3D geospatial

applications in the web using state-of-the-art Webgl frame-

works. Web3D 2015: 189–197

Damer, Naser; Nouak, Alexander: Weighted integration of neighbors

Distance ratio in multi-biometric fusion. BIOSIG 2015: 255–262

Brandherm, Florian; Fellner, Dieter W.; kuijper, Arjan; limper, Max;: evalu-

ating 3D thumbnails for virtual object galleries. Web3D 2015: 17–24

Matthies, Denys J. C.; Perrault, Simon T.; Urban, Bodo; Zhao, Shengdong:

Botential: localizing on-Body gestures by measuring electrical

signatures on the human skin. MobileHCI 2015: 207–216

Researching, developing, publ ishing, that is part of everyday l ife in the world of sc ience. You can only be seen

if you are publ ished and engage in sc ient if ic networking, and only those who are seen wi l l be able to hold

sc ient if ic d ia logs and play a leading role in the sc ient if ic community. Researchers of Fraunhofer IGD publ ish their

knowledge in different forms, present their work at conferences, and win awards. The fol lowing compi lat ion

presents you with just a smal l se lect ion of the sc ient if ic publ icat ions from the year 2015.

PUBliCationS

Aehnelt, Mario; Alm, Rebekka; Urban, Bodo: processing manu-

facturing knowledge with ontology-based annotations and

cognitive architectures. I-kNOW 2015: 25

lukas, Uwe von; kuijper, Arjan; Urban, Bodo; Vahl, Matthias:

semi-automatic analysis of huge Digital nautical Charts of

Coastal aerial images. VISAPP (3) 2015: 100–107

Farhadifard, Fahimeh; lukas, Uwe von; Zhou, Zhiliang:

learning-based underwater image enhancement with

adaptive color mapping. ISPA 2015: 48–53

Dolereit, Tim; Arjan kuijper; lukas, Uwe von: new constraints for

underwater stereo calibration. ISPA 2015: 176–181

Erdt, Marius; Hebborn, Anna katharina; Müller, Stefan: robust

Model Based Tracking Using Edge Mapping and Refi nement.

AVR 2015: 109–124

He, Ying; Gu, xianfeng; liu, Yong-Jin; Mueller-Wittig, Wolfgang;

Wang, Wenping; Wang, xiaoning; xin, Shi-Qing; Ying, xiang:

intrinsic computation of centroidal Voronoi tessellation

(CVt) on meshes. Computer-Aided Design 58: 51–61 (2015)

Encarnação, José l.; Fellner, Dieter W.: Computer graphics

“made in germany”: Darmstadt, the leading “Computer

graphics and Visual Computing hub” in europe: the way

from 1975 to 2014. Computers & Graphics 53: 13–27 (2015)

Eicke, Tim Nicolas; Jung, Yvonne; kuijper, Arjan: stable dynamic

webshadows in the X3Dom framework.

Expert Syst. Appl. 42(7): 3585–3609 (2015)

Drechsler, klaus; Oelmann, Simon; Oyarzun laura, Cristina;

Wesarg, Stefan: active Contour based segmentation of re-

sected livers in Ct images. In: Ourselin, Sébastien (Ed.); Styner,

Martin A. (Ed.); The International Society for Optical Engineering

(SPIE): Medical Imaging 2015: Image Processing. Bellingham: SPIE

Press, 2015, pp. 941316-1 – 941316-6. (Proceedings of SPIE 9413)

Fellner, Dieter W.; Fuhrmann, Anton; Hecher, Martin; Hesina,

Gerd; Traxler, Christoph: Web-based Visualization platform

for geospatial Data. In: Braz, José (Ed.); kerren, Andreas (Ed.);

linsen, lars (Ed.); Institute for Systems and Technologies of

Information, Control and Communication (INSTICC): IVAPP 2015.

Proceedings: 6th International Conference on Information Visuali-

zation Theory and Applications. SciTePress, 2015, pp. 311–316.

Darmstädter Computer Graphik Abend 2015

Darmstädter Computer Graphik Abend 2015 was not a

stand-alone event. It constituted the conclusion of the 40th

anniversary of the GRIS department of TU Darmstadt and

thus the bridge it has actually always represented. It honors

the high-quality scientifi c papers which originate in basic

research at universities and are followed up on in applied

research. This is also refl ected by the Awards in 2015.

“Best Paper award” 2015

Category ”impact of Business”

Santos, Pedro; Ritz, Martin; Tausch, Reimar; Schmedt,

Hendrik; Rodriguez, Rafael Monroy; Stefano, Antonio;

Posniak, Oliver; Fuhrmann, Constanze; Fellner, Dieter W.:

Cultlab3D - on the Verge of 3D mass Digitization.

In: EUROGRAPHICS Workshop on Graphics and Cultural

Heritage 2014: 65–73

Category ”impact of society”

Dambruch, Jens; krämer, Michel:

leveraging public participation in urban planning with

3D Web technology. In: International Conference on

Web3D Technology – Web3D 2014: 117–124

Category ”impact of science”

Fuhrmann, Simon; Goesele, Michael:

floating scale surface reconstruction.

In: ACM Transactions on Graphics 33 (4): 46:1–46:11 (2014)

“Best thesis award” 2015

Jakob karolus:

“opportunities and applications of ultrasound sensing on

unmodifi ed consumer-grade Smartphones” (Master Thesis)

Daniel Thürck:

“optimizing large-scale irregular markov random fields

on gpus” (Master Thesis)

Matthieu Fraissinet-Tachet:

“mutual information-Based piecewise planar object

tracking” (Master Thesis)

51p u B l i C at i o n s

“We support customers from industry, business and

publ ic authorit ies with our competences in appl ied

v isual computing. Visual computing offers v isual iza-

t ion and s imulat ion technologies for a very broad

f ie ld of appl icat ions.”

Wherever people use modern computer technologies, there

are application fi elds of visual computing and thus supporting

solutions in order to facilitate the work of strongly visually-ori-

ented people. in particular when it comes to making quick

engineering or esthetic decisions, you can further improve

your work in terms of quality and quantity with adapted visual

computing solutions.

fraunhofer igD and its partners offer your customers numerous

services around contract research and implement them to a

high quality standard for you and with you.

our offers and services at a glance

Contract research for industry, business and public authorities

Development of new technologies, prototypes and complete

systems

preparation of concepts, models and practical solutions

support service at the customer‘s location

evaluation of software and hardware

Visualization of information

2D modeling and 3D modeling

simulations of models

studies and consultation

licensing

training

WHat WE Can do For YoU

53s e rV i C e a n D C o n ta C t s

Dr. Johannes Behr

location Darmstadt +49 6151 155-510

johannes.behr@igd.fraunhofer.de

Visual Computing system technologies

Visual computing refers to image- and mod-

el-based computer science. This includes virtual

and augmented reality, graphic data processing

and computer vision. The “Visual Computing

System Technologies” Competence Center,

headed by Johannes Behr, is on a mission to

make these basic technologies of Fraunhofer

IGD more available to other research groups

and the German industry.

Dr. ulrich Bockholt

location Darmstadt +49 6151 155-277

ulrich.bockholt@igd.fraunhofer.de

Virtual and augmented reality“Virtual and Augmented Reality” – this is

the name of the competence center headed

by Ulrich Bockholt and active in the fields

of virtual reality and augmented reality. The

competence center researches technologies

for object recognition and tracking by means

of video camera images. The technologies are

used on smartphone and tablet systems in

industrial maintenance, 3D interaction, and

driver assistance.

Dr. andreas Braun

location Darmstadt +49 6151 155-208

andreas.braun@igd.fraunhofer.de

smart living & Biometric technologies

The “Smart living & Biometric Technologies”

Competence Center under the direction of

Andreas Braun develops future-oriented solu-

tions for smart environments. Dynamic sensor

systems, intelligent platforms and innovative

interaction options as well as biometric systems

are discreetly integrated in living and working

environments, intelligently assisting us in our

daily routines.

Dr. Eva Eggeling

location Graz +43 316 873-5410

eva.eggeling@fraunhofer.at

Visual ComputingTo make high-end visualizations possible,

modeling and simulation must interlock. The

team around Eva Eggeling combines these

two demanding disciplines with each other

and brings immersive environments to life

in this way. In the various application fields,

Fraunhofer Austria in Graz thus creates visu-

alizations for practice in order to continuously

improve the interaction between man and

machine.

SErViCE andContaCtS

technologies and applications support

our core competences. in our research

work, we use a wide range of methods

which we continuously develop. Due to

our comprehensive and interdisciplin-

ary vision, we have developed a diverse

service offer, bundled in 14 research

competence centers and one service

center.

Do you have any questions about

cooperation options and need more

information? Our contacts in Germany,

Austria and Singapore will be happy to

assist you.

54 s e rV i C e a n D C o n ta C t s

Dr. Eva Klien

location Darmstadt +49 6151 155-412

eva.klien@igd.fraunhofer.de

spatial information ManagementEva klien heads the “Spatial Information

Management” Competence Center. Successful

communication and efficient cooperation are

made possible by the researchers by means of

new digital spatial information technologies. In

the process, the competence center explores

new paths for the comprehensive integration,

administration and visualization by means of 3D

spatial information systems.

Dr. Jörn Kohlhammer

location Darmstadt +49 6151 155-646

joern.kohlhammer@igd.fraunhofer.de

information Visualization and Visual analytics

Visual analytics, semantic visualization and real

time – these are the topics of the “Information

Visualization and Visual Analytics” Competence

Center. The team headed by Jörn kohlhammer

creates solutions for the interactive visualization

of large amounts of data, so-called visual-ana-

lytics technologies.

Prof. uwe Freiherr von lukas

location Rostock +49 381 4024-100

uwe.von.lukas@igd-r.fraunhofer.de

Maritime GraphicsThe “Maritime Graphics” Competence Center

develops solutions for the maritime industry:

shipbuilding, ship operation, and maritime

technology / marine research benefit from

the future-oriented developments. Under the

direction of Uwe Freiherr von lukas, researchers

are combining the technical competence in

(submarine) image processing and visualization

with the knowledge of the special needs and

basic conditions of the maritime industry.

Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Müller-Wittig

location Singapur +65 6790 6988

wolfgang.mueller-wittig@fraunhofer.sg

interactive Digital MediaHeaded by Wolfgang Müller-Wittig, the

research center Fraunhofer IDM@NTU with its

expertise, amongst others in real-time rendering,

virtual and augmented reality and man-machine

interaction, not only strengthens the “Interactive

Digital Media” market, but also provides solu-

tions for other sectors, such as transportation,

marketing, and education. Due to its presence in

Singapore, valuable knowledge on the regional

particularities of the Asian market is gained.

M. sc. Pedro santos

location Darmstadt +49 6151 155-472

pedro.santos@igd.fraunhofer.de

Cultural Heritage DigitizationWith his “Cultural Heritage Digitization”

Competence Center, Pedro Santos develops

fast, economic digitization procedures for the

true-to-the-original, virtual reproduction of real

objects. In the process, geometry and texture, as

well as the physical-optical material properties,

are to be measured and captured automatically.

In the reconstruction procedures used, the objects

are scanned with various optical sensors and light

sources under constant environmental conditions

as much as possible for a comparably high quality.

Prof. Dr. andré stork

location Darmstadt +49 6151 155-469

andre.stork@igd.fraunhofer.de

interactive Engineering technologien

Under the direction of André Stork, the

“Interactive Engineering Technologies”

Competence Center creates solutions to simplify

decision-making processes for engineers. This is

done by means of computer graphics technol-

ogies – interactive graphics and simulation as

well as modeling reality. Demanding simulation

methods provide assistance through interactive

presentation formats and allow for insights to

be gained in complex issues.

55i h r e a n s p r e C h pa rt n e r

Prof. Dr. Bodo Urban

location Rostock +49 381 4024-110

bodo.urban@igd-r.fraunhofer.de

interactive Document EngineeringThe “Interactive Document Engineering”

Competence Center develops solutions for the

visualization of existential data, in particular for

the mechanical, plant engineering, and health-

care industries. Under the direction of Bodo

Urban, researchers are working on technologies

to support man in many areas of working,

learning, and living, and to provide information

and documents in line with needs and context

and to offer intuitive interaction options.

Dr. Philipp Urban

location Darmstadt +49 6151 155-250

philipp.urban@igd.fraunhofer.de

3D Printing technologyHeaded by Philipp Urban, the “3D Printing Tech-

nology” Competence Center develops models,

algorithms and software to make printed 3D ob-

jects confusingly similar to the original. The goal

is a 3D copying machine that will render original

and reproduction virtually indistinguishable. The

developments are headed towards 3D printing

with multiple materials.

Dr. stefan Wesarg

location Darmstadt +49 6151 155-511

stefan.wesarg@igd.fraunhofer.de

Visual Healthcare technologiesNew software solutions are changing medicine

and medical engineering. Imaging techniques

support the daily work of doctors and have

become firmly established in the hospital

routine. They help the hospital staff in planning,

simulating and navigating surgical procedures.

The “Visual Healthcare Technologies”

Competence Center, headed by Stefan Wesarg,

develops solutions so that doctors can effectively

use image data when it comes to diagnostics,

therapy planning, and intra-operative navigation.

for more information on the respective competence centers and their projects, please visit our website

www.igd.fraunhofer.de/en/Institut/Abteilungen

56

Fraunhofer institute for Computer Graphics research iGDFraunhoferstrasse 5

64283 Darmstadt, Germany

Phone +49 6151 155-0

Fax +49 6151 155-199

info@igd.fraunhofer.de

www.igd.fraunhofer.de

Director

Dieter W. Fellner, Professor

+49 6151 155-100

institutsleitung@igd.fraunhofer.de

Deputy Director

Dr. Matthias Unbescheiden

+49 6151 155-155

matthias.unbescheiden@igd.fraunhofer.de

Director‘s Offi ce

Barbara Merten

+49 6151 155-101

barbara.merten@igd.fraunhofer.de

loCation rostoCKJoachim-Jungius-Strasse 11

18059 Rostock, Germany

Phone +49 381 4024-110

Fax +49 381 4024-199

info@igd-r.fraunhofer.de

www.igd.fraunhofer.de/rostock

loCation GraZFraunhofer Austria Research GmbH

Visual Computing Business Unit

Inffeldgasse 16c/II

8010 Graz, Austria

Phone +43 316 873-5410

Fax +43 316 873-105410

offi ce.graz@fraunhofer.at

www.vc.fraunhofer.at

loCation sinGaPorEFraunhofer Project Center IDM@NTU

50 Nanyang Avenue

Singapore 639798, Singapore

Phone +65 6790 6989

Fax +65 6792 8123

info@fraunhofer.sg

www.fraunhofer.sg

hoW to finD us

HoW to Find US

Publisher

Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics Research IGD

Dieter W. Fellner, Professor

Editorial team

Dr. konrad Baier (Head), Dr. Janine van Ackeren,

Heidrun Bornemann, Detlef Wehner

Design

Carina Bumke, Oliver Boyens, Juliane Egner

Editorial address

Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics Research IGD

Corporate Communications

Fraunhoferstrasse 5

64283 Darmstadt, Germany

Phone +49 6151 155-437 | E-Mail: uk@igd.fraunhofer.de

For further information on projects, technologies and competenc-

es as well as contact addresses of our institute in German and

English, please visit our website at: www.igd.fraunhofer.de

Please address general inquiries by e-mail to: info@igd.fraunhofer.de

All rights reserved. © Fraunhofer IGD, 2015

Reproduction of any material is subject to editorial authorization.

image sources:Werbefotografi e Rühl und Bormann: p. 1, 6, 13, 18, 19, 21, 27,

29, 30, 40, 42, | Fotolia: p. 04, 05 Nataliya Hora, p. 15 Alexandre

Zveiger, p. 17 Black Jack, p. 20 everythingpossible, p. 22 violetkaipa,

p. 23 Maridav, p. 24 Alex, p. 50 stevanzz, p. 57 ty | IT- und Medien-

zentrum - Universität Rostock: p. 32, 49 | Thomas Mandt: p. 33, 34

All other images and graphs: © Fraunhofer IGD

Editorial notES

58 E d i t o r i a l

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