Zander Labs and Fraunhofer IDMT-HSA cooperate on hardware development
Berlin, Germany, September 3rd , 2024 — Zander Labs has selected the Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Media Technology IDMT in Oldenburg as a strategic partner for the project “Neuroadaptivity for Autonomous Systems” (NAFAS) to develop state-of-the-art, unobtrusive hardware for next-generation mobile EEG devices.
Despite significant technological advances, machines continue to lag behind humans when it comes to understanding, learning from and responding to human emotions, mental states and cognitive decision-making processes. This limitation has led to cumbersome communication between humans and technology and limits the potential of human-computer interaction.
The main goal of the project is to develop neurotechnological prototypes to simplify communication between humans and semi-autonomous systems. It also aims to enable artificial intelligence to learn directly from the human brain in order to adopt skills and understand human values.
NAFAS is funded by the German federal agency Agentur für Innovation in der Cybersicherheit - “Innovation for Cybersecurity". With a €30 million contract for a four-year project, NAFAS is the largest single grant for a research project in the European Union and represents a paradigm shift in human-computer interaction research.
In the first two years of the project, the partners will use their joint expertise to develop a modular electrode system designed for brain-computer interface (BCI) applications outside the lab. This innovative system promises high signal quality, which is crucial for accurate mental state assessments and passive BCI applications.
Known for their technological advancements and pioneering research, Fraunhofer IDMT-HSA will work on a highly innovative electrode technology while Zander Labs will focus on modular system design and optimization of passive BCIs.
The main task of Fraunhofer IDMT-HSA will be the development of so-called electrode patches for unobtrusive, comfortable and easy-to-use EEG recording, which will significantly improve the usability of mobile EEG systems. This includes the evaluation of different electrode types and configurations in order to determine the best signal and information quality. The selection process will be carried out in close cooperation with the project partners to determine the optimal system for BCI applications and to achieve important milestones of the project. The Fraunhofer electrode patches will be a key component of the mobile EEG hardware system. Zander Labs will lead the design of the entire hardware system and ensure that the high signal quality enabled by the patch technology is maintained throughout the signal chain, while optimizing the usability of the system for mobile use.
“We are delighted to have the Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Media Technology IDMT on board for this challenging development. We are convinced that the joint development of the highly innovative Fraunhofer technology and its integration into a cutting-edge mobile EEG system will open up completely new ways of using passive BCI,” says Dr. Matthias Pesch, NAFAS Hardware Director at Zander Labs.
“The measurement and interpretation of signals emitted by the human brain is a challenge that our group at the Fraunhofer IDMT-HSA is taking up. We want to make electroencephalography systems available for specific application scenarios – for example in healthcare, in the automotive industry or in safety-critical workplaces. Integrating our technology into Zander Lab’s BCI system could push us significantly forward in the field of mobile BCI applications”, says Dr. Ing. Insa Wolf, Head of the Mobile Neurotechnologies at the Fraunhofer IDMT-HSA in Oldenburg.
About Zander Labs
Zander Labs is a German-Dutch DeepTech company in the field of passive brain-computer interfaces (passive BCI) and neuroadaptive technology. The company’s vision is to transform human-computer interaction (HCI) and neuro-AI by driving a moonshot initiative: to create a world where technology understands and adapts to us effortlessly and intuitively.
They seek to develop a user-friendly platform that provides cognitive universal classifiers and insights into mental states to unlock the full potential of computer interaction, enable human-compatible AI and facilitate AI learning through brain activity.
More information: https://zanderlabs.com/
About the Fraunhofer IDMT-HSA
The Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Media Technology IDMT is one of over 70 institutes of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, a leading organization for applied research based in Germany. The Oldenburg Branch for Hearing, Speech and Audio Technology HSA stands for market-oriented research and development with a focus on the areas speech and event recognition, sound quality and speech intelligibility, smart applications in speech therapy as well as mobile neurotechnology . With in-house expertise in the development of hardware and software systems the experts are transferring scientific findings into practical, customer-oriented solutions.
More information: https://www.idmt.fraunhofer.de/en/hsa.html
About the NAFAS project
Neuroadaptivity for Autonomous Systems (NAFAS) is an endeavor funded by Agentur für Innovation in der Cybersicherheit GmbH (Cyberagentur) that strives to revolutionize human-computer interaction and artificial intelligence through neuroadaptive technology.
The project’s main goal is to develop neurotechnological prototypes to simplify communication between humans and partially autonomous systems. And enable artificial intelligence to directly learn from the human brain to adopt skills and understand mental concepts of humans.
More information: https://zanderlabs.com/nafas
NAFAS in the Newspaper Tagesspiegel on 17.12.2023 (online): https://www.tagesspiegel.de/potsdam/brandenburg/mit-maschinen-sprechen-brandenburger-start-up-erhalt-grossauftrag-fur-ki-forschung-10939333.html
NAFAS in the German televisoin news Tagesschau at 8pm on 15.12.2023 (Link to "ARD-Mediathek", from minute 13:16): https://www.tagesschau.de/multimedia/sendung/tagesschau_20_uhr/video-1284334.html
For more information, please contact:
Zander Labs
PR agency for The Netherlands - Whizpr
Nini Joostens | Paul Maris: zanderlabs@whizpr.nl
PR agency for Germany - Lew Becker
mail@lewbecker.com
Fraunhofer IDMT-HSA Marketing & Communication
Christian Colmer
Christian.colmer@idmt.fraunhofer.de
www.idmt.fraunhofer.de/hsa
Weitere Informationen:
http://www.idmt.fraunhofer.de/hsa
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