The valves and pumps being developed by the research group led by Professor Stefan Seelecke at Saarland University are made from electroactive silicone film and offer a lot more than just the typical ‘open/close’ or ‘on/off’ functionality. The researchers control the film electrically and can make it execute precise vibrations or pulses on demand, while…
Smart Glove for Industry 4.0: Connecting the Physical Hand to the Virtual World
Researchers at Saarland University have created an ultrathin flexible film that can act as a sensor for innovative technologies. Integrated within a glove, the new sensory film can communicate the current position of the wearer’s hand and fingers. By establishing a direct connection between the virtual and real working worlds, man and machine can, quite…
Research Team Uses Artificial Muscles to Develop an Air Conditioner for the Future
It can be used to cool or heat the air in a room or to cool or heat liquids. And it looks like something that Q—the tech specialist and gadgeteer in the James Bond films—might have come up with. The prototype device, which has been developed by a research team led by Professors Stefan Seelecke…
A Webcam Is Enough To Produce A Real-Time 3-D Model Of A Moving Hand
Capturing hand and finger movements within milliseconds is becoming increasingly important for many applications, from virtual reality to human-machine interaction and Industry 4.0. So far, its enormous technical demands have limited possible applications. Computer scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Informatics have now developed a software system involving the interaction of various neural networks…
Smart Conveyor Rollers To Optimize Parcel Logistics Operations
Engineers from Saarbrücken have developed a system of self-monitoring conveyor rollers to solve crucial logistics problems for sorting offices and parcel services. Drive systems specialist Professor Matthias Nienhaus from Saarland University and his team of engineers have found a way of turning the motor inside every drive roller into a sensor. When the conveyor is…
Novel Software Can Recognize Eye Contact In Everyday Situations
“Until now, if you were to hang an advertising poster in the pedestrian zone, and wanted to know how many people actually looked at it, you would not have had a chance”, explains Andreas Bulling, who leads the independent research group “Perceptual User Interfaces” at the Excellence Cluster at Saarland University and the Max Planck…
Physicists Develop Ultrathin Superconducting Film
Experimental physicists in the research group led by Professor Uwe Hartmann at Saarland University have developed a thin nanomaterial with superconducting properties. Below about -200 °C these materials conduct electricity without loss, levitate magnets and can screen magnetic fields. The particularly interesting aspect of this work is that the research team has succeeded in creating…
CISPA Researchers Present Early Warning System for Mass Cyber Attacks
Researchers from the Competence Center for IT Security, CISPA, at the Saarland University have developed a kind of early warning system for this purpose. Details and first results will be presented by the scientists at the computer fair Cebit in Hannover. These mass cyber attacks, known as “Distributed Denial of Service” (DDoS) attacks, are considered…
Wireless Home Automation Systems Reveal More Than You Would Think about User Behavior
Home automation systems that control domestic lighting, heating, window blinds or door locks offer opportunities for third parties to intrude on the privacy of the inhabitants and gain considerable insight into their behavioral patterns. This is the conclusion reached by IT security expert Christoph Sorge and his research team at Saarland University. Even data transmitted…
Software Analyzes Apps for Malicious Behavior
Last year at the end of July the Russian software company “Doctor Web” detected several malicious apps in the app store “Google Play.” Downloaded on a smartphone, the malware installed — without the permission of the user — additional programs which sent expensive text messages to premium services. Although Doctor Web, according to its own…
Collecting Digital User Data without Invading Privacy
The statistical evaluation of digital user data is of vital importance for analyzing trends. But it can also undermine the privacy. Computer scientists from Saarbrücken have now developed a novel cryptographic method that makes it possible to collect data and protect the privacy of the user at the same time. They present their approach for…
Withdrawing Money at Cash Machines with Google Glass
Taking photos with a wink, checking one’s calendar with a glance of the right eye, reading text messages — the multinational cooperation Google wants to make it possible with Google Glass. But what IT experts celebrate as a new milestone makes privacy groups skeptical. So far, few people have access to the prototype to test…
Copied from Nature: Detecting Software Errors via Genetic Algorithms
According to a current study from the University of Cambridge, software developers are spending about the half of their time on detecting errors and resolving them. Projected onto the global software industry, according to the study, this would amount to a bill of about 312 billion US dollars every year. “Of course, automated testing is…
Software Maps Ambiguous Names in Texts to the Right Person
If a name is ambiguous and given without context, even humans struggle. When reading the last name “Merkel”, people do not know if it refers to the Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel or the famous soccer coach Max Merkel. It is a drawback for web search, too. Up to now, the programs can capture character…
Talking in 3D
Discussing and administrating complex construction models via a web browser Redevelopment of the London King’s Cross station and the nearby neighborhood was announced in 2005 and completed with a grand opening in 2012. The internationally well-recognized engineering services firm Arup, famous among other things for their work on the Opera House in Sydney, Australia, and…
Computer Arranges Pictures Based on Artistic Aspects
Until now, it has been a time-consuming process for a program to arrange pictures in a consistent order. It is even more complex to order them on the basis of visual characteristics. Computer scientists from Saarbrücken have developed a system to arrange pictures into a consistent order. It requires no more than a small number…