Streaming platforms have become an integral part of our lives, and the number of available videos is steadily increasing. But how can the customers’ quality requirements be reconciled with the increasing costs for storage and data transmission? RheinMain University of Applied Sciences is addressing this question in the VidUX project and developing an algorithm to determine the lowest data rate that still fulfils the quality requirements, thus improving the overall user experience.

How do you control a robotic arm without using your hands and feet? In the MIA project, two research teams from the Westphalian University of Applied Sciences in Gelsenkirchen have addressed this question and developed a device that allows machines to be controlled entirely by head movements and gaze. This technology could help paralysed people to participate more in society and thus contribute to more inclusion.

Many children have problems with spatial hearing. This can lead to them barely understanding their teachers in noisy classrooms, or not understanding them at all. In the VIWER-S project, TH Köln and the Jade University of Applied Sciences want to remedy this situation. The project team is developing a special hearing training with VR glasses and an innovative microphone system for everyday school life.

Modern ploughs dig up around 10,000 hectares of arable land before their steel parts have to be replaced due to material wear. A research project at the University of Applied Sciences Jena aims to extend the service life: with an innovative steel that is harder and more wear-resistant. Soil tillage equipment in agriculture could thus be used much longer, saving energy and resources.

Small and agile Jersey cattle could replace the black and white Holsteins as the most common dairy cow breed in the future. Not only is the keeping of Jerseys more resource-efficient, but their milk is also richer in ingredients. So far, however, little is known about these animals. A research project at the University of Applied Sciences in Neubrandenburg wants to change that.

People with social anxiety are afraid of interacting with other people. They avoid social contacts for fear of negative attention. In the DISA project, an interdisciplinary research team at the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam is investigating whether and how digital innovations can help affected persons to cope with anxiety-inducing everyday moments in a self-determined way. The interdisciplinary project is funded via FH-Sozial.

Wind turbines are an important part of the goal to switch to renewable energies in the long run. However, in spite of many advantages, many people are sceptical towards wind farms, especially when a turbine is to be built in the immediate vicinity. So, wouldn’t it be useful to be able to experience the effects of wind turbines at an early stage before they are even built? The Hamburg University of Applied Sciences is investigating this question in the X-Eptance-Explore project.

How must robots, intelligent machines, and virtual worlds be designed so that people can accept them and successfully interact with them? The BHT (Berliner Hochschule für Technik) aims to answer this question with its new HumanVRLab, a research lab that is unique in Germany. It was funded via FH-Invest and enables transdisciplinary research between robotics, IT, medicine, and life sciences.

In the Rural Mining project, the HM Hochschule München University of Applied Sciences is investigating how well residential buildings can be deconstructed, reused, and recycled. Prefabricated wood houses serve as study objects, as they can be deconstructed and rebuilt with little effort.

Some types of fruit and vegetable show distinct outward signs of ripeness or decay, but others such as melons don’t. The htw saar (Saarland University of Applied Sciences) is therefore developing an AI-based measuring system to easily examine fruit. The system can also be optimised for other foods and might help to reduce food waste.