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Hochschule Karlsruhe Hochschule Karlsruhe - University of Applied Sciences Hochschule Karlsruhe Hochschule Karlsruhe - University of Applied Sciences
Hochschule Karlsruhe Hochschule Karlsruhe - University of Applied Sciences
The image shows a group of people in a dark 180-degree projection environment. They are looking at a large-scale projection showing the structure of a historic airship. The scene is kept in muted colors, the people are visible as silhouettes, while the projection is the main focus.
The IIIX team experiences the impressive virtual representation of complex structures as realized in the Hindenburg VR project.

The IIIX Teaser is here!

After intensive preparations and an exciting day of filming, the teaser about the Institute for Intelligent Interaction and Immersive Experience (IIIX) is now ready and released. The short film offers insights into life and work at the institute and shows the range of technologies and projects being developed at IIIX.

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The picture shows a woman from behind, standing in front of a large monitor. A life-size virtual avatar can be seen on the monitor, raising its arms to interact with the user. The background is in a purple light that creates a futuristic atmosphere. The HKA logo is displayed at the top right.
The teaser is now available on the HKA YouTube channel.
The image shows a virtual landscape with green hills and snow-covered mountains in the background. In the middle, avatars of different users interact, represented by floating heads and hands. Speech bubbles above their heads indicate active communication. There is also a virtual object in the scene that is part of the joint work.
Interaction in the VR Campus: A virtual learning environment that enables students and teachers to work together in an immersive environment.
The image shows a young woman smiling as she looks into a smartphone camera. A grid model of her face is displayed on the smartphone and analyzed in real time. In the background, a digital avatar can be seen on a monitor that mimics the woman's facial features.
IIIX employees Fiona Schmidbauer and Simon Janzer demonstrate the real-time tracking of facial expressions and the transfer to an avatar for the teaser.

The IIIX - Innovation at the interface of people and technology
As a research institute at Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences, the IIIX brings together scientists, students and experts to drive forward pioneering projects at the interface between people and technology. The focus is on research and development in three central areas: Intelligent systems, interactive technologies and immersive experiences. The work on intelligent systems includes topics such as machine learning and natural language processing. The area of interactive technologies is dedicated to conversational interfaces, 3D gesture recognition and non-verbal communication, among other things. In the field of immersive experiences, the IIIX investigates the potential and challenges of immersive virtual reality, social VR applications and location-based VR. Equally important is the transfer of research into practice, for example through the development of future-oriented applications for education, industry and society.

Insight into the iXperience Lab
A large part of IIIX's work takes place in the iXperience Lab, the institute's research and experimental laboratory. This is where new technologies are developed, research projects are carried out and the ideas of employees and students are put into practice. The teaser shows some of the most fascinating projects that have been created in the lab. Among them is the VR Campus, an immersive VR learning environment that enables students and teachers to learn together in virtual reality by holding lectures and working together on 3D objects. The VR Campus, which has been used in teaching since 2022, recently won Prof. Dr. Matthias Wölfel the HKA Teaching Award and demonstrates the potential of immersive VR technologies in higher education. The teaser also features the VR experience Super Nubibus, which offers a virtual balloon ride over historic Karlsruhe in 1834, as well as Hindenburg VR, an immersive tour through the world of the famous airship. Other projects on show include the real-time capture and digital embodiment of facial features, in which facial expressions and gestures are transferred directly to a virtual avatar, as well as the Embodied Conversational Agent, a life-size interactive conversation partner that captures the speech, gestures and facial expressions of its counterpart and can respond with speech, gestures and facial expressions itself. It can also respond to complex requests using a large language model.

Focus on technologies and people
The teaser not only shows technologies such as the 180-degree screen and interactive applications, but also the people behind the projects. The researchers and students at IIIX contribute their expertise and creativity to develop solutions for the challenges of the digital future. The teaser captures the dynamics and enthusiasm that characterize life and work at the institute.

Premiere at ResearchContacts
The teaser was shown for the first time at the ResearchContacts 2024, the Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences transfer fair. There it inspired visitors and offered a lively insight into the innovative projects and working methods of the IIIX. In addition to the trade fair, the video will also be used in future for the institute's external communication in order to present the diverse work of the IIIX to a wider audience.

Watch it now!
The teaser is now available on the HKA YouTube channel.

 

Contact

Prof. Dr. Matthias Wölfel
Director
+49 721 925-1491
matthias.woelfel@h-ka.de