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CeBIT 2008 – Hannover, 4-9 March
Feel like listening to Spanish guitar music? Some upbeat 20s-style swing tunes? Or perhaps some soothing ethereal sounds you can relax to? No problem! Finding whatever it is you are looking for is child’s play if you use Digital Music Finder to sift through your music database, whether you are a private user or a professional studio musician. The new application from the Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Media Technology (IDMT) that will be demonstrated for the first time at CeBIT 2008 in Hannover was specifically developed to manage music archives using content-based metadata.
The software supports a whole range of search criteria, including song structure, timbre, tempo and genre. As well as making searches of media archives a cinch, the software can intelligently identify songs that are similar to the one being searched for or even recommend new music that matches the user’s personal musical preferences.
Fraunhofer-Institut für Digitale Medientechnologie IDMT
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Imagine: a patient with chronic back pain visits a new doctor. Instead of wading through the usual pile of notes, lab reports and test results, the doctor simply clicks on the spine of a virtual anatomical model of the patient (avatar) – and instantly receives all the relevant information. What may sound like science fiction is now a reality, thanks to IBM’s innovative visualization software for electronic patient information (ASME), which will be on show for the first time at CeBIT 2008.
ASME works by compiling all relevant patient data – everything from medical reports to x-ray images. The patient’s electronic data are then linked to a 3D anatomical model of the human body, allowing medical professionals to view individual parts of the patient’s anatomy and switch between a range of specific views, such as circulatory system view, muscular-skeletal system view or general overview.
IBM Deutschland GmbH
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With SecurStar’s new GPS software your mobile phone can double as a guardian angel. Presented for the first time at CeBIT 2008, the application can pin-point the current position of your mobile phone to within a few meters. Its physical location can be viewed online on a map or satellite photo. The phone’s movements can also be tracked in real-time. What’s more, the software’s PositionTracer function allows you to delimit particular geographical areas for the phone or, rather, its user. The moment the phone leaves a specified zone, the software will notify you either via email, SMS or Messenger alarm.
SecurStar GmbH
The latest generation of mobile phones can navigate, record videos, scan barcodes and even switch on your TV. They put a whole new multimedia world at your fingertips – if, that is, you are extremely dexterous and love wading through multi-volume instruction manuals. The fact is, these phones can sometimes get in the way of making phone calls.
Technology company fitage GmbH & Co. KG will be using CeBIT 2008 to showcase two innovative, new alternatives to miniaturization and feature overload. The mobile phones, called “Katharina das Grosse” (a word-play on Catherine the Great) and “Big Easy 2”, have large keys with large, easy-to-read characters. The display characters are also large-format. They have three direct-dial keys for vital contacts and an emergency broadcast call function. The phones are optimized for people with impaired hearing and users of hearing aids and have an easy-to-use hands-free function.
“Katharina das Grosse” and “Big Easy 2” make mobile telephony easy and uncomplicated, especially for older people. They are based on an ageless design principle: form follows function.
fitage GmbH & Co. KG
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Slovenian software firm i-Rose is profiling its Draught Beer Management (DBM) system at CeBIT 2008 in Hannover. DBM is an integrated solution designed to enable breweries to track and monitor beer barrels throughout their entire service lives.
i-Rose supplies the hardware as well as the software. Draught Beer Management is an end-to-end solution that provides information on production volumes, stock levels, distribution, and wholesale and retail sales, broken down by region. DBM can also monitor the service and maintenance status of the beverage dispensing equipment of a brewery’s network of affiliated hospitality outlets. By keeping tabs on that precious amber brew from day one, the system streamlines business processes, reduces costs and improves customer satisfaction.
i-Rose, d.o.o.
At CeBIT 2008, computer linguists from Saarland University will be demonstrating talking robots as a fun way of learning about new technology at schools.
With their target audience in mind, the scientists have chosen Lego Mindstorms robots as the subjects for their new voice technology applications. The robots can move around and perceive their environment via a series of sensors. They can also talk – thanks to an easy-to-use voice dialogue system that the Saarland University research team has specially developed for school use.
The demonstration at the display stand will involve one of these robots being given voice commands to fetch brightly-colored objects for CeBIT visitors. This scenario can easily be modified for classroom use as a way of demonstrating the complex tasks computers need to perform in order to be able to see, feel and speak.
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The new Samsung ML 1630: beautiful on the inside and quite a looker, too. With its high-gloss, jet-back piano lacquer finish and futuristic blue LEDs, the ML 1630 is a true design accessory. And it’s on show at CeBIT 2008.
The ML 1630 is a monochrome laser printer that can print up to 16 A4 pages per minute at effective resolutions of up to 1,200 x 600 dpi. There is also a multifunction center (printer, copier, scanner) variant of this design classic that is just as easy on the eye.
Samsung Electronics GmbH
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Which locations will give my poster maximum exposure? How long do passers-by linger at my poster and what sorts of people look at what posters? The Fraunhofer Institute for Intelligent Analysis and Information Systems (IAIS) will be providing answers to these and many other billboard advertising questions at CeBIT 2008 with its new Frequency Atlas.
The Frequency Atlas identifies the number of people passing by specified poster locations each hour – for all German cities with populations of more than 10,000. The database spans a total of 6.2 million street segments.
This intelligent billboard campaign planning tool also contains information on how often individual persons pass by specified billboards, how long they remain within viewing distance, the angle from which they view the billboards, whether they’re male or female, and what target group they belong to. The IAIS team developed the Atlas by equipping thousands of test subjects with GPS receivers and then tracking their routes through the target cities. They then used complex algorithms and methods to analyze the data and present them in a user-friendly form for advertisers.
Fraunhofer-Institut für Intelligente Analyse- und Informations-systeme IAIS
Multimedia accessories provider Hama will be using CeBIT 2008 to profile “Double Lens”, an innovative web cam that opens up new perspectives for travelers who like to stay in touch via the Internet.
The attractive, gold-colored web cam features two lenses, enabling the user to select between close-up views of only him- or herself or wide-angle views encompassing everyone in the background. The unit also offers excellent sound as well as adjustable lighting, thanks to its high-quality integrated microphone and six switchable LEDs.
Hama GmbH & Co KG
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The “Voice Reader Home” by Linguatec is a far cry from the first talking computers with their ugly, staccato monotones. This new software package produces pleasantly fluid voice outputs.
“Voice Reader Home”, on show at CeBIT 2008 in Hannover, can convert users’ texts into audio files. It can read the texts aloud itself or convert them to MP3 format for playback on PC or iPod. This enables the user to improve learning outcomes by listening to longer texts as well as reading them. Then there’s the convenience factor: listening to those lectures or language lessons while driving or out jogging. And reading aloud is also the best way of proofreading one’s own work. No display is required for playback, just headphones. The program speaks eleven languages, including German, UK and US English, French and Spanish.
Linguatec Sprachtechnologien GmbH
