D-INFK news channel

The International Committee of the Red Cross aims to create a digital emblem to distinguish the computer systems of medical and humanitarian facilites and to protect them from cyberwarfare. The Center for Cyber Trust, which includes three D-INFK research groups, is developing the necessary technologies.

Johanna Pirker, Assistant Professor at Graz University of Technology, spent September and October as a visiting professor at the Game Technology Center (GTC) of ETH Zurich. In this interview, she explains what we can learn from video games and why our image of gamers does not correspond to reality.

Game developers from the ETH Game Technology Center have created an app that explains bone remodelling in a playful way. If students point the camera of their mobile device at the textbook, they find themselves transported to the bone’s surface, where they help cells break down bone tissue.

Data contains much more than just the information on the surface. With statistics, deeper cause-​and-effect relationships can be brought to light. This is what Alexander Marx is researching as a Fellow at the ETH AI Center using artificial intelligence. One of his goals is to be able to make predictions regarding diabetes in children.

Professor Markus Gross, head of the Computer Graphics Laboratory at ETH Zurich and Vice President of Research for The Walt Disney Studios, has been appointed a member of acatech.

When algorithms reinforce biases: doctoral student Afra Amini is studying automated human language processing and its pitfalls.

Manuela Fischer, Maciej Besta and Francesco Locatello, three doctoral students from the Department of Computer Science, have won the ETH Medal for their outstanding doctoral theses.

During her visit to ETH Zurich, Defence Minister Viola Amherd sketched a picture of an unstable, unpredictable world to which Swiss security policy must adapt. D-INFK contributes to Swiss cyber security through a number of initiatives and projects, including the secure internet architecture SCION and the Cyber Security Master's programme.

From October 20, a digital avatar of ETH Zurich's most famous alumnus will take up residence in ETH’s Campus Info Hönggerberg for a week. Make sure to stop by and chat to "Digital Einstein", who was developed by D-INFK Spin-off Animatico and the Computer Graphics Laboratory.

ETH and the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems are intensifying their partnership to promote doctoral candidates and research: ETH professors Otmar Hilliges, Thomas Hofmann, Andreas Krause and Klaas P. Prüssmann are new Max Planck fellows.

Vinicius Azevedo, research scientist at DisneyResearch|Studios in Zurich, was honoured with the 2021 SCA Early Career Researcher Award. Congratulations!

Pelin Dogan Schönberger, postdoc with the Media Technology Center, has received the ARD/ZDF Award "Women + Media Technology" for her doctoral thesis.

Meet Albert Einstein at the upcoming Scientifica on September 4 and 5, brought back to life by Prof. Markus Gross, the Game Technology Center and D-INFK spin-off Animatico.

The EXCLAIM research initiative is developing a new generation of high-resolution weather and climate models. D-INFK professors Torsten Hoefler and Andreas Krause, as well as the Swiss Data Science Center, are part of the multidisciplinary project.

Professor Markus Gross, head of the Computer Graphics Laboratory at ETH Zurich and Vice President of Research for The Walt Disney Studios, has received the prestigious Steven Anson Coons Award for Outstanding Creative Contributions to Computer Graphics.

The future quantum computers should be capable of super-​fast and reliable computation. Researchers at the DS3Lab conduct an early exploration for reliable quantum machine learning.

The Center for Augmented Computational Design in Architecture, Engineering and Construction, commonly referred to as Design++, opens its doors on May 27. D-INFK professors Stelian Coros, Marc Pollefeys, and Siyu Tang will contribute to the keynote presentations.

The Federal Statistical Office (FSO) is joining forces with the Swiss Data Science Center (SDSC) to encourage the use of data science and artificial intelligence within the administration.

Congratulations to Dr Fernando Perez Cruz. The current Chief Data Scientist at the Swiss Data Science Center (SDSC), and Lecturer at our department, has been awarded the title Adjunct Professor.

Bühler AG and the Swiss Data Science Center have collaborated to establish a new approach for the design of cooling, in order to further increase the process performance and still maintain high part quality.

Quantum research has long since ceased to be an exclusive domain of physics. The purpose of the new ETH Quantum Center is to ensure ETH Zurich’s various competences and activities in this area are networked even more closely and to raise their public profile.

An app created by the Game Technology Center at ETH Zurich lets visitors experience the new exhibition at the Graphische Sammlung in an interactive way.

A team from the Centre for Computer Science Education (ABZ) under the direction of Professor Juraj Hromkovic has received the prestigious Worddidac Award for the teaching material "Einfach Informatik 5/6" ("Simply Computer Science 5/6"). The book promotes computer science skills and creative thinking.

The newly opened ETH AI Center intensifies the dialogue with business, politics and society about an innovative and trust-​building advancement of artificial intelligence.

Alexander Ilic is the Executive Director of the newly founded ETH AI Center, which will open officially on October 20. What motivated the entrepreneur to return to ETH Zurich?

The Media Technology Center is teaching computers to speak Swiss German and searching for applications that could lend a hand with day-​​to-​day editorial work. Professor Ryan Cotterell brings together linguistics, automated language processing and artificial intelligence to change the one-​​solution approach that modern translation programs typically offer.

ETH Zurich promotes innovation in AI technology. This includes the extension of its partnership with the Max Planck Society, the launch of the European Laboratory for Learning and Intelligent Systems (ELLIS) and the opening of the ETH AI Center. Professors Thomas Hofmann and Andreas Krause are at the forefront of these efforts.

Professor Markus Gross has been invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for his technical contributions to filmmaking.

The Max Planck ETH Center for Learning Systems has just been renewed for another five years. Co-director Prof. Thomas Hofmann explains the role he sees for the center in Europe.

A step towards new media worlds: The Media Technology Center at ETH Zurich is researching how Augmented Reality can be applied to everyday life and supports media companies on their path to the future.

Communicating with photorealistic avatars: Prof. Markus Gross, an expert in the field of visual data processing, explains how telepresence could improve teleconferencing in the near future.

Virtual assistants cannot understand Swiss German. The ETH Media Technology Center is working to change that by teaching machines to speak and understand different Swiss German dialects.

Can you turn a semester project into a business idea? Yes, of course! The video game Unrailed!, developed by Hendrik Baatz, Thomas Lang, Lukas Rahmann and Thomas Wolf as part of the Game Programming Laboratory course, has garnered worldwide interest at trade shows and in the media. On 9 September 2019, it became the first game developed at the Department of Computer Science to be commercially available.

As a female computer scientist, Julia Chatain has experienced many conscious and unconscious biases. With her work at ETH Zurich’s Game Technology Center, she aims to refute such prejudices for future generations and to show everyone – not least the women themselves – that yes, women can code!

Researchers from the Max Planck ETH Center for Learning Systems and Google Research Zurich received the Best Paper Award at the International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML).

Data science methods have applications in many different fields in academia and industry. To foster the adoption of data-driven science, the Swiss Data Science Center was founded two and a half years ago. Jointly backed by ETH Zurich and EPFL and supported by the computer science departments of both universities, the centre has already made significant progress towards its goal to make data science more open, transparent and accessible in both academia and industry.

Bob Sumner, associate director at Disney Research Zurich and D-INFK adjunct professor, is driving innovation of augmented reality technology.

Computational thinking and programming skills are likely to become even more essential in the future. Dr Stéphane Magnenat and the Game Technology Center team at ETH Zurich are working on new ways to teach programming to children and make the experience enriching, creative and playful.

On March 19, 2019, ETH Zurich presented the Spark Award 2019. The award recognizes the most promising invention that ETH transfer filed for a patent in 2018. Two of the nominated projects came from D-​INFK.

Electronic devices can spark kids’ creativity, says Stéphane Magnenat from the Game Technology Center. But doing so requires apps that bridge the real and virtual worlds.

Researchers from D-INFK and Disney Research had the honour of receiving a Sci-Tech Oscar in Hollywood for their capture system, Medusa.

The new ETH+ initiative to strengthen data science, spread across several departments, was launched in January 2019.

D-INFK is headed to Davos during the World Economic Forum, January 22-25. A visit to ETH Zurich's Pavilion will have you RETHINKING DESIGN in an entirely new context: design your own robot, meet SAM the soft robotic hand, and play a video game you built yourself.

Professor Markus Gross, Thabo Beeler, Derek Bradley and Bernd Bickel will be honored for the design and engineering of the Medusa Performance Capture System.

ETH, EPFL and Microsoft are extending their highly successful research collaboration, which has been known as the Swiss Joint Research Center since its inception in 2013. The projects selected for the upcoming third research phase will be announced at the beginning of 2019. The research groups work at the ETH in Zurich and at the EPF in Lausanne.

Professor Juraj Hromkovic explains what language and programming have in common and what makes a good programming language for computer science education.

For the past decade, computer graphics specialists like Prof. M. Gross and Prof. B. Sumner have been conducting research on behalf of The Walt Disney Company.

In June 2018, the start-​up ChainSecurity released Securify, a novel tool that enables an easier and more thorough scanning process for smart contracts in the Ethereum ecosystem. Dr Petar Tsankov, chief scientist at ChainSecurity and research scientist at ETH Secure, Reliable, and Intelligent Systems Lab at the Department of Computer Science, gives an insight into the novel technology and its benefits.

Juraj Hromkovic has over 15 years of experience in teaching children computer science. He explains the approach we should take.

ETH Lausanne and ETH Zurich’s Swiss Data Science Center is off to a successful start. In September, scientists at the Center launched their open source platform Renga. First research projects have been chosen.

Researchers from ETH Zurich and Disney Research have developed a software that makes it easier to animate characters in the entertainment industry. In the future, the software could also allow inexperienced users to design compelling motion cycles.

Digitalisation simplifies many aspects of our everyday life, but it also creates new risks. Srdjan Capkun, Professor for Information Security, explains how to find the right balance between convenience and security.

Reminding us of the intrinsic need for play, ETH Zurich researchers in game technology collaborate with Disney Research Zurich to provide novel digital technologies to enhance traditional experiences in a new realm called, "augmented creativity".

ETH Zurich will establish a professorship and new centre for media technology together with media companies Tamedia, Ringier and the NZZ Media Group. The centre aims to better integrate research and practical applications and to help the Swiss media sector make use of technological advances.

Human-​computer interaction, machine vision, performance and energy scalability, mobile computing, and data center optimization – these are some of the most significant challenges that computer science will have to face in the years to come. In the Microsoft Research - Swiss Joint Research Center, a collaborative research engagement between Microsoft Research, EPFL and ETH Zurich, science and industry try to tackle these challenges together. Professor Gustavo Alonso elaborates.

Researchers at ETH Zurich and Disney Research Zurich have developed a new technique called Computational Thermoforming. It enables them to manufacture plastic replicas of digital 3D models, in which the shape and colour are reproduced in detail. This technique extends the range of digital fabrication methods and represents an efficient and cost-​effective alternative to colour 3D printing.

Researchers at ETH Zurich, Disney Research Zurich, and Carnegie Mellon University have developed a software tool that empowers average users to design custom robotic creatures and their movements.

Augmented creativity can encourage children towards a new-​found sense of creativity, cooperation and interaction with their environment. ETH Zurich’s Game Technology Center will present its latest apps in the field at the CeBIT computer expo.

Machines will become not just more intelligent in the future, but also more capable of learning. To promote research in this field, ETH Zurich and the Max Planck Society officially open the Max Planck ETH Center for Learning Systems today. The scientists want to understand the theoretical principles of learning and how these can be applied to real machines.

ETH Zurich is expanding its Zurich Information Security and Privacy Center (ZISC). A donation of five million Swiss francs has been made by Zürcher Kantonalbank to the ETH Zurich Foundation specifically for this purpose.

ETH Zurich’s new Game Technology Center in the Department of Computer Science will pool Swiss know-​how in the development of computer games. This was announced on Wednesday as part of the final presentation of the Game Programming Laboratory.

Forming an indispensable tie between technology and a 'smart' energy usage: Conference on Energy Informatics involving participants from Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

The Scalable Parallel Computing Lab at ETH Zurich will become a member of Intel(R) Parallel Computing Center community. The goal is to tackle the challenges of growing parallelism in high performance computing.

New York is the perfect vantage point from which to build dreams, bridge cultures, and advance global citizenship. The festival, a joint project of Switzerland’s Consulate General, the city of Zurich, ETH and the University of Zurich, provides a significant opportunity to strike roots as deep as to yield such potent energy. During eight days, the event will showcase local artistic creations and scientific discoveries, and discuss their impact on American culture.

ETH Zurich and EPFL are jointly entering into a new research partnership with Microsoft Research. Over five years, Microsoft Research will provide five million Swiss francs of funding to support IT research projects. Microsoft researchers will also work closely with the scientists at the two universities.

Prof. Markus Gross will receive the Karl Heinz Beckurts Award 2013. The award, endowed with 30,000 Euros, will be presented on Monday, December 9, at 5:45 p.m. in the ballroom of the Rotes Rathaus in Berlin. With this award, the Karl Heinz Beckurts Foundation honors one of the world's leading scientists in the field of visual computing and computer animation. (German)

The 5th Swiss Day for Computer Science Education (STIU) of the Center for Computer Science Education (ABZ) at ETH Zurich will take place on January 8, 2014 at the Alte Kantonsschule Aarau. (German)

Top honour for ETH-Zurich professor and Disney director Markus Gross: he is to receive a “Tech Oscar” from the Academy of Motion and Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) along with three other computer scientists for a procedure they developed which leading special effects studios now use to simulate smoke and explosions in Hollywood films.