In an initial study, researchers from the AI Production Network at the University of Augsburg investigated the behavioral patterns of neurotypical employees and employees with autism spectrum disorder in direct collaboration with cobots in an industrial context. Several Italian partners were involved, such as the Istituto di Sistemi e Tecnologie Industriali Intelligenti per il Manifatturiero Avanzato (STIIMA-CNR), the Catholic University of Milan, the University of Bologna and the scientific institute Eugenio MEDEA project. The results show the advantages of a workplace adapted to the respective needs and are intended to be the starting point for greater attention to physical and mental health in Industry 4.0. They were published in the international journal "Frontiers in Psychology".

From Aug. 28-29, we welcomed employees from Ford-Werke GmbH and robot manufacturer KUKA at the AI Production Network at the University of Augsburg. The goal of the 2-day workshop was to exchange practical experiences in using cobots in production. The highlight was the test of our cobot-avatar team. The demonstrator was created as part of the EU research project MindBot. MindBot investigates methods to promote mental health when working with cobots.
Details and links can be found under "Read more".

The universities of Augsburg, Bamberg, Erlangen-Nürnberg, Munich (LMU), and Würzburg have spent four years researching the healthy use of digital technologies and media. ForDigitHealth has presented its findings in academic publications as well as in an online guide accessible to the public.

We are proud to announce the first Workshop on Latest Advances in Diversifying Artificial Intelligence at the University of Augsburg on Friday, October 6 2023! The registration and attendance is free and open to all!

Congratulations to our colleague Katharina Weitz on the successful defence of her dissertation entitled "An Interdisciplinary Concept for Human-Centered Explainable AI - Investigating the Impact of XAI on End-Users" on 28.07.2023. In her work, Katharina investigated how explainable AI affects laypeople. The findings help to design AI systems that are oriented towards the needs of the users.

With the beginning of the summer semester, the new course "Content Creation for Virtual Environments" starts. This course focuses on the creation and design of virtual, interactive 3D worlds and addresses the interface between art and computer science. Dr. Hannes Ritschel will cover artistic basics, the creation of three-dimensional graphical content, game art design and sounds, creativity and immersion. We are looking forward to the results!

As part of the EmmA project, the Institute of Computer Science at the University of Augsburg has developed a coaching assistant avatar designed to provide psychological support in times of occupational stress. It can recognise a user’s emotional moods via their mobile device and react appropriately in real time. The avatar is based on machine learning and complex data processing. The results of the project will be used in a follow-up study with people suffering from depression and is also part of an international collaborative project aimed at providing vulnerable people with access to personalised psychosocial services.

The University of Augsburg is participating at the first Bavarian International Conference on AI, AI.BAY 2023, which will take place from the 23rd to 24th of February. The new forum brings together leading representatives of the Bavarian AI Network, international, high-profile guests, as well as state politicians to discuss the future of AI and international developments.

With Björn Petrak and Katharina Weitz, our social robot VIVA made the journey to Leipzig. The MDR WISSEN team, responsible for the YouTube channel "Science vs Fiction", welcomed all three. In the video "Star Trek Picard: Can Robots Fake Feelings?" with science journalist Jack Pop, they explore whether there could be robots like those in Star Trek that can express emotions. You can find the whole video by clicking on "Read more".

Congratulations to our colleague Hannes Ritschel on the successful defence of his PhD thesis entitled "Real-Time Generation and Adaptation of Social Companion Robot Behaviors" on December 07, 2022. In his work, he explored how social robots can adapt their communication behavior to the user based on human social signals and reinforcement learning, a subfield of "artificial intelligence."

This year too, the students were allowed to develop their own mini-games in small teams in the context of the lecture "Introduction to Game Programming" (supervised by Tobias Huber, Ruben Schlagowski, and Dr. Florian Lingenfelser).

On our Youtube channel, you can find short trailer videos for selected projects.
In addition, you can play one of the games yourself!
(More under hcai.eu/gamedev)

Congratulations to our colleagues Tobias Hallmen, Silvan Mertes, and Dominik Schiller for winning the ACII Affective Vocal Bursts (A-VB) competition in the A-VB Type subtask!