The research cooperation between Trier University and Trier University of Applied Sciences, funded by the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, will examine the complex ecosystems of artificial intelligence in the interaction between man and machine over the next three years and jointly promote the qualification of young scientists.

The key question of the research college "AI-based Self-Adaptive Cyber-Physical Process Systems (AI-CPPS)" is: How can AI ecosystems be systematically implemented in such a way that they enable sustainable and adaptive processes in complex application scenarios involving humans and machines ? Data obtained from people, machines and the environment as well as from their interaction comes, for example, from mobile devices, digital products, production or environmental sensors or sensors from wearables. Application scenarios of such overall AI systems can be found in knowledge- and planning-intensive work processes in areas such as robotics, supply chains, production, services, intelligent mobility or agriculture.

With initially nine jointly supervised doctoral students, the interdisciplinary research cooperation in this field aims to achieve internationally competitive progress. From the University of Trier, in addition to Prof. Dr. Ralph Bergmann, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Ingo J. Timm and Prof. Dr. Axel Kalenborn is also Jun.-Prof. Dr.-Ing. Benjamin Weyers involved in the research college. The role of the Human-Computer Interaction Group will primarily be to accompany the planned doctoral project with regard to human-machine interaction and, in particular, to actively conduct research together with the university in the context of the interaction between humans and robots.

Contact: Benjamin Weyers

With the beginning of the new year comes a new project: BugWright2. Together with the Chair of Business, headed by Prof. Dr. Thomas Ellwart, and the Teaching and Research area Virtual Reality and Immersive Visualization at the RWTH Aachen University, headed by Prof. Dr. Torsten W. Kuhlen, the Chair for Human-Computer Interaction develops and investigates VR systems for the control and monitoring of autonomous robot systems for the inspection and cleaning of ship hulls.

To the press release of the University of Trier --> Click here <--

Contact: Benjamin Weyers

The professorship for Human-Computer Interaction at the University of Trier is shared with the professorship for business psychology, headed by Prof. Dr. Thomas Ellwart, involved in the EU project BugWright2. The aim of the project is to implement a system for autonomous and robot-supported cleaning and maintenance of ship hulls and large tanks. In this context, the University of Trier will develop a VR-supported monitoring control room together with the RWTH Aachen. On the one hand, the University of Trier establishes requirements within the framework of a work analysis, on the other hand, it analyzes the VR application based on this for monitoring the robots and analyzing the maintenance results with regard to their usability. Furthermore, the aim will be to derive design guidelines in order to make the results usable for comparable analysis scenarios in VR.

The professorship for Human-Computer Interaction has already advertised a position for three years. The tender can be found hier. 

Contact: Benjamin Weyers

From July 9th to 11th, 2019 the HPC for Neuroscience Workshop took place at the Jülich Supercomputing Center, Forschungszentrum Jülich. This workshop was organized as part of the Human Brain Project (HBP), in which the HCI group is involved with a task. The event was organized by the HBP Education Team together with the support of the scientists involved and the project coordinators of sub-project 7, which deals with the use and provision of HPC software and hardware for neuroscientific research in the HBP. As part of this workshop, Benjamin Weyers, as part of the HCI group at the University of Trier, gave a one-hour lecture on the topic of visualizing neuroscientific data.

The workshop took place as part of a series of workshops (3rd HBP Curriculum Workshop Series - ICT for non-specialists) and addressed not only experienced neuroscientists but also students who use HPC resources to simulate and analyze biological neural networks want to use.

More information about the event can be found here, to the Human Brain Project here. 

Contact: Benjamin Weyers - Twitter

On July 1st and 2nd, 2019, Judy Bowen, Senior Lecturer at the University of Waikato, will visit the Human-Computer Interaction Group at the University of Trier. As part of a lecture, she presented the results of her research on "Formal modeling of safety-critical, interactive systems".

More information about the University of Waikato in Hamilton, New Zealand can be found here. 

Contact: Benjamin Weyers

At the invitation of the University of Tsukuba by Prof. Tomoo Inoue, INTERACTIONLab, and the University of Kyoto by Prof. Hiroaki Ogata, Learning and Education Technologies Research Unit (LET), Benjamin Weyers presented the University of Trier and the work of the HCI Group. Within the framework of various workshops, possible future cooperations were discussed and the possibility of hosting a future edition of the CollabTech conference in Trier was discussed.

More informations: INTERACTIONLab @ University of Tsukuba, LET @ University of Kyoto

More information about the CollabTech conference can be found here.  

Contact: Benjamin Weyers

The Human-Computer Interaction Group welcomes Briam Mora and Stiven Rojas! As part of their 4-month internship, the two bachelor students will develop a prototype for a visualization system that enables the interactive analysis of georeferenced data using classic graphical user interfaces as well as immersive systems. This visit is the starting point of a cooperation between the Human-Computer Interaction Group of the University of Trier and the TEC Costa Rica. Overriding topics will be the simulation of geothermal processes and their visual analysis. These analysis tools should not only give experts, but also the general public access to these processes and increase awareness of the possible impact on one's own environment.

You can find more information about TEC Costa Rica here. 

Contact: Yuen C. Law and Benjamin Weyers

The results of this year's 3DUI Contest are now online. The 3DUI Contest takes place as part of the IEEE VR in Osaka and aims to develop and present innovative solutions on current topics in the context of 3D interaction. Interested scientists and practitioners are invited to work on specific topics, submit them as videos and papers and present them as part of a demo during the conference. This year, 9 submissions qualified for the conference. The winner will be chosen during the conference by a commission of experts and all participants.

More informationen to the 3DUI Contest can be found here, to the IEEE VR 2019 here. 

All submissions will be present on the YouTube Channel des 3DUI Contest. 

Contact: Benjamin Weyers

As part of the establishment of the Human-Computer Interaction Group, the University of Trier also becomes a partner in the Human Brain Project (HBP), one of the two flagship projects funded by the European Union. The aim of the project is to create a European infrastructure for neuroscience research that will support neuroscience in understanding the human brain. The work of the Human-Computer Interaction Group within the framework of the HBP focuses on supporting neuroscientific research through visual analysis tools and software. Furthermore, the group is involved in the development of user interfaces, the so-called Joint Platform, a web-based interface that gives scientists access to the infrastructure.

More informations can be found here.

Contact: Benjamin Weyers

With the appointment of Dr. Benjamin Weyers to the junior professorship for practical computer science in Department IV - Computer Sciences, the Human-Computer Interaction Group is also founded and thus begins work in research and teaching. As the first lecture, the professorship offers a master's course on the subject of virtual reality and 3D interaction in the winter semester 2018/2019. At the same time, she begins research on VR/AR and user interface design in the context of everyday work environments.

Contact: Benjamin Weyers