Breakthroughs in Human Technology Interaction

Abstract

In 1999 the German Federal Government launched six major strategic collaborative research projects on Human Technology Interaction, which involved 102 research partners and a funding volume of 82 million. The results of these projects were expected to allow people to control technical systems multimodally by using natural forms of interaction such as speech, gestures, facial expressions, touch and visualization methods and to apply such systems for the most varied purposes in their private and working environments. The ambitious research goals were achieved with prototypes for real-world applications. Research activities have resulted in 116 patent applications, 56 spin-off products and 13 spinoff companies as well as 860 scientific publications.