D-INFK news channel

In this interview, Professor Wang offers a brief insight into her research interests and explains why she decided to pursue an academic career. She also shares her advice for computer science students and discusses the three pedagogical principles that guide her teaching and mentoring.

Did you miss an important moment? Professor Christian Holz and his postdoc Andreas Rene Fender have developed a system that can record and later replay events in a room in 3D.

Postdoc Moritz Geilinger visited the Pestalozzi School Camps to show children what a robotics researcher does and how robots can be used in the real world.

Modelling a human being in detail and in motion is a task that continues to challenge developers. Researchers led by Otmar Hilliges, Professor at the Department of Computer Science, showed how to do this more easily: Instead of modelling every last detail, they use intelligent algorithms that learn to automatically render animated avatars in every conceivable pose by observing 3D images of humans in just a few poses.

Stelian Coros, currently Tenure Track Assistant Professor, has been promoted to Associate Professor of Computational Robotics in the Department of Computer Science.

Professor Otmar Hilliges and his collaborators have received lasting impact honours for two papers published ten years ago at the conferences IEEE International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality (ISMAR) and ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (UIST) respectively.

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.

From robots that offer solace to algorithms that help judges make fact-​based decisions, robotics and machine learning are entering new domains that were once the preserve of humans.

How does the Internet of Things change our lives? What does computer science mean for society? Before his retirement in 2020, Professor Friedemann Mattern studied small things in a big context.

Alexis Block, a doctoral fellow with the Advanced Interactive Technologies Lab at ETH Zurich and the Max Planck ETH Center for Learning Systems, has developed HuggieBot, a hugging robot, to improve emotional well-being during the pandemic.

Styrofoam fascinates with its many possible applications. Complex, curvy shapes, however, are difficult to produce with conventional cutting tools. For this, Simon Dünser puts a robot to work that efficiently and precisely wields a hot wire.

When a person taps with their fingers, each finger generates a different vibration profile propagating to the wrist through bones. Researchers around Professor Christian Holz have now leveraged this discovery in the development of a dual-​sensor wristband that brings intuitive free-​hand interaction to virtual productivity spaces.

Computer science is a young science that builds on old ideas. Friedemann Mattern has taught this for more than seven years in his computer science lecture for electrical engineering students. With his retirement, an era comes to an end.

Mihai Bâce, a doctoral student at the Institute for Intelligent Interactive Systems, has developed with a small group of researchers a system to measure the visual attention paid to a smartphone.

How do you calculate the coordinated movements of two robot arms so they can accurately guide a highly flexible tool? Our researchers have integrated all aspects of the optimisation calculations into an algorithm. The hot-​wire cutter will be used, among other things, to develop building blocks for a mortar-​free structure.

The majority of multiple sclerosis patients consider fatigue the single most wearing symptom. And yet, fatigue is still poorly understood. Doctoral student Liliana Barrios wants to change that by introducing smartphone-based methods enabling patients to measure their motor fatigability remotely and more frequently.

Professor Stelian Coros has received an ERC Consolidator Grant. He aims to develop the computational and mathematical foundations for robots that exploit compliant materials as effectively as humans and animals do.

Marina Draskovic came to us from the University of Novi Sad, Serbia, and spent her Student Summer Research Fellowship (SSRF) as part of Professor Friedemann Mattern’s team, where she helped develop an app that measures fatigability in patients with multiple sclerosis.

Christian Holz officially joined the Department of Computer Science of ETH Zurich in August 2019 as Tenure Track Assistant Professor of Computer Science. Get to know him in this short interview.

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.

Producing realistic animated film figures is a highly complex technical endeavour. ETH researchers have now shown how drones can be used to greatly reduce the effort required in the process.

Scientists from ETH Zurich and EPFL have developed an ultra-light glove – weighing less than 8 grams – that enables users to feel and manipulate virtual objects. Their system provides extremely realistic haptic feedback and could run on a battery, allowing for unparalleled freedom of movement.

Fuelled by a recent surge in artificial intelligence technologies, robotics is on the verge of taking centre stage in our society. Nevertheless, before robots can assist us with everyday chores at work and at home, they will need the skills to perform an increasingly diverse array of tasks. Professor Stelian Coros, leader of the Computational Robotics Lab within the Department of Computer Science, is developing the mathematical foundations for new algorithms that address this fundamental challenge.

Filming of spectacular action scenes is expensive and the creative possibilities are often limited. A D-INFK doctoral student has developed an algorithm that allows drones to implement the desired picture compositions independently.

Assistant Professor Otmar Hilliges leads the Advanced Interactive Technologies (AIT) lab. His research areas include human-​computer interaction, augmented and virtual reality as well as human robot interaction.

Computers and communication networks need a lot of electricity; they are responsible for 1-2 percent of the worldwide energy usage. On the other hand, they can help save energy in other places. In this area, "smart" information technology is becoming increasingly important. (German)

Computer are many times more powerful today than when they first appeared. But did they also become more efficient? A not insignificant portion of our energy expenditure is owed to our digital networking. (German)

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

Professor Otmar Hilliges and his staff at ETH Zurich have developed a new app enabling users to operate their smartphone with gestures. This development expands the range of potential interactions with such devices.

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.

Otmar Hilliges is a recognized scientist in the field of human-computer interaction. Hilliges primarily researches techniques in the area of "augmented reality". With his research field, he continues the successful tradition of ETH Zurich in harnessing computer power in a modern way. (German)

Today, computers are no longer calculators or data processors, but windows to the internet. Soon, they will go through another transformation. (German)

Professor Friedemann Mattern, Department Head of the Department of Computer Science, introduces the Kontaktparty 2011. (German)