upstairs is a magazine for school students and young people in higher education. We’d like to know what you think of upstairs! And if you have any questions about the work we do or if you have something you’d like to ask our experts. 


Just drop us an email to: gudrun.quandel(at)hhi.fraunhofer.de

To turn on your computer, just move your finger!

Gestures are increasingly being used to control machines. Developers call it human-machine interaction. What researchers are aiming for is the simple and natural control of machines using body language without any need for annoying aids like touchpads, mice or pens. This is a great innovation for computer games in the 3D world where it’s awkward to move and navigate using the mouse. But such devices are also important for operating theatres or industrial kitchens or anywhere where hygiene is written large and it’s better not to touch things with dirty fingers.

The Slippy World of Body Language

Lea is irritated, she throws up her hands; Till nods with his head he agrees with what his brother’s saying. Hannes lifts up his arm, he wants to ask a question. All three of them make gestures to indicate what they mean. Gestures are the most natural and spontaneous way humans have of expressing themselves. Some gestures are done deliberately like when Hannes raises his arm. Other gestures are more unconscious and reveal more about the person making them than they’d like you to know! But gestures do not mean the same the whole world over. Each society has its own code of gesture.

Take the fist with an upraised thumb, for instance. This can mean:
"Great!" or "Cool!" in the USA, Germany and lots of other countries
but "Piss off!" in Australia and Nigeria  
"One" in Germany
but "Five" in Japan

This same gesture is also commonly used for hitch-hiking in many countries but never in Australia and Nigeria.
(Source: http://www.payer.de/kommkulturen/kultwur042.htm#2.4.)

Sarah's Interview

What does a micro-technician actually do all day long? The Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute offers training for a number of professions. We quizzed the budding micro-technician Sarah about her job. Sarah is 20 and nearly at the end of her first year of training.
How did you hit upon becoming a micro-technician of all things?
Just by chance! At first I'd applied to be an assistant in a chemical laboratory. But it gradually dawned on me that becoming a micro-technician could also be very interesting, and so I sent in my application to the Heinrich Hertz Institute.

Training and Internships at HHI

HHI offers a variety of vocational training courses for such qualifications as a manager of office communications or - but such courses are not offered on a yearly basis - as an IT specialist or micro-technician. HHI also offers internships and student jobs. For more information, mail us at:
pers(at)hhi.fraunhofer.de

Spaceship Cooking

Celebrity TV cook Johann Lafer doesn't need to wash his hands now when he wants to turn up the light or look for a recipe. All he needs to do is to point his finger from a distance and hey presto! everything the master of pots and pans wants to know pops up on the kitchen display.

Spin that Elephant round!

Stuffed animals and old handwriting - museums have loads of objects that visitors aren't allowed to touch, not to mention move around. Many exhibits are simply too valuable and delicate - that's why there are "Please don't touch!" signs all over the place. But now it's possible to make photo-realistic models of such artifacts in 3D which visitors can "touch" and move around to their heart's content - and all by using simple gestures.

Did you know...

... what the transatlantic cable has to do with the Heinrich Hertz Institute?

But how does this huge amount of data traffic get from 'a' to 'b' and back again? Dealing with such a huge flux of data is clearly beyond the reach of any satellite system, so another form of technology is called for - the seabed cable link as a data highway!

By making much more efficient use of existing cables, the Berlin research scientists and engineers can even help save money, because laying a new cable between the USA and Europe would cost somewhere between 400 and 500 million Euros.

Really cool

Examining your own hair under a very special microscope, turning 2D into 3D, building your own components for solar cells and transmitting data with the power of light - all these upbeat activities were part of the jamboree program for Girlsday 2009 at the Heinrich Hertz Institute. At the end of the day we'd all had a great deal of fun, made a load of great photos, took home some very interesting experiences and were in total agreement that this was something we'd do next year as well!

Software isn't the be-all and end-all!

Because sometimes you also need a bit of hardware! And this is what the guys in the Hardware Architectures and PCB Design group have now presented - hardware that can send parallel Full HD video datastreams in top quality over distances of up to 10 kilometers in real-time! And so that you know just what we're talking about - videos in top (Full HD) quality often have several gigabits of data per second!

Operating Theatres 2.0

Operating theatres need especially stringent hygienic regulations. Everything must be absolutely sterile and squeaky-clean. So what happens if during an operation a doctor has to look into the patient's medical records or has to contact some other expert per video chat? Take off her surgical gloves, push the buttons, put on new gloves and start all over again? A display that can be controlled by gestures solves this knotty little problem for ever. All the doctor now has to do is lay aside the scalpel and she's on the Net with a simple wave of the hand.

Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute – Facts of Life:

Today 250 scientists and engineers work at the Heinrich Hertz Institute. In addition to this, there are also some 70 students. HHI is an equal opportunities employer. The Institute is conveniently located in the district of Berlin-Charlottenburg close by the Technical University of Berlin. The 2008 operating budget for research and administration totaled around 25 million Euros, a great part of which came from the private sector.