Hessian Ministry of Economy,Transport, Urban and Regional Development

www.hessen-it.de

Hessen IT

Volume 62

Ambient MobilityIntelligent Products and Environments for Mobile Citizens and Businesses

ISBN 978-3-939358-62-6 Hessen-IT Volum

e 62

Ambient Mobility

Dr. Matthias Donath

Olaf Jüptner

Hessian Ministry of Economy,

Transport, Urban and Regional Development

Ambient MobilityIntelligent Products andEnvironments for MobileCitizens and Businesses

Hessen-IT Volume 62

HA Hessen Agentur GmbHHessen-ITAbraham-Lincoln-Straße 38–4265189 Wiesbaden

Telephone +49 611 774-8481Telefax +49 611 774-8620E-Mail info@hessen-it.euInternet www.hessen-it.eu

Editorial team: Dr. Matthias DonathOlaf JüptnerWolf-Martin AhrendGabriele Gottschalk

All rights reserved.Reproduction, in whole or in part, forbidden.

© Hessian Ministry of Economy,Transport, Urban and Regional DevelopmentHessen-ITc/o HA Hessen Agentur GmbHWiesbaden 2010

Layout of the translated English version: Ilona C. Konrad, EichLayout of the original German version: WerbeAtelier Theißen, LohfeldenTranslation: Übersetzungsbüro Schnellübersetzer GmbHPrint: Druckerei Heppner & Ziegeler GbR, Kassel

ISBN 978-3-939358-62-6

Bibliographical information of the GermanNational Library: The German National Library hasclassified this publication in the German National Bibliography; detailed bibliographical data can be foundonline at http://dnb.ddb.de.

Ambient Mobility .............................................................................. 9

1.1 The vision of context-aware mobility ............................................... 9

1.2 Chances ............................................................................................ 20

1.3 Challenges ........................................................................................ 25

Fundamentals .................................................................................. 50

2.1 The ambient ICT system .................................................................. 50

2.2 Devices .............................................................................................. 59

2.3 Networks ........................................................................................... 64

2.4 Software ............................................................................................ 70

Applications ..................................................................................... 74

3.1 Automotive ....................................................................................... 74

3.2 Buildings and Living ........................................................................ 79

3.3 Health ................................................................................................ 85

3.4 Clothing ............................................................................................ 92

3.5 Transport ........................................................................................... 96

Ambient Mobility – a model for Hessen ................................... 104

Your partners in Hessen ............................................................... 110

The action-line Hessen-IT ............................................................ 125

The publication series of Hessen-IT .......................................... 127

3

2

1

4

5

6

Ambient Mobility

Dear readers,

The internet has fundamentally changed our private and

professional lives. The transformation from an industrial to a

globalised, knowledge-based society has strongly been driven

by the opportunities of the internet. More than half of all

Germans currently find that internet and e-mail improve the

quality of their lives, and they don’t want to miss it.

Today, we face the development of the internet of the future.

"Ambient technologies", which integrate a focus on the surroun-

ding environment, link up the physical world, to which we, with

our everyday objects and actions, also belong. That is why we

also speak of the "Internet of Things". By means of sensitive and

adaptive electronics, everyday products and surroundings are

capable of perceiving people's and objects' situations and

reacting to their needs. Cars quite naturally communicate traffic

hazards to other cars or to control centres, ovens and heating can

be controlled by mobile phone from outside, parcels find their

own addressees, food and medication packaging announce

their own sell-by date, our clothes monitor our health and send

reports to the doctor, lawn sprinklers start automatically depen-

ding on dryness and the online weather forecast – the examples

are endless, the potential immense.

In our free time, at work, at home, out and about – ambient

information and communication technologies (ICT) will change

and improve our lives everywhere. The proportion of German

gross domestic product spent on ICT is currently around 6

percent. Experts' expectations that this figure will double by

2015 depend decisively on the use of these ambient

everyday technologies.

Hessen welcomes this new era, because ambient technologies

will further improve the quality of our lives: more comfort, more

security, more efficiency, more environmental protection. Our

model of Ambient Mobility (www.ambient-mobility.eu) for an

environmentally intelligent mobility combines two strengths of

Hessen as a location – ICT and mobility – and makes people the

central focus in the application of ambient technologies. This

guide is intended to introduce current research and develop-

ment , as well as the future market for intelligent products and

environments. Contact the experts we have highlighted here, or

simply get in touch with the Hessen-IT project team. Hessen is

the right environment for you!

Dieter Posch, Hessian State Minister of Economy, Transport, Urban and Regional Development

The complete publication series is listed in the appendixor can be found online at www.hessen-it.de(Ordering facility and download as PDF file)

2008

Hessen-IT Series: New Publications

Leitfaden zur Patentierung computer implementierter

Erfindungen (2nd revised edition)

Telekommunikationsanbieter in Hessen 2008

2009

Ambient Mobility – Intelligente Produkte und Umgebungen

für mobile Bürger und Unternehmen

Rating für IKT-Unternehmen (2nd revised edition)

2007

In modernen Märkten überleben – Kooperationen mittel ständischer

Softwareunternehmen in Hessen (2nd revised edition)

Web 2.0 – Neue erfolgreiche Kommunikationsstrategien

für kleine und mittlere Unternehmen

Die Gamesbranche – Ein ernstzunehmender Wachstumsmarkt

Internet-Marketing nicht nur für kleine und mittlere Unternehmen

(2nd revised edition)

Anti-SPAM – Ein Leitfaden über und gegen unverlangte

E-Mail-Werbung (2nd revised edition)

VoIP – Telefonieren über das Internet (2nd revised edition)

Leitfaden Webdesign – Internetpräsenzen besser

planen und gestalten (6th revised edition)

Hessen IT

2010

Ambient Mobility – Intelligent Products and Environments

for Mobile Citizens and Businesses

SOA - Mehr als nur flexible Softwarearchitekturen

Notleidende Projekte - Eine Hilfestellung für IT-Projekte in sieben Akten

Die Gamesbranche - Ein ernstzunehmender Wachstumsmarkt (2nd revised edition)

Satellitennavigation in Hessen - Ideen über All

9

www.hessen-it.eu

Ambient Mobility

Mobility in everyday life is one of the central topics of our time for both

citizens and companies. The movement and mobility of people and goods

are not only tasks of the present, but also challenges for the future. Informa-

tion and communication technologies (ICT), which interact intelligently

with their environment, are creating mobile everyday solutions already

today for the society and economy of tomorrow.

1.1 The vision of context-aware mobility

Currently, the use of ICT is determined by people adapting to their ICT

environment and using it accordingly. The vision of intelligent environ-

ments exists in a paradigm shift: Here, people operate in an ICT environ-

ment that independently adapts itself to them and behaves, either as

assistance or proactively, according to their characteristics and wishes.

The embedding of tiny sensors, processors and actuators in diverse every-

day products – mostly connected together and increasingly with access

to the internet – creates electronic environments that apparently react

intelligently to the presence of people and objects. In this manner, a new,

unobtrusive and to some extent imperceptible form of interaction or data

transmission between humans and machines, and between machines

themselves, emerges. ICT devices, objects and buildings are provided

with "senses", so to speak, often being connected wirelessly and are self-

sufficient in terms of energy. They act according to the situation and are

partly capable of self-diagnosis, thus further improving our quality of life

and making our everyday life more efficient, more comfortable, safer and

more environmentally friendly.

Developmental phases of computer use

Mainframe Computer Era 1960–1980 one computer, many users

Personal Computer Era 1980–2010 one user, one computer

Ubiquitous Computer Era from 2010 one user, many computers

1

Ambient Mobility

10

Illustration 1: Four stages of development of the internet from

a specific network for researchers to a social infrastructure for

everyday information, interaction and services

The new quality and quantity of context-aware ICT can be seen by looking at the development stagesof the internet (see Illustration 1). In the 1970s, the internet was initially used by individual researchersand the military to access distant data. But the breakthrough to more than 10 million internet exchangepoints came about only with the advent of e-mail in the 1980s. Here, the internet was mainly used as acommunication medium from person to person (A). The 1990s brought, along with the World WideWeb, an application form which enabled people to interact with people, namely via internet browserswith WWW servers (B). Data traffic multiplied by over 100 million nodes, made possible the commer-cialisation and popularisation of the internet and grew in 2008 to around 1 billion internet exchangepoints, mainly thanks to wireless technology. The interaction of machine to machine – (C) and (D) – nowshows a further developmental leap to a possible 50–70 billions virtual users. Machines will appear inpart as computers (C), but will also, in part, be embedded in intelligent objects and disappear fromnotice (D). Both forms of machine-supported interaction – (C) and (D) – present new perspectives forcontext-aware technologies. World-wide, billions of intelligent ICT components will exchange data viainternet without human contribution and thus considerably increase data traffic.

Internet Internet

InternetInternet

C

B

D

A

www.hessen-it.eu

11

In this approach, the term “environment” refers to a physical space that sur-

rounds people or goods and supports them electronically. In these environ-

ments, a certain situation occurs and technology is available, which reacts to

this situation. If, for example, there is an intelligent medication packaging

that shows the shelf life of the product in a person's presence, the environ-

ment consists of the medication packaging, its technical components and

the physical space in which the transmitter recognises the presence of the

person. If we are talking about an intelligent lawn sprinkler with humidity

sensors in the ground and access to weather forecasts via the internet, the

environment includes the lawn sensors, the radio and internet connections

and the website with its weather forecast.

When we talk about intelligence in context-aware systems, we mean it, first

of all, in an informal sense. By means of sensors, the technologies can always

"recognise" their position and often also their condition. In addition, they

can "behave" in a way appropriate to the situation by means of actuators,

and sometimes "communicate" with people or objects – so that they can, on

the basis of these characteristics, be utilised in a desired and advantageous

manner. Furthermore, intelligence can also refer to Artificial Intelligence (AI).

In order to be able to organise themselves in certain complex areas of appli-

cation, technologies should be able to "learn" from experience and develop

or expand cognitive capabilities. Whether we will still consider these charac-

teristics of individual context-aware applications to be "intelligent" in a few

years is open to question – we will probably just consider them to be normal.

In this volume, "intelligence" refers not only to people, but is understood

broadly as an ability to recognise, so that we will no longer place the term in

quotation marks.

"It looks like the rapid growth of the World Wide Web may have

been just the trigger charge that is now setting off the real

explosion, as things start to use the Net."

Neil Gershenfeld, Media Lab, Massachussetts Institute of Technology (MIT)co

pyright and picture by www.dieterschwer.com

Intelligent everyday things and environments are made possible by con-

siderable improvements in the performance of information and commu-

nications technology. In the last few decades, the pace of innovation in the

areas of microelectronics, microsystem technology and communications

systems has grown drastically.

Microelectronics

In microelectronics, the computing power and storage capacity of chips

has grown thousand-fold in the last 15 years. With the same capacity, this

means that the price of microelectronically manufactured functionality has

greatly decreased. Accordingly, the costs of storing one megabyte of data

has been reduced in the last 20 years from around 100 euro to some

tenths of a cent and is now much cheaper than the cost of the storage

medium known as paper. In the famous law, which was named after him,

Gordon Moore predicted in 1975 that the integration density of integra-

ted circuits – and therefore the miniaturisation and performance capability

of chips – doubles every two years. Whether and how long this trend will

continue is disputed. But it is quite remarkable how accurate the progno-

sis has been in the last few decades. If microelectronics continue to deve-

lop at this rate, a common computer in 20 year's time could be able to

process as many arithmetic operations per second as the human brain.

The low costs of the chips and their miniaturisation mean that many

objects can be fitted with these microcomputers, thus creating intelligent

environments.

12

Ambient Mobility

Microsystem technology

Advances in microsystem technology and nanotechnology have led to

improvements in, for example, sensors, sensor networks and transpon-

ders. By now, the smallest, integration-capable radio sensors can report

diverse measurement parameters across many metres and without any

explicit use of energy – they take the necessary energy from the environ-

ment or from the process of measurement itself. Some so-called RFID

chips ("Radio Frequency Identification") function without an energy source

on their own. Here, a transponder, which receives a signal, can decode the

signal and then send back a radio signal as an answer, within a range of a

few metres. When, for example, a truck drives into a warehouse, its load,

which has been fitted with RFID chips, can automatically be shown. The

networking of sensors is also no longer a problem. High quality, miniatu-

rised sensors can be networked wirelessly with neighbouring sensors, can

exchange knowledge and coordinate with each other. For example, if sen-

sor networks are used in fighting forest fires, not only the existence of a

fire but also its exact position, its spread direction and its speed can be

determined.

Communications systems

Data traffic on the internet has been growing exponentially for years. The

amount of data transported doubles every six to twelve months. Accor-

ding to "Gilder's Law", the bandwidth, and therefore the performance

capacity of networks, triples every year. According to DE-CIX, the world's

largest internet exchange point in Frankfurt, an end to growth is not in

sight. It is assumed that worldwide data volume will grow by 60 percent a

year to 1,800 exabytes (1.8 billion gigabytes) in 2011. That represents a

tenfold increase compared to 2006. In mobile radio technology, the num-

ber of participants in mobile communications around the world already

outnumbers fixed-line connections. With the newest generation of mobile

phones, around 50 times more data can be transmitted per second than a

few years ago.

13

www.hessen-it.eu

Ambient Mobility

14

Ubiquitous Computing – the computer has disappeared, long live the

computer

The first person to recognise the consequences of these developments,

which had to some extent been forecast by experts, was Mark Weiser

(1952–1999), Chief Technologist at Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC)

in the Silicon Valley. Weiser thought about the appearance and the place of

the computer in everyday life. In his visionary article "The Computer for the

21st Century" in 1991, he describes how computers will, in the future, be

embedded into almost all everyday object and will thus be, in other words,

ubiquitous. In this era of "Ubiquitous Computing (UC)" – which follows upon

the era of mainframe and that of the personal computer (PC) – the personal

computer will be replaced by personalised "intelligent objects".

"Ubiquitous Computing represents a powerful shift in computa-

tion, where people live, work and play in a seamlessly interwea-

ving computing environment. Ubiquitous Computing postulates

a world where people are surrounded by computing devices

and a computing infrastructure that supports us in everything

we do." Mark Weiser, Computer Science Lab Xerox PARC, 1991

"It is easy to find 40 microprocessors in a middle class home in the U.S.A. today.

They will be found in the alarm clocks, the microwave oven, the TV remote controls,

the stereo and TV system, the kid's toys, etc. These do not yet qualify as UC. But net-

work them together and they are an enabling technology for UC. Tie them to the

internet, and now you have connected together millions of information sources with

hundreds of information delivery systems in your house. Clocks that find out the cor-

rect time after a power failure, microwave ovens that download new recipes, kids'

toys that are ever refreshed with new software, paint hat cleans off dust and notifies

you of intruders, walls that selectively dampen sounds, are just a few possibilities."

Mark Weiser, 1996

By permission of PARC, www.parc.com

www.hessen-it.eu

15

„If computers are everywhere, they better stay out of the way.“

Weiser finds it particularly important that the ubiquitous world of the com-

puter supports people in a discreet and inconspicuous, even an "invisible"

manner. They should remain in the background and demand as little

attention as possible from people. Ideally, they should disappear comple-

tely from our notice, but their services should be available everywhere

and at every time. In his 1996 essay "The Coming Age of Calm Techno-

logy", he outlines the task of designing intelligent products and environ-

ments that do not overload people with information and, in contrast, pro-

vide a feeling of calm. He sees this as the central challenge of the next

50 years. How we handle ubiquitous microcomputers should be in the

same manner that we handle driving a car: Normally, our attention is

directed at the road, at the radio or at the passengers and not at the noise

of the engine, because the actual use of the car requires little attention.

But we notice unusual engine sounds immediately, which shows that we

did actually notice the noise of the engine in the background previously.

Intelligent products and environments should therefore be designed in

such a way that their use generally requires little notice, but they can also

move into the centre of our attention when necessary.

Even when Weiser explains that "UC" will bring information technology to

the little annoyances like: Where are my car keys? Will I find a parking

space? Is that shirt I saw in the shop last week still on the shelf?, he is

quite clear about the profound impact of "Ubiquitous Computing" on the

development of the society – this can be seen when he compares its sig-

nificance with two other technologies that have become so omnipresent

and taken for granted that they now belong inseparably to our civilisation:

writing and electricity.

Pervasive Computing and Ambient Intelligence

Two expressions that are often named with, or in a similar context as "Ubi-

quitous Computing" are "Pervasive Computing (PvC)" and "Ambient Intel-

ligence (AmI)". "Pervasive Computing" also describes the penetration of

everyday objects with sensors, processors and actuators, but with the

emphasis on implementation. The term was introduced by industry (and is

nowadays attributed to IBM), in order to develop context-aware solutions

on the basis of existing mobile computing technology in a short space of

time. As a reaction to the approaches of "UC" and PvC", which were domi-

nated by the USA, the term "Ambient Intelligence (AmI)" was influenced

in Europe by Emile Aarts of Philips Research and spread by the European

Union via the research framework programmes FRP 5, 6 and 7. AmI also

includes aspects of human-machine interaction and artificial intelligence.

In 1999, the European Union’s Information Society Technologies Program

Advisory Group (ISTAG) – to which belong the heads of SAP Research

(ISTAG chairman) and the Fraunhofer IGD, both based in Hessen – descri-

bed AmI in a visionary declaration: "People will be surrounded by intelli-

gent and intuitive interfaces embedded in everyday objects around us

and an environment recognizing and responding to the presence of indi-

viduals in an invisible way." In the last few years, the pragmatic view that

the differences between these three terms are merely academic has gai-

ned ground. More important than highlighting the minor differences bet-

ween the concepts is focussing on their considerable commonalities and

together looking for ways of implementing them sensibly.

16

Ambient Mobility

ICT attributes for intelligent products and environments

In the context of Ubiquitous Computing, Pervasive Computing and

Ambient Intelligence, what requirements must ICT fulfil, in order to put

intelligent products and environments into action? In a study commissio-

ned by the TA-SWISS and conducted by many Swiss and German research

institutes, the following ICT attributes were identified:

Attributes Trend

Source: TA-SWISS

n Miniaturization: ICT components are becoming smaller,capable of better performance, cheaper, more portableand therefore better capable of being used in a mobilesetting.

n Embedding: ICT components are being integrated inmore and more everyday objects.

n Networking: ICT components can increasingly exchangedata among themselves – mostly wireless and often via the internet.

n Context sensitivity: ICT components can increasingly perceive information about their environment by means ofwireless data transfer or sensors.

n Ubiquity: ICT is gaining a stronger presence by means ofits embedding in intelligent products and environments.

17

www.hessen-it.eu

Vision becomes reality

Experts agree that intelligent products and environments will increasingly

penetrate our society and economy. Modern ICTs display attributes and

trends represent considerable potential for the specific development of

context-aware applications.

Today, however, our society is not yet shaped by intelligent products and

environments. It is true that the miniaturisation and embedding of ICT

components is well advanced – that is shown by the fact that around 98

percent of all programmable processors are already embedded in every-

day objects such as household devices, vehicles and toys. But the epo-

chal, qualitative quantum leap and "intelligence gain", which only occurs

by means of the primarily internet-based networking of ICT components,

has yet to happen. Only when things themselves network with each other

we can speak of an intelligent environment. Therefore, an ubiquitous

appearance of context-aware products or processes currently does not

exist.

Nevertheless, the vision of an ambient mobile everyday life is no utopia. It

will become reality. We have already been using some intelligent pro-

ducts and automated processes for some time – e.g. ABS, airbags, heart

pacemakers, mobile phones – without seeing ourselves as pioneers or

trailblazers of a ubiquitous, ICT-pervasive society. If they offer an improve-

ment in the quality of life – such as more comfort, more safety, more effi-

ciency, more environmental protection – we are happy to use them. The

fact that many of us are not aware of the process of development from the

occasional use of intelligent products to a society influenced by intelligent

environments is, on the one hand, due to the quality of the applications

that have been put into practice. Just as Weiser suggested, little attention

is paid to the (calming) technology that lies behind it. We are accustomed

to the fact that objects and events around us have become "intelligent",

without realising that the functionality of computers is at the root of it.

18

Ambient Mobility

In addition, the development of ambient ICT systems on a larger scale is

connected to a great increase in technical and social complexity. If you

want to create comprehensive social applications that are more than indi-

vidual isolated solutions you have to develop sensible scenarios, coordi-

nate diverse technological systems and establish general technical stan-

dards. The delays in introducing the toll system are an example of the

great challenges that exist in developing and establishing highly complex

ambient ICT applications for a very broad environment – in this case, for

use in the whole country.

This is understood by many politicians. In order to accelerate the research,

development and marketability of ambient ICT systems, they are specifi-

cally sponsored at EU, federal and regional levels. One central thematic

focus of European and federal funding activities is currently the model

“Ambient Assisted Living” (AAL). Since ambient ICT systems can support

diverse daily and business processes, funding can be specifically directed

to develop instruments to solve topics or problems concerning the future

of our society. AAL focuses on the problem of demographic change and

should support an independent and mobile life of the growing number of

elderly people. Examples include reporting their vital signs to the doctor

or carer, reporting emergencies, e.g. in the case of a fall, or creating living

areas suitable for senior citizens. Hessen's model of Ambient Mobility is

described in Chapter 4.

19

www.hessen-it.eu

Ambient Mobility

20

1.2 Chances

The growing penetration of ambient ICT systems into our everyday life

further increases the relevance of information and communication techno-

logies. More than half of the industrial production and more than 80 per-

cent of the exports in Germany already depend on the employment of

modern ICT. In individual high-tech sectors such as the automobile indus-

try, logistics and medical engineering, more than 80 percent of the inno-

vations is being driven by ICT. Naturally, as ICT-based intelligence is now

also entering numerous common everyday objects and processes, the

significance of ICT will increase even more significantly – that much is

certain.

In this early phase of the development and implementation of the new

technologies it is difficult to estimate where exactly the new chances arise.

Below we shall observe some core dimensions, which illustrate the oppor-

tunities more clearly. In the sense of a sustainable development, we take

the ecological, economic and social aspects into consideration.

www.hessen-it.eu

21

Ecological chances

Ambient technologies can address ecological problem areas and can be

used specifically to conserve non-regenerable resources and increase

energy and material efficiency. In particular the so called secondary

effects, such as ecological forms of intermodal transport, coordinated

building management and energy-aware device networking – e.g. where

the waste heat from the refrigerator heats the dishwasher water, and the

oven transfers its superfluous heat to the washing machine – can make an

effective contribution.

In brief

n Avoidance of motorised traffic by means of telecommunicationn Optimisation of transport and logistics processes n Increase in the productivity of energy and resources n Optimisation of value-adding processes n Dematerialisation (reduction in material and energy conversion

for the same amount of use)n Increase in ecological awareness in the markets and support for

an environmentally friendly product policyn Greater transparency of ecological product characteristics

Economic chances

Ambient ICT systems, as soon as they penetrate society, will revolutionise

the economy. As well as strengthening the ICT sector as a key industry for

innovation, they also provide great potential for all other branches of the

economy. The multimedial processing and real-time communication of

data, information and knowledge, as well as their ubiquitous networking,

will further diminish the significance of the classical factors of production –

work, capital and raw materials. The collation, concentration and control of

information in real time enables a highly efficient management of the

commercial processes, all of which support the processes of added value

(planning, developing, procuring, manufacturing, delivering, maintaining,

disposing). Registering the situation in which the customer finds himself

enables custom-made products and services to be provided; registering

his actual use of the products and services enables consumption-based,

dynamic business models to be made. Experts predict that one billion

electronically upgraded, networked objects will be available to one milliard

people by 2013.

"The broad application spectrum means that Ambient Mobility

is a huge growth market. Particularly in Hessen, there are many

institutes and companies that belong among the very best in the

world."

Prof. Dr. techn. Dieter W. Fellner, Fraunhofer IGD

In brief

n Strengthening of the ICT sector (networks, devices, applications) n Primacy of knowledge as a factor of productionn Transformation to Real Time Enterprises (RTE)

by means of real time managementn Optimisation of value-adding processesn Development of customer-orientated products and servicesn Development of use-based business and pricing models

22

Ambient Mobility

Practical Example

RFID building maintenance Process

Fraport AG, the company that runs Frankfurt Airport, has around 440

commercial properties in its care. In accordance with legally prescri-

bed maintenance work, which must be legally documented, its Faci-

lity Management has to check more than 70,000 objects, including

around 22,000 fire dampers. By using RFID tags (transponders),

which are attached to fire dampers, and tablet PCs, this maintenance

can be carried out without media disruption: The mechanic loads

the maintenance assignments from the stationary information sys-

tem onto his tablet PC. At the fire damper, he activates the relevant

assignment by entering his personal password and the RFID tag.

After activation, he documents the maintenance / inspection that has

been carried out and any faults that have been found. The mechanic

ends his activities by swiping and entering data on the RFID tag. The

activity, the date and the time of the operation is documented on the

RFID tag as well as on the stationary maintenance system. Following

the documentation, the data is compared with the central mainten-

ance system via W-LAN / LAN. Before the continuous use of digital

RFID, 88,000 assignment forms had to be filled out for the fire dam-

pers every year. The costs of acquiring and operating the system

(RFID tags, tablet PCs, server, W-LAN, care) are more than compen-

sated by the large savings in process costs. Return on investment

was achieved in 12 months. Now, Fraport AG also uses RFID-suppor-

ted processes for the maintenance of fire doors, smoke extraction

systems, smoke ventilators, lifts, conveyer terminals, drain smoke

detectors, entering gate spaces, sanitary facilities, emergency

escape route control and refuelling Fraport AG's vehicles.

23

www.hessen-it.eu

Social chances

In the model Ambient Assisted Living (AAL), a field of ambient ICT sys-

tems research focuses on the demographic development of many wes-

tern countries and its social implications. Diverse home-based assistance

systems should enable elderly people to live as long and as indepen-

dently as possible. Closely related are innovative options for a health and

fitness monitoring and management system, conducted either personally

or under medical observation. Marginalised groups such as the blind and

the visually impaired can enjoy a more mobile and integrated life with the

help of new orientation systems. The safety of children can be increased

with the help of position indicators, and the combination of family and

job, for example, can be improved by means of more flexible working

models.

In brief

n Support of elderly people for a long and independent lifen Monitoring and management of health and fitness, incl. innovative

medical care, treatment and operation proceduresn Navigation and integration of disabled and marginalised peoplen Positioning and search services for children and animals n Flexible, family-friendly working hours model to support a

work-life balance

24

Ambient Mobility

The use of ambient technologies for the purpose of Ambient Assisted Living is very

attractive not only from a social, but also from a financial point of view. TU Darmstadt

calculated in 2006 that a reduction of only 1% of stationary care would produce a cost

reduction of 47.12 million euro (the cost difference between stationary and home care

is approximately 7,300 euro per patient per year, status: beginning 2007). In 2010 this

would already amount to 53.40 million euro and in 2050 even to 106 million euro. Consi-

derable savings could also be achieved by ambient support services such as automatic

monitoring of bodily functions, treatment reminders or improvements in the provision

of medication. According to the German Pharmacy Association, around 25% of all hos-

pital stays can be attributed to incorrect medication, which leads to costs of around one

billion euro per year.

1.3 Challenges

On the way to a society that really benefits from ambient technologies

many hurdles must be surmounted. This can be seen in the timing of the

developments in this area. Mark Weiser's vision of Ubiquitous Computing

was published 19 years ago. Its realisation, however, will take another few

years.

The reasons for this are manifold. While it is true that highly innovative

ambient technologies have already been implemented in some enclosed

units such as cars and houses in the last few years, applications in more

complex environments with larger groups of users have further require-

ments. Only the dovetailing of different technologies on diverse levels will

allow total functionality, which can be integrated as innovative added

value into a product and passed on to the customer. Now that convincing

individual ambient ICT solutions are already on the market, the challenge

is to create a basis for the interoperability and interaction of systems, so

that larger and more flexible systems can emerge.

These highly complex systems in particular offer individuals attractive

added value. For this reason, ambient mobility is an approach with conse-

quences for the whole society.

25

www.hessen-it.eu

Ambient Mobility

26

Ecological Challenges

n Dematerialisation

The material and energy intensity of development, production and

transport processes should be optimised by means of attractive inter-

modal transport options, among other things, and substituted, where

necessary, by pure signal processing.

n Intelligent transport infrastructures

Ambient ICT systems for transport planning should already be consi-

dered in federal, regional and local construction planning.

n Ecological ICT infrastructures and products

The generation of long-term, energy efficient ICT infrastructures and

products (Green IT) needs sustainable ecological awareness and mar-

keting. Shortened product and usage cycles should be avoided.

n Rebound effect

The use of ubiquitous technologies should correspond with ecologi-

cally aware, energy-efficient consumer behaviour (stand-by etc.).

n Disposal

After use, many small components of electronic waste should be

adequately utilised, so that no valuable raw material is lost and no

pollutants damage the environment.

www.hessen-it.eu

27

Economic Challenges

n Customer-orientated products and services

New technologies make many things possible, which is why it is

important for providers to recognise: What does the customer want,

what are his interests and needs?

n Basic standards

Complex applications systems must be able to integrate complemen-

tary components of other companies, however, there are as yet no

universally accepted technical standards.

n Innovation dynamics

Durable products (e.g. washing machines) and ambient ICT systems

have a different innovation frequency, which raises equipment issues.

n Innovative business and pricing models

New situational offers and user-friendly payment methods create

advantages for customers, but must first gain acceptance.

Social Challenges

n Privacy, or informational self-determination

Some ambient ICT systems are able to collect information that is asso-

ciated with certain or ascertainable persons. This information affects the

right to privacy or – to use the legal term in Germany – “informational

self-determination”. They are therefore relevant to Article 2 Paragraph 1,

together with Article 1 Paragraph 1 of the German constitution (“Grund-

gesetz”, GG) and Paragraph 1 of the German Federal Data Protection

Law (“Bundesdatenschutzgesetz”, BDSG). These decree that people

have the basic right to determine themselves how their personal data is

to be divulged or used. On 16 May 2009, the Commission of the Euro-

pean Communities published a recommendation "on the implementa-

tion of privacy and data protection principles in applications supported

by radio-frequency identification". Accordingly, the Commission will

ensure that common guidelines for information security management

in RFID applications will be established.

n Physical self-determination

Similar to the possibility of determining how personal information is

handled, physical self-determination concerns the user's control over

objects acting on his behalf. When these objects with embedded intelli-

gence react to his presence, it can be a thin line between the desired

use and the feeling of being dictated to and losing control. For example,

the warning signal activated by sensors when the seatbelt is not faste-

ned could be seen as an unwelcome compulsion to fasten the seatbelt

in one's own interests, especially when the user has not chosen the

alarm function and perhaps does not desire it in this particular situation.

28

Ambient Mobility

n User friendliness

Ambient ICT systems should, on the one hand, provide somewhat

invisible support, without burdening the user with situational informa-

tion and overloading the atmosphere with technology. On the other

hand, it should be easily and quickly possible to recognise and control

the support provided. The option of turning off the system is also part

of its user friendliness.

Legal / ethical challenges

n Data protection

In the era of ambient technologies, data protection is more important

than ever. Not only has the quantity of personal information increased

considerably, acquired via ubiquitous data-generating devices and

their network-based multiple use. The quality of the personal data,

procured by means of closely meshed sensor networks, has also rea-

ched previously unknown dimensions. When intelligent products and

services are technically capable of gathering and communicating

information, the question must be raised as to what extent they may

access, process and distribute personal data. Who may gather, use

and exploit which data, and when? Who determines the interests and

objectives of the intelligent assistants, the objectivity and accuracy of

the data, the addressees and the means of sending these new media?

Which political concentrations of power and economic monopolies

are possible?

29

www.hessen-it.eu

Ambient Mobility

30

n New legal territory: Ambient scenarios

Many regulatory and legal protective measures can also be used for

ambient products and environments. In addition, ambient technolo-

gies also create new questions, which require binding regulations.

What legal status do declarations of intent have, when they have been

made by technical assistance systems on behalf of the user? Who is

responsible for accidents caused by technically controlled vehicles?

The computer scientist Ray Kurzweil predicts that the interaction bet-

ween human and machine and vice versa will be so advanced by

2029, that microprocessors will be able to transmit sounds, images,

smells and feelings into the brain, by means of a direct link. That this

development demands ethical and legal consideration is illustrated by

the following example: Researchers at the State University in New York

implanted three electrodes, connected to a microprocessor, into the

brains of rats. This made it possible for them to navigate the rats by

remote control to places that they would normally have avoided. The

adjustment or further development of the legal framework should par-

ticularly include matters of general access, inclusion, transparency and

liability.

n Data security

Ambient security requires, with new processes and methods, self-orga-

nising security measures to be integrated in the entire software develop-

ment process. Is there a need for legal action, considering these new

security requirements for secure, trustworthy and reliable data traffic?

n „Polluter pays“ principle

The causes of damages that arise due to the effects of components of

hardware, software and data in networks can be difficult to resolve,

because the distributed systems are, mathematically and legally, very

complex. If the increase in these systems leads to a growing number of

damages caused by their large technical complexity, it would mean

that a growing part of everyday life is removing itself from the "polluter

pays" principle.

Tech

nica

l Cha

lleng

es

www.hessen-it.eu

31

Technical Challenges

Ambient ICT systems are complex. They comprise many aspects, which

currently create certain challenges especially concerning their further

development . These include:

Adaptivity

The ability to adapt to situations is the central function and advantage of

ambient ICT systems. The situation-based behaviour is carried out by

means of actuators: devices or materials that convert electronic signals

into mechanical movements or other physical units (e.g. pressure or tem-

perature) and can thus carry out controllable actions from a distance. For

example, some high-end vehicles are now fitted with over 100 electric

motors. In networked houses switches/dimmers, shutters/blinds, sockets,

thermostat (heating) and hydrostat regulators (room temperature), among

others, can function as actuators. In logistics, actuators facilitate the self-

management of dynamic processes.

Augmented Reality (AR)

The overlap between real-world views and virtual-world data creates new

human-machine interfaces. For example, digital information can be pro-

jected in real time onto semitransparent data glasses and thus into the

user's field of view, providing help in situations as varied as navigation,

medicine, maintenance and production, as well as architecture and urban

planning. In order to achieve this, the user's surroundings are captured on

a miniaturised video camera. Position and orientation within the space are

then determined, based on the video images ("tracking"), which means

that the real world and the virtual world come together. Thanks to increa-

singly high-performance smartphones (e.g. Apple iPhone), augmented

reality technologies can now be used on mobile systems. This makes

these systems interesting for the consumer market (leisure, culture and

tourism). Current challenges in the implementation of augmented reality

technologies include the development of markerless tracking procedures,

by which the position and orientation of the camera is determined in real

time. www.instantreality.org

Tech

nica

l Cha

lleng

esAmbient Mobility

32

Illustration 2: Augmented Reality for the tourism field,

(Source: Fraunhofer IGD)

Illustration 3: Augmented Reality in the application scenario of the company Rittal,

(Source: Fraunhofer IGD)

Tech

nica

l Cha

lleng

es

www.hessen-it.eu

33

Biometrics

Biometrics (from the Greek bios, life and metron, measurement) is the term

for automated methods of recognising people based on their individual

bodily and behavioural characteristics. Bodily characteristics (present from

birth and unalterable) include: fingerprints, face, iris, hand and finger geo-

metry, retina, and body odour; behavioural characteristics (acquired and

alterable) include voice, signature, gait, gestures and facial expressions.

Ambient ICT systems offer many person-specific applications that require

the authentification by the user. Since intelligent products and environ-

ments should, where possible, recognise the presence of a particular per-

son without active, complicated authentification – in Weiser's sense of calm

technology –, biometric procedures represent an excellent method of

identification for ambient ICT systems. Ideally, radio and infrared-suppor-

ted procedures are suitable, but they still raise questions of security.

Connectivity

The connection of ICT devices and ICT-supported objects via diverse net-

works is, in technical terms, the fundamental new quality of ambient ICT

systems, but represents, at the same time, one of its most elemental chal-

lenges. Only widespread, common standards will enable the creation of

dynamic and complex systems.

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Ralf Steinmetz, ICT Representative of the State of Hessen

Hessen-IT: Ambient Mobility is characterised by certain attributes: Minia-

turisation, embedding, context sensitivity, connectivity, ubiquity. How

important is the connectivity of products and environments, in order

for the vision to become reality?

Prof. Steinmetz: Personal mobility and mobile communication are trends

that have become attainable for the masses in the last century. The

next step will be that communicating devices penetrate our everyday

life. Common objects will be linked by networks, technology will be

integrated into the environment and will support people. The

objective is to improve the quality of life. A barrier-free, seamless and

flexible networking, e.g. also of everyday objects, is a basic require-

ment for this.

34

Ambient MobilityIn

terv

iew

Inte

rvie

wHessen-IT: What is the current situation?

Prof. Steinmetz: Although many connections have already been solved

very well, we're still at the beginning. At this point we have the basic

technologies and initial applications. These are, however, mostly still

very specialised. The goal must be to open up wide areas of applica-

tion. Which means that technology must develop according to con-

crete requirements.

Hessen-IT: Where do the technical challenges lie?

Prof. Steinmetz: The areas of security, reliability and data protection are

very important. These requirements should not only be focussed

upon when problems occur, they should rather be considered from

the very beginning. It is also important that the technical standards,

which are presently still heterogeneous, are made compatible. The

new solutions must be conceived in such a manner that they function

in the long term, i.e. future components must be capable of being

easily integrated.

Hessen-IT: When might these tasks be completed?

Prof. Steinmetz: Communication networks such as the internet are still

comparatively young and have been in the general consciousness

for only 10–15 years – we expect that the technology will develop

even further over the course of the coming decades, not least

because of the dynamics of information and communication tech-

nologies. But that users no longer have to think about networks and

connectivity, that is a vision which can become reality in the next

10–15 years.

35

www.hessen-it.eu

Inte

rvie

w Hessen-IT: To what extent will ambient ICT systems be connected to the

Internet of Things?

Prof. Steinmetz: The internet of the future – which we are also

researching in my department in Darmstadt – is the core component

of these systems. We need a capable medium of transmission in

order to connect every system, at every time, in every place and wire-

lessly. Without the internet as a basis this is unthinkable.

Hessen-IT: Will the Internet of Things and ambient technologies change

our everyday lives as much as today's internet has?

Prof. Steinmetz: Definitely, if not more so. Today, wide areas of everyday

life are untouched, or only slightly touched, by the internet. But with

the Internet of Things we shall be affected and confronted by it

almost everywhere. Everyday devices such as the washing machine

or the refrigerator will be connected to the internet and can be ope-

rated at any time and from any place. For the user, the exchange of

information and communication must become easier and hardly

noticeable, i.e. seamless. So much is possible that we can't yet ima-

gine today – who could have predicted, 20 years ago, how much the

internet would change the world? But it promises to be an exciting

journey.

36

Ambient Mobility

Geopositioning

Ambient technologies are defined by the interaction with a spatial envi-

ronment. Because either the geographic position of the user of an

ambient ICT system or the position of one of its components is often sig-

nificant, the geographic determination of the position is very important for

intelligent products and environments.

Location Based Services, as the name suggests, form the basis for locali-

sing the user, which makes it possible to tailor offers to his environment.

Car2X interaction is also based on geopositioning. When a vehicle sends

a report via radio to receivers in the area about a possible danger, this

contains a precise location reference, which is determined by a satellite

navigation system such as GPS or Galileo. Challenges are posed by

indoor positioning, outdoor positioning to the nearest centimetre, and

indoor / outdoor positioning transitions.

How does a satellite navigation system work?

The satellites transmit a signal to earth with an exact, synchronised time. Receivers

get these signals and determine the distance to the relevant satellite by measuring

the delay. To determine a location, the time signal from at least four satellites is

needed. The exactness of the location determination depends on the exactness

of the time sent. Galileo will probably have an accuracy of one centimetre. For this

reason, satellites are being fitted with atomic clocks, which only allow a deviation

of one nanosecond per day. In order for Galileo to be able to determine a position

anywhere in the world, 30 satellites – of which three are only substitutes – will

encircle the Earth at a height of 23,600 kilometres.

37

www.hessen-it.eu

Tech

nica

l Cha

lleng

es

Human control

The ubiquity of computers in products and environments requires that

they can be controlled at all times and that they operate more or less auto-

matically. At present, we use computers by means of special input and

output devices that mostly demand much of our attention. This makes

them unsuitable for everyday ambient situations. The vision of ambient

ICT systems as invisible assistants ultimately leads to a control without

interactive devices and without the complicated interaction of the user. As

an interface, therefore, controlling by means of speech, gestures and via

touchscreens, for example, are possibilities. Mobile and stationary devices

will supplement them in many forms as visible assistants, such as in textile

pockets and jackets with built-in electronics, data gloves, head mounted

displays, virtual retinal displays, Bluetooth microphones and headphones,

devices on the fingertips for entering information (fingermouse) and

many other things. Ambient Mobility components will no longer be con-

trolled centrally at a stationary PC, but rather via networks of computer

nodes, which process commands and pass them on to those devices that

can implement them best. In many cases, the user will not have to concern

himself with the control structure of the device, but rather simply name an

objective (e.g. calling out "brighter!"), which the device interprets and

implements. This requires an analysis of the situation (e.g. the questions:

Is it day or night time? How are the lamps and blinds set up?), of the pos-

sibilities (how can the brightness of the room be increased?) and, if neces-

sary, the special wishes of the user (in cases where certain brightness and

lighting methods are preferred). Particularly for person-based services, it

should be possible to change the support offered and even to do without

it, i.e. to easily turn on and off the recognising, registering and adaptive

functions of intelligent systems.

38

Ambient Mobility

Tech

nica

l Cha

lleng

es

Illustration 4: Human control with and without mobile devices

(Source: after Rukzio, http://edoc.ub.uni-muenchen.de/6494/)

Places

People

Things

Physical World

User

User

Inter-action

SmartEnvironments

Electronicdevices

AdvertisementPoster

Public Display

Human –ComputerInteraction

Machine –Machine

Interaction

PDA

Smartphone

Mobile Phone

Mobile Device

Mobile Device

Mobile Service

Server

39

www.hessen-it.eu

Tech

nica

l Cha

lleng

es

Tech

nica

l Cha

lleng

esAmbient Mobility

40

New materials

As innovative carriers of sensors, chips and actuators, or of input or output

devices, new materials offer great opportunities for the ubiquitous distri-

bution of computers in everyday life. Smart materials such as polymers

can perform both sensory functions (e.g. the collection and localisation of

physical demands such as that of an aircraft wing, see Transport p. 101) as

well as actuatory functions (e.g. creating a movement or distortion by

means of electric control). Printable polymers should reduce the unit costs

of RFID chips. Flexible displays present the concept of electronic paper

and electronic ink. Printing organic (OLED) or polymer light-emitting

diodes (PLED) not only reduces costs in comparison with traditional dis-

play methods, but also allows diverse everyday objects such as clothing or

other personal accessories to be used as display surfaces.

Practical Example

NanoPEP Project

TU Darmstadt, BASF SE and Heidelberger Druckmaschinen, the

partners of the top cluster "Forum Organic Electronics", which is

sponsored by BMBF, want to revolutionise printing technology with

nanoparticle functional material and innovative printing practices. In

the NanoPEP project – Nanostructuring and Polymer Electronic Prin-

ting – they, along with the TU Darmstadt Institute of Printing Science

and Technology, plan to present their first printed results within three

years. Printed electronics can be used for so-called smart labels, i.e.

tags fitted with sensors. With these transponders, printed on film

together with antennas, temperature and humidity, for example, can

be measured, which is important for the transport and storage of

goods. www.idd.tu-darmstadt.de

Tech

nica

l Cha

lleng

es

www.hessen-it.eu

41

Perception of the situation

The fact that ambient ICT systems can perceive and process person-based

and situation-based contexts is a considerable novelty compared to cur-

rent ICT. Sensors not only measure certain parameters of their environ-

ment, which are then compared with reference values and lead to adap-

tive reactions. The perception of the identity, the activity, the needs profile

and the condition of the user is also mostly required, in order to support

him adequately, in accordance with the situation. Many further aspects of

context awareness also come with the self-perception of objects, in other

words the recognition of an object's own status, actions and options for

action, as well as the understanding of data, particularly documents.

Personal assistance

The desire, in spite of the ubiquity of computers and the number of

ambient options, for personal relief, leads to the concept of the software

agent. These are programmes to which the user can delegate decisions.

Software agents should know the wishes and preferences of the user and

can carry out predefined tasks quite independently. They should be able

to react to changes in the open and dynamic environment, proactively

carry out actions and communicate with other agents or users via the

internet. Software agents currently raise questions about security, data

protection and responsibility. For example, in which situation may or

should the software agent divulge personal data, and which personal

data, and who carries responsibility for actions and decisions that have

been "delegated" to technical systems?

Reliability

A central requirement and challenge of ambient ICT systems is IT security.

It is closely connected to central requirements such as data protection and

the protection of privacy, but also to the reliability and trustworthiness of

the systems, as well as questions of liability. For many reasons, current

security approaches for ambient ICT systems are insufficient: The increase

in networked devices expands the number of objects to be protected and

possible weak points. The extent of potential damage also increases,

because the damage can spread in a short amount of time and affect

many systems. The mobile use of devices outside of trustworthy working

contexts enables attacks, which can infiltrate company systems with mali-

cious software. In addition, networking also leads to a higher risk of attack.

Aside from questions of its abuse, trust is also required in the regular use of

ambient data. According to the principles of informational self-determina-

tion, it must be (a) transparent to the user, when and by whom which perso-

nal data has been gathered, stored and used, and (b) he must have the pos-

sibility to determine how his personal data should be divulged and used.

Robotics

In the development of industrial robots in the 1960s, a robot (Slavic

robota, work, drudgery) was a mechanical figure that relieved humans of

mindless and physically demanding factory work. Today, thanks to the

rapid growth in the performance of computers, engines and sensors,

robots consist of many different sensory systems, with which the robot

perceives the environment and its own condition, and it has many onbo-

ard computing capacities to evaluate and interpret sensory data and cal-

culate behaviour. By activating driving elements, they can be used for the

specific movement on wheels or legs, or for the manipulation of objects

with many-jointed arms and hands. In this manner, mobile robots can ori-

entate themselves in a changing environment and can carry out complex

tasks autonomously, or semi-autonomously in cooperation with humans.

Ambient Mobility offers many advantages to private people and

to companies. But the technologies developed for this, and

partly in use already, also carry quite considerable security risks.

For this reason, security requirements, which in the case of

Ambient Mobility not only concern data security but increa-

singly also the protection of life, should be considered from the

very beginning in the development of new technologies. Ambient Mobility requires

new technical solutions, in order to guarantee Ambient Security.

Prof. Dr. Claudia Eckert, Fraunhofer SIT, CASED

42

Ambient Mobility

Tech

nica

l Cha

lleng

es

For ambient technologies, a task-orientated, spatial and time-based inter-

action with the physical world is only possible with robots. In contrast to

sensory networks or virtual agents, robots can – as material agents, in a

sense – move in the real world and can carry out specific spatiotemporal

actions with limbs such as arms, hands and legs. Within the framework of

research funding by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research

(BMBF) for "age-appropriate assistance systems for a healthy and inde-

pendent life", particularly of the elderly (AAL), tests are being carried out

to see if robots are suitable electronic assistants, which could reduce costs

in the healthcare sector.

Bill Gates thinks that precisely this future use is a probability in his widely

received article "A robot in every home. The leader of the PC revolution

predicts that the next hot field will be robotics" (Scientific American, 2007).

As well as known forms of use in industry, environmental observation,

operating rooms, military and rescue services, robots could increasingly

take on functions in the public and private sector. Broadband systems

enable additional calculations for robot control to be taken on by statio-

nary PCs in the home. This means that robots can be built smaller, lighter

and more cost effectively. Experts at the TU Darmstadt have adopted this

argument and adapted it further. As far as they are concerned, there

should be: "A robot in every room".

"Robot football is an ideal scenario for developing the basic

technologies for future networked autonomous robot systems.

The complexity of autonomous behaviour control in a football-

playing, humanoid robot is about ten times that of an autono-

mous car in the DARPA Urban Challenge.“

Prof. Dr. Oskar von Stryk, TU Darmstadt

43

www.hessen-it.eu

Tech

nica

l Cha

lleng

es

Practical Example

Darmstadt Dribblers Demonstrator

The humanoid – i.e. based on human appearance – robots "Darm-

stadt Dribblers", a team of autonomous, football-playing humanoid

robots, represent a spectacular development. With a score of 78:3

goals, the Dribblers, developed entirely at the TU Darmstadt, comfor-

tably won the largest international robot competition in the world, the

RoboCup 2009. 22 teams, each with autonomous humanoid robots

ranging from three to 60 centimetres, played football against each

other in the Humanoid KidSize League. The robots Bruno, Luise and

Isra are highly context-aware and display exceptional reactions: Due

to their perception of their environment and themselves they autono-

mously create a model that encompasses their own position, those

of other players and the ball. Based on this perception, they can

control their movements independently, with fast reactions and great

precision. Via W-LAN only a communication between the robots is

permitted for example to inform a team mate of the ball's position.

www.dribblers.de

44

Ambient Mobility

Tech

nica

l Cha

lleng

es

Practical Example

Quadrocopter Demonstrator

In September 2009, the team of the Institute for Flight Systems and

Control Technology (FSR) at the TU Darmstadt won the first place in

a flying competition in the category "Outdoor Autonomy" at the

European Micro Air Vehicle Conference (EMAV09) with its small

autonomous flying device “Quadrocopter”. A Quadrocopter (from

the Latin quadrum, square) is an aircraft with four rotors or propellors

pointing downwards, which are arranged vertically on one level. All

components of the flight robot's system were developed and tested

by the FSR itself in the last three years. The possible applications of

small autonomous drones are numerous. Authorities and civil pro-

tection agencies are already interested in the new technology and

are testing its use in the case of emergencies. With the help of the

drone, pictures and videos can be recorded quickly from different

positions, and made available to rescue operations centres, or esca-

ping contaminants can be located by sensors. Other applications

can be found in the areas of environmental, building and traffic sur-

veillance. The tasks to be fulfilled in the competition included auto-

nomously starting and landing, finding a simulated traffic accident in

a search area of approximately 20 hectares, precisely dropping a

small ball while in flight, touching a small balloon and flying through

an archway. In the framework of a graduation college of the German

Research Foundation (DFG), the aircraft will be used in future to

demonstrate research results in the area of the cooperative control

of heterogeneous robot systems and as a carrier platform for net-

worked sensors. www.gkmm.de/rescue

45

www.hessen-it.eu

Tech

nica

l Cha

lleng

es

Semantics

Tim Berners-Lee, the founder of the World Wide Web (WWW), suggested

expanding the Web with a semantic dimension to a so-called "Semantic

Web". Computers or machine-readable information should be supple-

mented by metadata that describes the semantics (meaning) of the web

content. The ability of computers to understand provides ambient ICT sys-

tems considerable potential for recognising situations and developing

autonomous learning and behavioural patterns.

Sensor technology

Sensors (Latin sensus, feeling) record measurements – such as distances,

movement, electromagnetic fields, pressure, speed, humidity, position,

temperature – and convert them, mostly into electric signals. In ambient

ICT systems they allow, as "electronic sensory organs" the collection and

distribution of context data (see Perception of a Situation, p. 41). Sensors

are becoming more finely resolved, cheaper, smaller and more energy

saving. In 2008, smart mini-sensors received the German Federal Presi-

dent's Future Prize. They are only three thousandth of a millimetre in size,

cost only a few euros and make mobile phones, for example, more intelli-

gent and intuitive to use. If a mobile phone is lying face-down on the

table, for example, it turns of the ring tone. Turn the mobile phone, and

the sensor switches from a vertical to a horizontal display format. In lap-

tops, for example, sensors can recognise when the device is falling, and

can protect the hard drive from data loss before it hits the ground. The

performance and miniaturisation of individual sensors, and the fusion bet-

ween different kinds of sensor, mean that sensors' perceptive abilities are

already far greater than those of humans. Sensors can be integrated in

devices and objects, as well as in sensor networks, spatially distributed

and connected by W-LAN. The latter allow a new form of decentralised

surveillance of many data, which can be used in applications concerning

production, logistics, environmental analysis and in assisted living (see

Buildings and Living, p. 79; Health, p. 85).

46

Ambient Mobility

Tech

nica

l Cha

lleng

es

Illustration 5: Heat sensors communicate with each other about a critical situation

(3 sensors left) in a large forest area by means of small antennas.

Source: Siemens press image

Standardisation

While the Internet of Things has been under discussion for a number of

years, it has until now rarely been implemented due to the incompatibility

of standards and due to a lack of security. There are no comprehensive

system standards that can secure the cooperation of different manufactu-

rers' products. Individual solutions cannot, or can only with considerable

effort, be transformed into general solutions, because data exchange for-

mats and protocols are incompatible with each other and the components

of one application cannot be easily used with another. For this reason

components must not only be paid for and installed several times. Fur-

thermore, any changes, expansion or combination can often only be car-

ried out by a systems specialist, which can make the development of a

general solution unacceptably expensive.

47

www.hessen-it.eu

Tech

nica

l Cha

lleng

es

Practical Examples

Researchers at the "KOM – Multimedia Communications Lab" at the

TU Darmstadt have therefore installed an innovative testbed, unique

world-wide, which overcomes the heterogeneity of different sensor,

communication and computing standards. On the TWINS.KOM plat-

form (testbed for a wireless network of sensors, see Illustration 6),

sensors with different performance characteristics can be combined

with each other. They are able to latch on to different areas indepen-

dently and to communicate with each other. Since the sensors are

linked to data memories, the networks also have learning capa-

bilities.

Illustration 6: TWINS.KOM – Testbed for a wireless network of sensors

Source: TU Darmstadt

The Fraunhofer Alliance Ambient Assisted Living, which is coordi-

nated at the Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics Research

(IGD), is also advancing the process of standardisation. The alliance

is engaged in developing AAL products and services that can be

made to suit the individual needs of the user (lifestyle and illness

progression). Accordingly, it has developed a flexible, modular and

expandable AAL platform and has formulated action strategies for

the dissemination of standards in the market.

48

Ambient Mobility

Tech

nica

l Cha

lleng

es

UniversAAL Project: In the framework of the AAL project, which is

being sponsored by the European Union with 15.3 million euros, an

open source platform will be developed, which will strive for stan-

dardisation in a number of stages. The essence of eight of the largest

middleware platforms such as AMIGO, SOPRANO, PERSONA will,

with the help of industry (PHILIPS, IBM, Ericsson) be pooled and

united into an Ambient Assisted Living reference platform. The

Fraunhofer IGD in Darmstadt is leading the technological project

work in the architectural specification of the platform and the intelli-

gent middleware. By means of calls for proposals with prize money,

it is planned to motivate scientists from all over the world working on

the development of plug-ins to initiate the dissemination of the

platform. Experts will be invited to workshops, in order to quickly

recognise deficits and improve the platform.

User friendliness

Intelligent products and environments will only generate interest and circulation when they are designed to be user friendly. Perceived personalbenefit encompasses aspects such as a high work output, high social status, better information and interaction possibilities, as well as fun andrecreational experiences. Attractive pricing and payment methods arealso important aspects, as are reliability and ease of use. The systemsshould be capable of being used efficiently, effectively and comfortably.They should have intuitive and ergonomic user interfaces and a high levelof interoperability between device, network and software, which allowsflexible, integrated solutions and needs little attention in the sense of calmcomputing.

49

www.hessen-it.eu

Tech

nica

l Cha

lleng

es

Fundamentals

50

Fundamentals

Information and communication technologies (ICT) already play a large

role in everyday life. Currently, they mostly consist of three components:

applications that provide software- and data-based services, data net-

works that transport data, and devices that ultimately carry and show

these applications. What is special about ambient technologies is that,

with them, people and objects can now also adopt the functions of so-cal-

led devices and thus supplement existing classical devices. This not only

technically revolutionises the world of medial information and interaction,

it will also greatly increase their spread.

2.1 The ambient ICT system

Context-aware information and communications systems – in short,

ambient ICT systems – are currently available in a considerably number

and variety. Accordingly, the precise manner of their composition and

cooperation is also very varied. Some characteristics of ambient ICT sys-

tems, however, can be identified. These are explained below, in order to

provide a better understanding.

2

Functions

Existing applications and proposed scenarios in the area of intelligent envi-

ronments suggest the following technical functions or tasks as minimum

requirements for ambient ICT systems:

1. Ubiquity

The computer supports at every time in every place.

2. User-friendly operation

The interfaces between humans and computers are simple and allow

an interaction that does not require much attention.

3. Situation-based services

The system adapts itself automatically to the situation and reacts in the

desired manner.

4. Automation

The system can independently carry out repeating and standardised

procedures without having to interact anew with the user.

Elements

Ambient ICT systems consist of the following elements:

1. Sensor(s)

2. Infrastructure for the transport of data

3. Computers and distributed embedded systems, which can process

data and make decisions. The decision logarithm should be adaptive,

i.e. it can adapt to the situation.

4. Data storage, which is accessed

5. External data source and/or external service (optional)

6. Actuator(s) to carry out an action or an effect (optional)

www.hessen-it.eu

51

a

b

The four non-optional elements must belong to an ambient ICT system, as

this is the only way the context-aware functions mentioned above can be

rendered. However, the actual structure of ambient ICT systems usually

exceeds these constitutive elements. For example, many sensors – partly

even different types of sensors – are often integrated in ambient ICT sys-

tems, in order to better register a situation. Depending on the kind of

situation, sensors can then ascertain parameters such as speed, lighting,

temperature, humidity and many other things.

Organisation

The characteristics and functions of ambient ICT systems are ultimately

dependent on the cooperation of their elements and their interaction with

the environment. As a model, the organisation of an ambient ICT system

can be shown as follows:

Illustration 7: Organisation of an ambient ICT system

(Source: Fabian/Hansen, www.taucis.de)

Local

Local or Internet

InternetExternal

Databasesand Services

AdaptiveDecision

(KI)Service

Identi!cation/Sensor technology

Data Warehouse

(Internal)

52

Fundamentals

c

Ambient ICT systems can be either open or closed systems. The latter are

"all in one" solutions. Dynamics play a part in open systems, in other

words the ability of the network to adapt flexibly to changes. This is requi-

red when devices are added or removed, or also when precisely those

distributed elements that are needed and have the necessary free capa-

city are networked ad hoc to a system for the duration of a particular ser-

vice provision.

In addition to ad hoc networks (see p. 65), location-based services and

RFID systems can also be seen as prototypes of ambient ICT systems.

n Location-based Services (LBS) use data based on place, time or

people in order to provide the user with individually tailored services

and information.

How does an ambient ICT system work?

Information about a person or an object in the environment of the system is recei-

ved by one or more sensors. The data is then sent to a computer element. After an

interaction with an external (e.g. internet) and/or internal data source, a decision will

be made on how the system should behave, depending on the configuration. This is

then communicated to one or more elements, which then convert the decision into

a particular service or behaviour.

53

www.hessen-it.eu

Practical Example

Green Mobility Project

The Hessian Telemedia Technology Competence Centre (httc e.V.) at

TU Darmstadt is, among others, a participant in the flagship pro-

gramme for the research and development of the internet of ser-

vices, THESEUS, initiated by the Federal Ministry of Economics and

Technology (BMWi). In the framework of the project "Green Mobility

– mobile access to new, location-based services", httc and its part-

ners want to develop a platform for location-based services (LBS) on

mobile devices such as mobile phones.

n RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) enables the identification and

localisation across short distances of living things and objects that are

fitted with a so-called "transponder" or "tag". RFID is interesting for

the development of ambient ICT systems and the Internet of Things

because, firstly, RFID transponders are a cheap solution for computer

processors that are capable of interaction. Secondly, RFID can be

combined with other technologies, such as sensory technology. This

means, for example, that data on the condition of a product, such as

its temperature and vibration, can be recorded and transmitted via

RFID – i.e. without having to open the packaging or look at it. If RFID

and sensors are combined with GPS satellite navigation, it is possible

to log data without interruption and to pass it on to a customer, for

example. Within the framework of the ADiWa project, researchers

from the TU Darmstadt are currently developing technologies with

which data can also be controlled by the customer at a central point

while in transport, i.e. in real time (see page 58).

54

Fundamentals

Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID)

n Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) is the use of electromagne-

tic waves or electromagnetic near field communication in the

radio band range of the frequency spectrum for the communica-

tion from or to an RFID tag with the help of different modulation

or coding techniques, or only for the selection of an RFID tag

identification or other data stored therein.

n An RFID application is an application that processes data by

means of RFID tags and readers and which is supported by a

back-end system or a networked communication infrastructure.

n An RFID tag or RFID transponder is either an RFID reader that is

capable of creating a radio signal, or an RFID reader that feeds

back, scatters back or reflects (depending on the type of device)

and modulates carrier signals received from a reading or writing

device.

n An RFID reading or RFID writing device is a fixed or mobile

device for collecting and identifying data, which stimulates or

causes an answer from one or more RFID tags in the form of

modulated data, by means of electromagnetic waves or electro-

magnetic near field communication in the radio frequency

spectrum.

Source: EU Declaration K(2009) 3200, translated into English

Illustration 8: Organisation of an RFID system

Transponder

Transponder chip Transponder antenna Reader antenna Electricity supply

Control of communication, analysis and data processingIT

RF-module Control module

Reader chip

RFID-ReaderRadio interface

55

www.hessen-it.eu

Internet of Things

At a national IT summit, the "Internet of Things" was identified as the

next big developmental step in the history of the modern society. What

is meant is the interaction of intelligent objects with other intelligent

objects and/or with computer systems via internet technologies. It is

called the "Internet of Things" because things interact with each other

via the internet – in the case of RFID, for example, a milk carton that

includes a transponder interacts with a shelf that includes a base sta-

tion. With the established internet – sometimes referred to in contrast

as the "Internet of Information" – information searches independently

in telecommunications networks for a path to its goal, and this is also

how data in the Internet of Things find their transport path, by means

of internet-supported intelligent products and environments. Things

interact with each other, exchange information, learn how to think and

react independently in the sense of people or objects via the internet

and wireless. Illustration 9 shows in a simplified manner how an RFID

tag, fitted on a milk carton in a supermarket, is analysed via the internet.

How does an RFID system work?

Living things or objects are fitted with a transponder, otherwise known simply as a

"tag". This is a combined radio transmitter and receiver that can store information on

a microchip and send it to a base station. The base station consists of a reader and

an antenna, from which radio waves are emitted. When the transponder is within

range of the electromagnetic field, it transmits its stored information to the base

station as an answer, which is then recorded by the reader (see the example of an

RFID-supported building maintenance on p. 23). A transponder cannot only be

read, but can also be written upon: it can, for example, carry target information. The

fact that objects with RFID can recognise not only their own location but also their

target location makes them very interesting for logistic processes.

56

Fundamentals

How does the Internet of Things work?

In the Internet of Things, the product and logistic data of objects are not stored

on a transponder, but are found on distributed networked database systems. If

the electronic product code (e.g. EPC) stored on the tag of an object, such as a

milk carton, is read, the request is sent via special software (middleware) to the

so-called object naming service (ONS) root node (step 1). This delegates the re-

quest to the ONS node of the EPC manager, i.e. to the company that produced

the milk carton or the milk (step 2). They then send the internet address of the

required information service (EPCIS) that could contain the product data, back

to the point of request (step 3), so that the product and logistic data of the

scanned EPC can be retrieved there (step 4).

Illustration 9: Example of a query procedure in the Internet of Things

(BMWi 2009)

Note: The construction of an RFID system, e.g. for internal process control,

also works without an EPC. All necessary RFID components (transponders, inter-

faces, readers etc.) are standardised according to DIN or ISO norms, so that

reliable, interoperable systems can be run, without having to pay for a license.

For an EPC license costs are charged.

Supermarket

Producer

EPC-manager

Product databases,

EPCIS

ONS-server

ONS-root

EPC

Reader SoftwareObject with

RFID-tag

Milk

57

www.hessen-it.eu

Practical Example

ADiWA Project – Allianz Digitaler Warenfluss (Alliance for digital

goods flow)

From 01.01.2009 to 31.12.2011, the leading German logistics project

of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), which is

funded with 17.7 million euros and operating under the coordination

of the SAP Research Centre, CEC Darmstadt, is creating the path from

the Internet of Things to intelligent business processes. Together with

the Fraunhofer SIT, the INI-GraphicsNet Foundation, Software AG, TU

Darmstadt and others, ADiWa is aiming for the design of intelligent,

adaptive business processes that react to incidents brought about by

the Internet of Things. In order to develop these complex software

logistics, typical logistics scenarios are analysed, as are goods flows in

industrial parks. Ultimately, it should be possible to visualise the intel-

ligent processes in a practical form for the area of logistics. An open

architecture with event-based information processing and service-ori-

entated architecture should provide small and medium-sized busines-

ses with the opportunity to offer complementary components and

solutions. www.adiwa.net

58

Fundamentals

Structure

Two structural approaches of ambient ICT systems can be defined accor-

ding to the networking of the components and particularly the distribu-

tion of the sensors:

n Sensor network approaches are defined by a number of sensors,

sometimes spread far apart from each other, so that larger geographic

spaces or environments can be registered, observed and controlled

more easily and precisely. Sensor networks can, for example, be used

practically to detect and combat forest fires, to monitor free-roaming

animals and to optimise storeroom, shelf or building management.

n Device-based approaches or intelligent things integrate the com -

ponents of an ambient ICT system, including sensors, into or onto an

object, so that an independent intelligence is embedded. When it is

networked, it can still be controlled externally. Intelligent vehicles,

household devices and clothing are well-known examples.

2.2 Devices

The ubiquity or pervasion of ambient ICT systems occur due to their

embedding in the many classical ICT devices of everyday use. Implants in

the bodies of people and animals are also possible. These objects or

implants, i.e. devices, on the one hand carry the embedded ICT systems,

on the other hand form the contact – in technical terms: the interface –

with the operating person or object. The integration of ambient intelli-

gence into the device or object transforms it into an ambient ICT system,

which is itself an embedded system.

59

www.hessen-it.eu

d

Mobile ICT devices

Mobile phones, smart phones, notebooks and netbooks, navigation sys-

tems and other mobile ICT devices are widespread, and on the increase.

Much has happened since the first mobile telephone call was made at the

German Transport Exhibition on 20 June 1953. The first standard mobile

telephone model served as a car phone and, in the 1950s, consisted of a

receiving and transmitting instrument that weighed 16 kilograms, among

other things. Nowadays, mobile phones weigh between 60 and 150

grams and have become high-performance mobile computers, with

which one can also make a telephone call. More and more Europeans use

their mobile phones as multifunctional devices to send text messages,

take photographs, listen to music, manage appointments and contacts, to

e-mail and surf the internet – only one in six mobile phone owners use

their device solely for telephone calls.

ICT-supported objects

In addition, computers, sensors and actuators are being embedded in

more and more everyday objects – this is precisely where the qualitative

novelty and the immense quantitative potential of ambient technologies

lie. They are often referred to as „intelligent“ or "smart", e.g. smart traffic

light, smart house or smart paper.

What is an embedded system?

Embedded systems consist of context-related combinations of hardware and soft-

ware components. Their function is to control, regulate or oversee a system. They

process information that has been received by the system via sensors, and they con-

trol the actuators. Whereas a normal computer can carry out different tasks, depen-

ding on the applied software, an embedded system is always active in a predefined

manner. Accordingly, embedded ambient ICT systems, for example, are orientated

towards context-aware behaviour. Most computers built today are so-called micro

controllers in embedded systems.

60

Fundamentals

An overview of ambient system devices

Devices of ambient ICT systems can be classified as follows:

Illustration 10: Taxonomy of ambient ICT systems

(Source: Mühlhäuser 2008)

Caution: "Smart" objects are not always ambient ICT systems. For example,

many smart materials are adapted without the use of ICT. The English language

distinguishes between "smart" and "intelligent". Correspondingly, some experts

find that "smart" is a more suitable term for the objects concerned, because they

have the ability to adapt to situations, but do not have their own form of intelli-

gence. In the sense of a broad and abstract understanding of intelligence, it has

been decided to mostly use the latter in this brochure.

attached (to human)

carried

mobile device

smartbadge

smarttag

body sensor

Internet appliance

sensor network

worn implanted smartitem

smart environment

Ambient Carrying Systems

encountered

a cb a b

61

www.hessen-it.eu

Devices attached

In terms of devices that are worn by humans, they can be divided into (a)

those that are carried, (b) those worn and (c) implanted devices.

Devices carried: Firstly, these include mobile or portable compu-

ters, from the laptop, netbook, the so-called Personal Digital Assis-

tant (PDA) right down to the mobile telephone. Secondly, smart

badges or smart labels also belong to this category, which identify,

authenticate and authorise persons, and can carry out other services

where necessary. And thirdly, there are the bodily sensors, which are

playing an ever greater role, particularly in the areas of health and

fitness.

Devices worn: These are often called wearables and range from

specific pieces of clothing and accessories incorporating computers

(e.g. pullovers and display glasses) to prototypes that have develo-

ped from standard components (PDA in a holster with headset).

Devices implanted: Although the possibilities of innovative implan-

ted RFID tags and networked medicinal implants have received

much attention, they are not very widespread for reasons of health,

privacy and addiction. The application as a heart pacemaker has,

however, become a medical standard. In addition, many dogs carry

implanted ID tags, in order to easily identify and locate them.

62

Fundamentals

a

b

c

Devices encountered

In terms of devices encountered that humans find in their vicinity, these

can be divided into (a) smart items and (b) smart environments.

Smart items: These are physical objects that have been supplemen-

ted by computers. They are also known as smart objects, and as

smart products – such as in advanced application developments,

which communicate proactively with the user. Furthermore, there

are also smart tags, networked sensors nodes and networked, inter-

net or smart appliances. Smart tags are a simple version. If they are

installed in a physical object, a remote computer can take over

functions that an embedded computer would otherwise do. In this

way, even the cheapest object can become an ambient system. Net-

worked sensor nodes are smart items, in which a number of networ-

ked sensors are integrated in an application. In contrast to common

sensors, these are connected to microprocessors and micro opera-

ting systems, among other things. Networked appliances are percei-

ved by the user more as objects (machines, furniture, etc.), than as

computers.

Smart environments: They describe the environment of smart

things and include their computational and communication

capabilities, which merges the smart item into a sensible whole.

63

www.hessen-it.eu

a

b

2.3 Networks

The fact that people and objects are comprehensively networked with

each other via ambient ICT systems is a central characteristic of Ambient

Mobility. Therefore, telecommunication networks, as infrastructure of data

flow, have a fundamental function. In ambient technologies, the trans-

mission of all data, all information and all knowledge takes place on the

basis of both fixed-line and wireless communication networks. And even

within a single ambient service, the entire spectrum of communications

infrastructure could, in principle, be involved: from satellite-supported

networks via fixed and mobile radio networks to close-range wireless

networks.

Even in the age of Ambient Mobility a large proportion of data traffic will

still be transported in the coming decades at least in part via fixed net-

works. This is because, in the continuing search for more high-perfor-

mance networks, metal cable and fibreglass often offer a good cost-bene-

fit ratio, e.g. beyond rural areas – additionally, mobile radio networks con-

sist to a great degree of fixed-line communication networks. Radio tech-

nologies are particularly interesting here, of course, because they enable

the mobile sending and receiving of data. Ambient Mobility is implemen-

ted on the one hand by means of traditional mobile radio networks, on

the other hand via the self-organising networking of mobile wireless sys-

tems in sensor networks, ad hoc networks and mesh networks:

n A sensor network is a spatially distributed network of so-called sensor

nodes. A sensor node is a microcomputer that, by means of one or

more sensors, registers its environment, processes it with a processor

and transmits it to neighbouring sensors (or a central unit) by radio.

Sensor nodes are connected to each other in an infrastructure-based

network (with one or many base stations) or in a self-organising ad

hoc network.

64

Fundamentals

n An ad hoc network (lat. ad hoc, "for this purpose") is a radio network

between two or more mobile devices without a fixed infrastructure.

n A mesh or meshed network is a radio or fixed network, in which every

network node is connected with one or many others. The mesh net is

also known as a "Mobile Ad Hoc Network" (MANet), because it con-

structs and configures itself. Data flow from node to node until they

reach their goal.

Depending on the range that is spanned by a radio network, four types

of network can be distinguished:

n BAN or W-BAN (Body Area Network)

Networking of components that are carried on or in the body (wear-

ables or implants), via radio or the conductivity of the body, range:

1 metre

n PAN or W-PAN (Personal Area Network)

Networking of portable devices or objects, range: 10 metres

n LAN or W-LAN (Local Area Network)

Networking in office buildings, residential buildings or hot spots, the

latter for public access in places such as airports, hotels, guest houses,

restaurants, range: up to a couple of hundred metres

n WAN (Wide Area Networks) bzw. MAN (Metropolitan Area Network)

Networking of mobile networks primarily, range: up to a couple of

thousand metres

The following overview shows some wire- and radio-based transmission

technologies in relation to their typical range and the types of network.

65

www.hessen-it.eu

Illustration 11: Transmission techniques and typical ranges

(Source: in part TA-SWISS)

Radio transmission – a selection

RFID

Radio Frequency Identification enables the contactless storage and

reading of data. The data is stored on a so-called RFID tag, which

can be attached to almost anything. RFID tags can, depending on

the type, be read from distances of between a couple of centimetres

up to 100 metres. Active tags have their own energy supply, while

passive tags take their energy from the electrical field of a reading

device, the so-called Reader. Read-only tags can only be read once

they have been inscribed by the manufacturer, while Read-write tags

are rewriteable and therefore more flexible, but also more expensive.

RFID enables the identification and localisation of people and

objects.

1m

1kmRange: 10

km100km

1000km

10000km

10m

100m

Satellites

Pan-European fibre-optic network

GSM, GPRS, UMTS

W-LAN outdoor (< 1–20km)

UMTS cell (< 8 km)

Building cabling and W-LAN indoor

DVBT (40–100m)

Bluetooth (1–100m)

Textiles (approx. 1.5m)

RFID (ca. 1m)

66

Fundamentals

ZigBee

The ZigBee specification is conceived particularly for low data rates

and low power usage and can be seen as a special, semi-active alter-

native for sensors and control functions e.g. in home automation.

Bluetooth

Bluetooth is a standard for a wireless exchange of data over short

distances, with a range of between 10 and 100 metres, depending

on the version. An even greater range can be achieved by means of

directional antennas. Bluetooth is often used to connect devices

such as printers, mobile phones, scanners etc. to each other without

cable.

W-LAN

The Wireless Local Area Network allows the connection of devices

and is often used to connect mobile devices to the internet and in

the construction of ad hoc networks. In order to secure an intercep-

tion-proof connection, suitable VPN solutions, such as those used in

company networks, are available. In addition it is possible to use

WPA2.

WiMAX

WiMAX is the term for wireless Wide Area Networks, or Wireless

Metropolitan Area Network standards. This technology is not yet

very widespread around the world.

GSM

The Global System for Mobile Communication is used worldwide by

more than 4 milliard people, particularly for mobile voice communi -

cation.

UMTS

The Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS) standard is

laid out for broadband data connection. Broadband technologies

that are based on UMTS include HSDPA (mid-2009 up to 7.2 Mbit/s,

although further increases have already been tested).

67

www.hessen-it.eu

Transmission technologies – continued

Satellites

Satellite-supported transmission systems, such as the American Global

Positioning System GPS, the future European system GALILEO and the

Russian Global Navigation Satellite System GLONASS, enable the

positioning of people and objects with an accuracy of under 10 metres.

Because GPS is also used for military purposes, the positioning accu-

racy is considerably worse. However, if additional signals from other

receivers, whose exact position is known, are also evaluated, accura-

cies even to the extent of millimetres can be established. In order to

receive satellite signals, there must be a clear line of sight between

the antenna and the satellite.

Further transmission forms include optical technologies (barcode,

infrared, laser), acoustic and others – for example, the electronic cha-

racteristics of the human body can be used to process signals when

two people shake hands.

Source: in part www.taucis.de

In ambient ICT systems, network types and technologies can form a com-

plex net. An example of the complexity of data flow and storage is shown

in Illustration 12.

68

Fundamentals

Illustration 12: Data flows and storage in a complex ambient ICT system

(Source: Fabian/Hansen, www.taucis.de)

Mobile Entities (people, animals, vehicles or machines) carry a narrow Body Area Network (BAN) on their bodies.They are also surrounded by a somewhat broader Personal Area Network (PAN). Most personal devices in theBANs and PANs store user data and profiles. They contain sensors and possibly also actuators, which can be ope-rated from a distance. BAN and PAN devices of different entities can form ad hoc networks with each other, BANand PAN devices can exchange data with the local infrastructure (both black arrows) or can be registered, identi-fied and localised with the help of sensor networks, e.g. optical or via RFID (white arrows). By means of GPS orother localisation systems, the entities can determine their own current position. Depending on the infrastructurein range, the entities can access the internet via LAN or mobile radio and can, in principle, be reached in this man-ner at a fixed IPv6 address. Remote services can also be accessed in the internet. And vice versa: Remote serviceproviders can use the different means of connection to access LAN, BAN and PAN on the relevant local devices,thus enabling remote data storage on many different global servers.

MAN

LAN

Sensor networks

Sensor networks

LAN

BAN

PAN

BAN

PAN

BAN

PAN

RemoteServices

RemoteServices

LocalServices

Internet

LocalInfrastructures

Ad hocNetworks

Ad hocNetworks

MobileEntities

Mobile radio

GPS/Galileo

MAN: Metropolitan NetworkLAN: Local Area NetworkPAN: Personal Area NetworkBAN: Body Area Network Databases

69

www.hessen-it.eu

Currently, the internet is one network among many – but its significance will

surely increase ever further. The sixth generation of internet protocol, IPv6,

will surely play a fundamental role as a network protocol for ambient ICT sys-

tems, not least because the mobility of networked devices was an important

design factor for IPv6 from the very beginning. A similar growth in the signi-

ficance of the internet can be found in telephony. Whereas previously we

used modems to connect to the internet via the telephone ("IP over tele-

phone"), it is now very common to make telephone calls via the internet

(VoIP). Following these trends towards IP convergence, the internet will sup-

port more and more ambient ICT applications and will gain increased entry

into the objects of everyday life. This is shown by a current BITKOM study,

which says that around 60 percent of those questioned find it important for

their new television to have an internet connection.

2.4 Software

In order to control data, ambient ICT systems require a software that consists

of three levels. Data is gathered at the lowest level. This can occur by means

of transmission from sensors or other ICT systems. The data is sent via a con-

trol unit to the middle level, the so-called middleware. That is the most impor-

tant element of the architecture, because it links the components with the

system, makes protocols and services available and regulates the scalability,

in other words the integration of components and systems and accordingly

the dynamics of the ambient ICT system. At the upper level, the data is pro-

cessed and sent to the ICT devices and objects.

70

Fundamentals

Illustration 13: Level model of ambient ICT systems

(Source: Brick/Kummer, www.escp-eap.eu/uploads/media/AIMED_04.pdf)

Ambient ICT systems are faced with a fundamental problem. In order for

diverse ICT devices and objects, networks and applications to work toget-

her in a stabile and spontaneous manner, the often different technologies

must be capable of being linked together. However, the definition of a sin-

gle integrative architecture is difficult, due to the difference in components,

the dynamics of systems and the historical distribution of established con-

cepts and technologies. Because different applications have different

requirements, inconsistent approaches emerge. Stationary applications at

home, for example, are built differently to mobile applications for public

spaces of transport. For this reason, the technologies used are often

incompatible with each other. In addition, since the life cycle of ICT pro-

ducts is much shorter than that of, say, mechanical products such as vehi-

cles and household goods, in which the former are integrated, there will

always be numerous generations of ICT in the foreseeable future, which

coexist with each other.

Upper LevelDevice

RFID-tags Bluetooth-tags

RFIDRFID

MiddlewareMiddle Level

Lower Level

Device Other systems

RFID reader

71

www.hessen-it.eu

Illustration 14: Middleware services for ambient ICT systems

(Source: Buchmann 2007)

Service-orientated middleware

The solution is in the form of a system framework architecture, which inte-

grates on the one hand the already established and future architecture

with, on the other hand, already existing and future application require-

ments. There is a special kind of middleware for this. It makes – according

to the principles of a service-orientated architecture – standardised inter-

faces available and therefore mediates between heterogeneous services

and components. In addition, it provides necessary basic services to

ambient ICT applications. (see also the project Green Mobility, p. 54, and

ADiWA, p. 58)

Context Manage-

ment

Event Manage-

ment

Mobility Manage-

ment

Interaction Manage-

ment

Data and Information

Manage-ment

Interoper-ability

Manage-ment

Dependable Service

Interface Semantic Model

Reliability and Security Management

Self X Properties

RELIABLE MIDDLEWARE

72

Fundamentals

Practical Examples

Software innovations for the digital enterprise Project: In the framework of a

competition hosted by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), the

cluster "Software-Innovationen für das digitale Unternehmen" (in short: Software

Cluster) was elected in 2010 to be funded as a top cluster. The cluster, based in

Darmstadt, covers four federal states (Hessen, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland,

Baden-Württemberg) and encompasses 350 companies and 17 research institutes.

It can be seen as the world's largest high-performance ICT network of research and

educational institutes, manufacturers and users. The cluster aims to enable firms to

transform into fully digital companies, so that all company data about processes,

equipment and resources is available to them at any time and in detail. Such a leap

in innovation requires a leap in so-called emerging software, which can combine a

number of components from different manufacturers dynamically and flexibly. The

fact that this aim is of central importance for the development of Ambient Mobility

and the Internet of Things can be seen in the topics of its priority projects: Adaptive

processes in companies, agile infrastructures for company networks, innovative

services in the future internet www.software-cluster.org.

MATRIX Project: The MATRIX project (Middleware for the realisation of internet-

based telemedical services), funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and

Research (BMBF) and with the participation of the University of Kassel, focuses on

the development of a unified middleware platform for internet-based telemedical

services. In a first step, the project has created a middleware platform, which

should fulfil three requirements in particular: 1. Semi-automatic adaptive capabi-

lity; 2. Preservation and optimisation of the performance parameters; 3. Securing

of long-term operational capacity and system reliability. For example, using the

middleware platform, two telemedical services are demonstrated: a mobile tele-

medical emergency service (e.g. for aircraft, ships or rescue vehicles) and a teleme-

dical service for medical care at home (e.g. night-time care). A further elemental

research question is the usability and quality of context-sensitive patient services,

that process so-called "individual contexts", i.e. contexts with very specific personal

details. The use of the platform-based service concept will be evaluated in the fra-

mework of a pilot study.

73

www.hessen-it.eu

Applications

In a world in which the computer is ubiquitous, there are countless appli-

cations of ambient ICT systems. We're currently moving in that direction.

Context-aware everyday life is still a vision, but many intelligent products

and environments are already reality. So many and so varied, that a com-

plete listing is no longer possible. The following chapters will outline

some typical applications of ambient ICT systems in five operating areas.

3.1 Automotive

Because of its enclosed structure and self-sufficient energy supply the

car is particularly suited for ambient technologies. Today, a compact

car has already more than 50 sensors, while a top-of-the-range vehicle

has over 150 sensors on board. Electronics make up more than 30 per-

cent of the value of a vehicle. Nowadays there are more than 70 micro-

computers functioning as control devices in a car, thus providing a hig-

her computational power than that which was available to NASA at the

time of the moon landing in 1969. And while we consider dynamic,

GPS-based route planners and tyre-pressure control systems to be

innovations, experts are already working on their vision of autono-

mous and accident-free driving.

In fact, the statistics paint a very clear picture. In 1970, more than 20,000

people died on German roads. In 2008 the figure was 4,467, while the

number of vehicles more than tripled to 49,330,037. Driver assistance sys-

tems have made a considerable proven contribution to this development.

They not only improve the comfort and efficiency of the modern automo-

bile, but also help to prevent accidents and to reduce the consequences

of accidents. Sensor-based systems such as airbags, belt and crash-adap-

tive head supports are milestones of passive safety in an accident. Driving

stability systems such as ESP help to prevent around two thirds of serious

skidding accidents. In addition, driver assistance systems have immense

potential for active, preventative accident protection. Radar- and camera-

based assistants can analyse the surroundings of a vehicle like an extra

3

74

Applications

sense and signal dangers. Radar systems also recognise the relative

speed of objects in the environment and can thus warn against collisions,

side impacts and dangerous lane changes (see illustration 15). Simply the

cooperation between the radar and the braking assistant can prevent

around 36 percent of accidents on motorways. Camera-based assistants

facilitate adaptive curve and main beams, rear view, the appearance of

pedestrians and speed restrictions as well as a system – supported in part

by more than 70 sensors – that claims to recognise a driver's tiredness.

Illustration 15: The all-round radar, Source: SARA Consortium

A further step towards more safety and efficiency lies in the fact that

vehicles not only register, identify and interpret their own surroundings

alone, but can also interact directly with private and public partners in

the area. In Car2Car (also often known as C2C), Car2Infrastructure and

Car2Device/ Internet interaction concepts, a vehicle collects radio-based

information from outside to help evaluate and determine a traffic situation

and/or sends this information out itself. A dangerous construction or acci-

dent site, oil on the road, a sudden hindrance, black ice – critical, situation-

relevant traffic information is communicated by other drivers or a traffic

control centre to intelligent vehicles, not only by means of signage, but

directly into the car. Traffic control centres and emergency vehicles can

coordinate better due to warnings and tips and every single vehicle beco-

mes a possible warning device. If all mobile electronic devices brought

Collision warning Collision mitigation

Stop & Go Blind spot control

Parking assistant Lane-change assistant

ACC Reversing aid

Pre-Crash

75

www.hessen-it.eu

along in the car are networked with the car's actual system, they can be

used easily during the journey. Electronically linked truck convoys present

a special scenario for radio-based vehicle-to-vehicle or vehicle-to-infra-

structure communication. It is currently being examined whether a GPS-

supported convoy leads to more safety, relieves the truck driver and redu-

ces fuel consumption and CO2 emissions due to the slipstream effect. It is

also conceivable that a convoy, by reducing the distance between trucks,

saves traffic space and therefore improves the flow of traffic.

Driver assistance systems support the activities of the driver – usually

according to the principle that the system thinks while the driver steers.

Increasingly, however, they will be able to act independently. Since the

capacities of the sensors to perceive the vehicle's environment exceed

human sensory capability, driver assistance functions have potential in the

long term to be better than the human driver. Driver assistance systems

can be further developed to become vehicle control systems and enable

autonomous driving. In this vision, all elements of the driving task – stee-

ring, stabilising and navigation – can be carried out independently by an

ambient ICT system, i.e. without any human input. An initial approach in

this direction already exists in the form of an emergency braking system,

which brakes the vehicle automatically in a number of stages when the

system recognises that an accident threatens and the driver hasn't

reacted. A more extensive target assistance function is an electronic par-

king assistance, which can automatically place the vehicle in a parking

space due to its ability to recognise distances. In the distant future, con-

gestion and intersection pilots are also conceivable, by which the driver,

at certain sections where an accident has occurred or the traffic is critical,

could temporarily transfer the control of the vehicle to a Car2Infra-

structure-supported traffic control centre or to the vehicle's own, Car2X-

supported control system. Car manufacturers are currently researching

autonomous vehicles, with not only technical but also legal questions to

consider, such as liability for accidents.

76

Applications

Illustration 16: Signal elements of the conceptual vehicle "Light Car"

(Source: EDAG)

Products (selection)

n Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) n Adaptive high, curve and

night beam n Anti-Blocking System (ABS) n Automatic Emergency

Braking (AEB) n Blind Spot Control n Cruise Control n Distance

warning n Driver Drowsiness Detection n Electronic Differential

Lock (EDL) n Electronic Stability Programme (ESP) n Head-Up-

Display (HUD) n Hill Descent Control - Car-to-X-Communication

(C2C, C2I, C2D) n Intelligent Speed Adaption (ISA) n Lane Depar-

ture Warning n Lane keeping & change support n Park Distance

Control n Stop-and-Go device n Traffic Sign Recognition

77

www.hessen-it.eu

Practical Example

Opel Eye Product

Since the beginning of 2009, Opel AG offers the so-called "Open

Eye" in its mid-range vehicle Insignia. By means of a camera with

a wide-angle lens, which is integrated between the interior mirror

and the windscreen, the system recognises traffic signs ("Traffic

Sign Detection") and warns of lane deviations ("Lane Departure

Warning"), when road markings are crossed at high speed. Both are

displayed on the dashboard. The camera takes 30 pictures per

second, which are then filtered and evaluated by special software.

The system can detect signs from 100 metres, depending on light

conditions, which are then illuminated on the dashboard display. In

the case of numerous detected signs, the most important is shown

first, e.g. no overtaking is shown before speed limit. If a speed limit

is exceeded, this is also shown. The second function, the lane depar-

ture assistant, warns by means of a gong and a flashing signal, when

the vehicle does not stay in the chosen lane on a highway. From a

speed of 50 km/h, the system is able to highlight only hazardous

situations by means of detecting road markings and steering and

blinking movements.

"The car of the future will produce fewer emissions, will prevent

accidents from happening and will be continually networked."

Prof. Dr. Hans-Helmut Becker, Volkswagen AG Kassel

78

Applications

3.2 Buildings and Living

TV, telephone, internet, electricity, heating and household devices – the

different worlds of home technology, ICT devices and everyday objects,

yes even of health and care management, are now coming together.

Intelligent living environments connect not only electronic devices but

also all home-based objects and infrastructures with each other to com-

prise a total electronic system on a central server. This enables the con-

trol of all networked objects via the internet – and with it, more comfort,

more energy savings, more environmental protection and more security.

Over 80 percent of domestic energy consumption is eaten up by heating

and warm water. A central regulation of building and household operati-

ons by measures of automation, such as a reduction in heat supply when

leaving the house or turning on the washing machine at night, represents

considerable potential for higher energy efficiency. It is already standard

technical practice that the regulation of heating equipment automatically

adapts to outside temperatures. Ambient ICT systems mean, furthermore,

that the temperature, humidity and lighting conditions in each living area

can be adjusted individually and accordingly to the needs of each

inhabitant.

Useful ambient applications exist for countless living areas and situations

(see Illustration 17). One example is the kitchen, kingdom of the "white

goods", with devices such as the refrigerator and freezer, electric cooker,

microwave, dishwasher. According to calculations made by the Fraunhofer

Institute, 11 percent of energy costs can be attributed to the electricity bill.

Electric cookers consume most of this energy, closely followed by refrige-

rators. Certain innovative devices are also making great advances; for

example, dishwashers can themselves tell when the dishes are clean

(thanks to an optical sensor that measures the cloudiness of the water) and

electric cookers regulate the correct cooking time and temperature them-

selves (by means of weight and temperature sensors).

79

www.hessen-it.eu

In addition, further savings can be made by linking household devices in

terms of energy. Experts are working on using the waste heat from refrige-

rators to heat the dishwasher water, or transferring superfluous heat from

the oven to the washing machine. And by means of a connection with the

electric meter, washing machines could, for example, display from the

start the cost savings of the two-hour ecological programme in direct

comparison to the speed wash.

Illustration 17: Source: BITKOM, “Studienreihe zur Heimvernetzung”

(Series of Studies on Home Networking), volume 1

ConnectedHome Network

Wirelesswireline

Devices

Sensors and Actuators

Customers' needs

Ente

rtain

men

t

and L

ifest

yle

Work & Communication

Build

ing

secu

rity

Housekeeping

Health

&

Nut

ritio

nSmartpen

Smartdoor

Door control

Brightness sensor

Pressure sensor

Motion detector

Temperature sensor

Smoke detector Smart

table

Smartpaper

Smartwall

Smartbed

Smartdisplay

Fashioncoordinator

MusicFilms

Internet

Lighting

Heating

Ventilation

Climate

Garden maintenance

Meal times

Home pharmacy

Wellness

BloggingVideo conference

Videotelephony

E-Mails

Games

Digital photos

User GeneratedContent

Door and window surveillance

Holiday control

Damage detector or prevention

80

Applications

Illustration 18: Possible fields of application for automation

in a networked house (Source: EIB Schöller)

A further widespread area of application concerns the model Ambient

Assisted Living, i.e. the development of age-appropriate and care-friendly

living environments. In the face of the growing proportion of older people

in our society – the number of over-80s is expected to increase from 4 mil-

lion (2005) to more than 10 million (2050) – the guiding principle "outpa-

tient rather than in-patient" has established itself in terms of living and

care needs. Statistically, older people are more reliant on support and

care than younger people. At the age of 70 and older, 96 percent of

people have at least one and 30 percent have five or more internal, neu-

rological or orthopaedic illnesses that require treatment. The personal

living environment plays a large role in ensuring a life as long and inde-

pendent as possible, in spite of health restrictions. As well as social

aspects, financial considerations (see Social chances, p. 24) also belong to

the personal health approach, including the availability to private users of

devices that were previously only available to medical personnel, and an

accompanied and caring provision of information and services.

Control of blinds

Alarm function Window surveillance

Home device management

Motion detectors

Lighting control

Fault indicator

Individual room control

Presence simulation

Heating control

Room ventilation

Doorsurveillance

81

www.hessen-it.eu

Ambient technologies can not only support care-orientated adjustments

of the living space, but also – within the scope of telemonitoring – indivi-

dualised medical prevention, diagnostics, therapy and care in the home

setting. Typically, such a telemonitoring system consists of medical sen-

sors and a base station, which are carried by the user or placed in the envi-

ronment. Sensors carried on or in the body transmit the data measured via

a short-range wireless network (Body Area Network or Personal Area Net-

work) to the base station, which can be a personal computer in a fixed

location with a fixed connection, or a mobile ICT device with wireless

transmission technology. The base station processes the data received as

needed and makes them available by means of a wireless or fixed trans-

mission system to the stationary (AAL-)infrastructure for further evaluation,

storage, etc. Personal health data is therefore automatically available for

further use to doctors, hospitals and telemedical service providers.

"Due to the demographic development and the resulting

prohibitive costs for the health and safety sector, Ambient

Assisted Living (AAL) technologies are being developed that

enable – despite illnesses – a longer life in one's own home."

Dr.-Ing. Reiner Wichert, Fraunhofer-Allianz Ambient Assisted Living

82

Applications

83

www.hessen-it.eu

Products (selection)

n Electronic paper (very thin, foldable screen) n Smart bed (regis-

ters bodily functions) n Smart carpet (reports falls to others)n Smart dishwasher (washes until the dishes are clean) n Smart

home technology (internet-based control of heating, light, electricity,

TV, windows, doors and electric devices) n Smart oven (calculates

cooking temperature and time) n Smart pen (minicomputer in the

form of a pen e.g. for the translation of words) n Smart refrigerator

(points out expiry dates and makes shopping lists) n Smart room

controller (system for individual sound, scent, light and temperature

settings) n Smart table (piece of furniture with interactive screen)n Smart window pane (glass pane with display function)

Practical Example

PERSONA Project

The EU project PERSONA researches scenarios connected to Ambient

Assisted Living (AAL). The semi-automatic systems developed in the

project are assistants in everyday life. They help elderly people to

manage daily tasks such as cooking or shopping or remind them to

take their medicine regularly. The 22 interdisciplinary project partners

from industry and research have developed a scalable technology

platform which allows a series of services to be offered that help to

enable social integration, independent living and a healthy lifestyle for

elderly people. As technology partner, the Fraunhofer IGD leads the

project activities in the architectural specification of the platform and

implements the intelligent middleware. In addition, the Fraunhofer

IGD works on concepts and algorithms for the interpretation of sensor

data such as the recognition of objects from video surveillance data.

The seamless integration of multimedia and the examination of new

kinds of interaction possibilities in AAL environments belong to the

research topics of the Fraunhofer IGD.

Practical Examples

Facilityboss Product: The Fraunhofer Institute for Secure Information

Technology SIT in Darmstadt has developed a software called "faci-

lityboss", which connects all electronic systems of a building with

each other and controls them centrally. In this manner, the energy

needs of a building are reduced, security can be overseen and many

other individual wishes of the residents can be fulfilled. To install the

software, SIT experts link up the existing systems and then add the

"facilityboss". This can even be done while the systems are in opera-

tion. Nothing is deinstalled, so that the former status can be reset at

any time.

Proximity Table (Ambient Display) Product: The Fraunhofer Insti-

tute for Computer Graphics Research (IGD) in Darmstadt offers an

innovative table device that is able, by means of so-called capacitive

sensors, to register the human body without any physical contact.

With the help of the sensors, a three-dimensional coordinate of the

registered object is created that adjusts itself dynamically when the

position is altered, so that movements in front of the table can be

recorded. This principle can be used in many applications. For exam-

ple, the table, when used as a display, can perceive a hand and carry

out a variable zoom function, depending on the height distance.

A quick hand movement from left to right or vice versa can activate

the turning of a page, while a slow movement of the hand up and

down can be linked to the raising or lowering of volume. The number

and complexity of the gestures can be changed at will and be made

specific to the application. Correspondingly, the technology of the

Proximity Tables goes beyond the control of graphic applications and

is already being used to analyse spinal pressure while asleep.

Further examples: UniverSAAL Project, page 49;

Motivotion 60+ Project, page 89; Hydra Project, page 91

84

Applications

3.3 Health

The health care sector is one of the most important economic sectors

in Germany. It already counts for 11 percent of GDP and 4.3 million

employees. The significance of the health sector will presumably grow

even further in the future, due to medical advances and demographic

change. In 2035, Germany will have one of the oldest populations in the

world. More than half of the population will then be over 50 and one in

three will be over 60 years of age. For this reason, experts predict that

there will be around a million extra jobs across the whole country by

2040. A growing proportion of future health provision will be fulfilled by

very varied e-health and ambient health solutions.

While the expression "e-health" generally means the use of ICT in health

care, "Ambient Health" refers specifically to the use of context-aware ICT

systems. Health information, telemedicine and medical products and

processes belong to the most important fields of application. Ambient ICT

systems promise better quality, more safety, more efficiency and at the

same time lower costs.

Prevention is better than cure. Ambient technologies create new paths to

health provision. In the area of medicine and care, but also with leisure

time and fitness, bodily microsensors, which can be worn as wearables, as

plasters, wrist watches, even as implants, will make it possible to measure

body values and health risks more easily and more exactly. Correspon-

ding to the paradigm shift from traditional health care to a personalised,

individualised prevention, diagnostics, therapy and care, individuals

should observe their own health conditions more closely. But ambient

systems not only support individual health monitoring and thus also

personal health consciousness, they also improve professional health

management.

85

www.hessen-it.eu

The measured data can, if desired, be communicated to the doctor or to

the nearest hospital, completely independently, either regularly or in

emergencies. Ambient assistance systems particularly provide elderly

people and those in need of care, as well as chronically ill and rehabilita-

tion and risk patients, with a safer and more independent life.

Source: Siemens AG

Electronic patient records are a central instrument in health promotion.

Since they can be accessed at any time by all those who are authorised and

networked, they can help to improve the quality of treatment, particularly in

critical situations, and can also help avoid numerous and inexpedient exa-

minations. Potential dangers such as the so-called "transparent patient"

should be addressed in the appropriate manner (see Data Protection,

p. 29). Important telemedical achievements already in use include the pos-

sibility to consult remote experts on a treatment procedure via the internet,

to enrich real images with extra information by means of "augmented

reality" processes, to use the support of robots in operations, in order to

86

Applications

improve precision (e.g. with hip and artificial knee joints) or even to allow a

robot, fitted with sensors, to carry out an operation, guided by the surgeon

from a workplace screen.

The digital hospital is characterised by the fact that data is mostly gathered

in digital form, by means of portable devices, for example, and media inter-

ruptions are avoided. Furthermore, data such as electronic patient records

can be made available to all authorised persons by means of the networ-

king of all departments in a hospital information system. The gathering of

further data – such as the location and maintenance data of devices, posi-

tioning data of medication and laboratory samples, or the dates and

lengths of stay of patients and personnel – by means of carried RFID trans-

ponders mean that these can be found more easily. The danger that

patients, samples and medication can get mixed-up is also reduced. Intelli-

gent medication packaging, which provide information on product charac-

teristics such as the delivery and the expiry date, intelligent beds, that can

measure bodily values such as breathing, weight, temperature, and intelli-

gent attached appliances, such as an intravenous drip, a heart pacemaker

or an implanted insulin pump, which can be controlled via a network – these

show the broad spectrum for the clinical use of ambient technologies.

Some of the most spectacular innovations in medical technology include

prosthetics, through which e.g. temperature can be felt, an artificial arm that

can be controlled by thought, and artificial legs, in which an integrated

"mini-brain" controls the walking movement with microprocessors that

determine the bending angle and load of the artificial leg 50 times each

second.

87

www.hessen-it.eu

Homo s@piens: quo vadis?

Ambient technologies are not only useful for healing illnesses and

acutely or preventatively combating human suffering. They can also

be used to technically expand the physical boundaries of healthy

people. This could be made possible by the development of artificial

sensory organs, or the linking of microelectronic elements to the cen-

tral nervous system. If the interlinking of the brain and electronics pro-

gresses further and external devices can be guided even better by

nerve impulse, direct access to a technical information memory – an

"external memory" – could be achieved. In some areas, artificial

organs could, in future, be better than natural ones. In such a light it is

plausible that transplants will no longer be carried out for medical rea-

son only, but could also be done in order to improve the performance

capabilities and thus the lives of people. How these future develop-

ments will be handled poses an ethical challenge (see Ambient Sce-

narios, p. 30). Neurosurgeons already consider chips that expand

memory and consciousness to be feasible. This development would

correspond to the vision of the English physicist Robert Hooke, who in

1665 wrote in the preface to his book "Micrographia" that the proper

thing: "in respect of the Senses, is a supplying of their infirmities with

Instruments, and, as it were, the adding of artificial Organs to the natu-

ral ... And as Glasses have highly promoted our seeing, so 'tis not

improbable, but that there may be found many Mechanical Inventions

to improve our other Senses, of hearing, smelling, tasting, touching."

88

Applications

Practical Example

Motivotion 60+ Project

Scientists in the department of multimedia communication at the TU

Darmstadt are currently developing approaches, with the state health

insurance companies, to motivate senior citizens 60+ to partake in

health-promoting physical activity, by innovative training methods.

Fewer than 10 percent of over-60s fulfil the recommended weekly

amount of exercise. The personal fitness coaching system oversees

the movement and the vital signs of elderly people and is intended

to activate them to keep fit in the long term. So that nobody is over-

or under-exerted, the individual training processes are accompanied

and analysed with the help of sensor-supported systems. Vital sen-

sors measure heart activity, movement sensors recognise types of

sport and movement, GPS sensors create routes and elevation profi-

les. Along with the task of creating user-friendly sensors that do not

constrict movement, a further challenge is to identify and implement

binding factors that motivate to train in the long term. Here, game

design with rewarding principles and community aspects are used.

"In future, more and more hospitals will have information and

communications technologies such as W-LAN networks to

provide fast, high-quality and cost-efficient information and

communication in the health sector. Telemedicine also has

promising potential to improve patients' quality of life while

operating in a cost-efficient manner."

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Klaus David, Universität Kassel

89

www.hessen-it.eu

Practical Example

OPAL Health Project

Under the consortium leadership of T-Systems in Frankfurt, the

"OPAL Health" project aims to achieve better device and blood

reserve management in hospitals. Devices are fitted with sensors,

which build independent radio contact to other intersections and

thus create a self-configuring sensor network. The permanent

exchange of information between the devices and the central IT sys-

tem creates many advantages for the device management, such as

better transparency in terms of location and usability, the complete

documentation of transport, warehouse and use processes or the

overseeing of the devices' inspection dates and maintenance cycles.

The sensors signal when a technical security control or maintenance

is required. Simply in terms of the reduced effort in searching for

devices, the average added value of the system to a clinic with

around 3,000 devices is approximately 60,000 euro per year. In addi-

tion, savings are made due to the reduction of device-loss, which is

between 8 and 17 percent in an average hospital, and the redundant

security stocks. In a blood transfusion scenario, mix-ups are practi-

cally ruled out and unnecessary rejection rates are avoided. Because

intelligent sensor networks send an alarm at critical temperatures, it

will even be possible to re-use the valuable blood reserves that have

not been needed.

90

Applications

Practical Example

Hydra Project

In the framework of the EU project "Networked Embedded System

Middleware for Heterogeneous Physical Devices in a Distributed

Architecture" – Hydra – for the creation of a middleware for networked

embedded systems, funded by the sixth framework programme, the

Fraunhofer Institute for Secure Information Technology SIT in Darm-

stadt participated in the development of a care system for home

patients. It supports the contact between patient and doctor electro-

nically and automatically. As a surveillance and advice system, Hydra

helps the user in the regular measurement of health data such as ECG,

weight, blood sugar and blood pressure, reports these to a mobile

centre – a mobile phone, a PDA, a smartphone, organiser, pocket PC

or other – and gives advice on how to proceed in the basis of his vital

signs. Should the user forget to carry out a measurement, he will be

reminded. The doctor responsible can get information online about

the values of the user, establish contact and call the healthcare or

emergency services.

Further examples: MATRIX Project, page 73; PERSONA Project,

page 83; UniverSAAL Project, page 49

91

www.hessen-it.eu

3.4 Clothing

Miniaturised chips and computers can be carried directly on the body

in so-called wearables or integrated into clothing. This creates many

new possibilities for ambient mobility in everyday applications. Now, in

situations of movement, bodily and environmental data can be better

collected and processed and information and interaction processes can

be supported more comfortably and more situation-true via the inter-

net or local networks.

The qualitative advancement of wearables within the development of ICT

is that they enable a much closer and more dynamic interaction in every-

day situations between the real and the digital world. Access to the digital

world will become more natural, because the access is carried ubiqui-

tously on the body. In the future, wearables could be networked with each

other and, in BANs (Body Area Network) and PANs (Personal Area Net-

work), with all ICT-based devices and objects. The user could carry a kind

of personal informational and functional aura in his wearables, which cor-

responds to his needs and interests and supports his interaction with the

real world. His knowledge and senses could be expanded in real time with

additional information and contacts, via the internet or local networks, e.g.

via Augmented Reality approaches. Because everything that sensors can

learn about the body or the immediate environment can be directly

superimposed onto the user's field of vision, or of that of another user, or

it can be directly transmitted to the ear or the sense of touch. Data from

remote sources can be passed on. Illustration 19 shows some integration

possibilities of ambient ICT systems or components on the human's body

or in his clothing:

92

Applications

Products

Illustration 19: Wearables – a selection

(Source: Siemens AG)

Digital cameraHead Mounted Display:

Cabling integrated in cloth

Cabling integrated in cloth

Shoes with integrated battery and positioning system

Washable MP3 player

Mobile phone

Keyboard

Portable PC

– data glasses

– headphones– microphone

Remote control

Sports bra with heart rate monitor

Control unit

Watch with memory and MP3 player

Textile radio with velcro fastener

Collar microphone/headphones

93

www.hessen-it.eu

The areas of use range from application in the health and fitness area,

especially in collecting bodily vital signs, to the care and living area of

elderly people, such as in the determination and care of bodily functions,

right up to applications for handicapped people, to help them with orien-

tation and navigation. There is already a so-called LifeShirt, which, by

means of sewn-in sensors, can measure 40 different physiological health

values such as blood pressure, heart rate and oxygen consumption. In the

area of ticketing, too, information could be stored not only on the ticket,

but be connected to the clothing or even directly to the person in ques-

tion. For example, a Spanish chain of discos offers an ID implant to prove

that admission is authorised. Just as on any chip card, personal data and

credit card information could be stored and read on the implants. Many

areas of use will emerge in the world of work, where wearables will, by

means of an improved information and communications management, be

able to support more efficient and ergonomic work processes as well as

new forms of cooperation and flexible working practices.

Illustration 20: Wearable solutions (Source: www.siwear.de)

94

Applications

Practical Example

SiWear Project

Under the consortium leadership of SAP Research CEC Darmstadt,

and within the framework of the project "SiWear", funded by the

Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi), wearable

solutions are being developed that will place the computer right

onto the body and into the mobile workplace. They are intended to

increase productivity and the quality of manufacturing and mainten-

ance processes. By means of diverse interactive possibilities, such as

cloth bags and special jackets with built-in electronics, data gloves or

displays integrated into glasses, the user can seamlessly access the

entire IT landscape of the company while working. Due to direct

working instructions and agreements and the automatic return of

results without media disruption, transmission mistakes can be avoi-

ded and operating processes speeded up. There is no further need

to give instructions later or to subsequently enter data into the infor-

mation system. During the development, the Ambient Mobility

aspects of IT security and data protection have been considered

from the start. www.siwear.de

"Ideally, all manual diagnosis, maintenance and repair activities

should be able to be supported by mobile IT without the actual

work having to be interrupted."

Dr. Knut Manske, SAP Research

95

www.hessen-it.eu

3.5 Transport

Hessen is one of the most dynamic transport hubs in Germany and

Europe. Germany's busiest motorway junction (with 330,000 vehicles

per day), busiest railway station (with 330,000 passengers per day) and

airport (Europe's no. 1 for freight and no. 3 for passenger transport)

make Hessen a vital magnet for private and economic mobility.

With a view to the future, transport holds large challenges for Hessen, as

motorised traffic will continue to rise. It is assumed that German freight

traffic (tonne kilometres) will rise by around 70 percent and passenger

traffic (person kilometres) by almost 20 percent between 2004 and 2025.

In urban agglomerations such as the region FrankfurtRhineMain it will

grow even further. This will lead to considerable climate and environmen-

tal burden, as well as economic and social problems. Traffic already counts

for 36 percent of CO2 emissions in Hessen and for around 70 percent of

oil consumption in Europe. The question of fast and safe transport is of

great sustainable significance, because optimised traffic flows also reduce

fuel consumption and thus CO2 and other polluting emissions. The EU

Commission has calculated the annual economic damage caused by con-

gestion and pollutant emissions to be up to 1.5 percent of the European

Unions GDP.

96

Applications

Sour

ce: (

c) F

raun

hofe

r SI

T

Ambient ICT systems offer great potential for an environmentally friendly,

resource-saving and energy-efficient mobility. In the area of road traffic,

which is dominated by the release of CO2 emissions, control systems are

aiming for a better observation, prognosis and control of traffic. Intelligent

assistance systems, which inform individual road users about the best

route and navigate according to the current and projected traffic situation

and personal needs, have already reached a wide market. An intelligent

transport management can be coordinated at a control centre with the

help of detectors on the streets, video cameras on sign gantries and

so-called "floating cars", i.e. vehicles that collect data on the road and

transmit them electronically. For example, the transport control centre in

Hessen gathers information on Hessian motorways around the clock and

regulates the flow of traffic by means of speed limits, warnings about

congestion, construction sites or accidents, diversions onto alternative

routes, the distribution and blocking of traffic lanes and much more. The

goals of such a traffic management include, among other things, the

avoidance of congestion, a reduction in accidents, and efficient use of the

road network, an improvement of the traffic flow as well as optimal and

cooperative driving. Within the framework of the initiative "Staufreies

Hessen 2015” (Congestion-free Hessen 2015), the congestion time on

Hessian motorways was reduced by 80 percent between 2001 and 2008.

For example, the temporary opening of the hard shoulder on the A5 bet-

ween Frankfurt Northwest junction and the intersection at Friedberg pro-

duces an economic benefit of 10.6 million euros per year or 50,000 euros

a day. Of course, also beyond Hessen intelligent traffic systems are enjoy-

ing success. In Stockholm, a dynamic toll system reduced traffic in the

inner city by 20 percent and emissions by 12 percent, and in Singapore,

traffic events can be predicted with 90 percent certainty, thanks to real-

time data from sensors and computing models.

97

www.hessen-it.eu

The radio-based interaction between vehicles and their environment will

further improve transport efficiency and security. This technology of the

future, known as "C2X communication", will also be developed and tested

in the “DRIVE-Center Hessen” (Dynamic Road Infrastructure Vehicle Expe-

rimental-Center). In addition, Hessen is active in numerous innovative

internationally and nationally funded research and development projects

– such as SIM-TD (Safe Intelligent Test Field Germany), DIAMANT (Informa-

tion and Applications for the Security of Mobility with Adaptive Networks

and Telematic Infrastructure), AKTIV (Adaptive and Cooperative Technolo-

gies for Intelligent Transport) and CVIS (Cooperative Vehicle Infrastructure

Systems). Naturally, streets, bridges, junctions, road signs, traffic lights and

toll systems can be networked with each other and with vehicles. For

example, intelligent traffic lights can function as cooperative light signals,

gathering data on the approaching vehicles and adapting the green pha-

ses according to the situation and the needs of the drivers.

In a further developmental step, traffic guidance systems and autopilots

could take over the steering of vehicles on partial stretches of motorway.

If a system for exchanging information on position, direction and speed

were installed in every vehicle, this would enable effective traffic gui-

dance. For example, the traffic flows at junctions, confluences or narrow

lanes could be coordinated so that all streams of traffic could pass in a

rapid flow without having to stop. Since around a third of all serious acci-

dents happen at junctions, this would not only improve traffic flows, but

also traffic safety.

98

Applications

Ambient ICT systems also offer diverse opportunities in intermodal, i.e.

integrated global transport, and public transport. In many cases, users of

these means of transport are more dependent on information – e.g. con-

cerning departure, tickets, parking spaces, changing trains – than those

who use their own cars. The mobile transmission of real-time information

and interaction about actual arrival and departure times, the online pur-

chase of tickets and parking tickets (e.g. mobile phone ticketing), the dis-

play of free parking spaces and connection options makes not only public

transport more attractive, but also the use of other means of transport. As

so-called "Personal Travel Assistants", intelligent devices can take on navi-

gational duties and fulfil other needs in the sense of Location-based Ser-

vices, such as searching for toilets or certain shops. RFID tickets, which can

be checked in passing without any physical or visual contact also add to

the sense of comfort. Currently, in public transport, calculated arrival and

departure times and suitable connections can be displayed not only at the

bus stops or stations, but also on customers' devices. Additional informa-

tion can also be provided with regard to certain target groups such as

elderly people, children, handicapped people or foreigners. Navigation

systems for the blind and the visually impaired people are quite spectacu-

lar, as they can, in connection with public transport, guide people to their

destination within virtual corridors that are only 30 to 50 cm wide.

"When transport technology is used intelligently, it can reduce

accidents considerably and help to prevent congestions. New

products in transport technology will not only solve traffic pro-

blems, but will also strengthen the economy."

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Manfred Boltze, TU Darmstadt, Mobility and Transport Representative of the State of Hessen

99

www.hessen-it.eu

Practical Example

CVIS Project – Cooperative Vehicle Infrastructure Systems

The European Union's leading project for cooperative vehicle infra-structure systems encompasses 61 partners from 12 countries andhas a budget of 41 million euros. With the participation of the HessianState Authority for Roads and Transport, technologies have beendeveloped that allow the driver to interact directly with local trafficcontrol systems. The field tests were also carried out in Hessen. It wasthe first time that a system was shown, which enabled two vehicles to interact with each other and with the surrounding infrastructure. The universal platform developed for this purpose can permanentlymaintain a wireless connection, while different transmission methodsare being interchanged (from 3G-UMTS mobile radio networks tomobile W-LAN connections across short and mid-range distances).Maps and coding standards (location referencing) can be actualisedin real time, and positioning technology has been developed with aprecision never seen before, down to under a metre. They can helpthe driver to stay in lane, and greatly improve the precision of securitysystems such as the lane-changing assistant. www.cvisproject.org

Illustration 21: CVIS Project (Source: Q-Free)

100

Applications

Practical Example

TIS_online Project

– Internet-supported Transport Information Systems of the

Deutsche Bahn (German Rail)

The cooperative project between DB Schenker Rail GmbH and Ost

Hannoversche Eisenbahnen AG, supported by the Federal Ministry

of Economics and Technology (BMWi), aims to strengthen the per-

formance capabilities of European rail freight transport by internatio-

nal measures. One of these is the working package TIS_T&T:

Tracking & Tracing. Since over 50 percent of single wagon transport

in Germany is actually international, tracking and tracing information

should also be made available for transport abroad. The possibility

of utilising new technology such as RFID is being examined, in order

to fulfil further customer requirements by means of innovative

approaches.

Structural Health Monitoring Project in aviation

The Fraunhofer Institute for Structural Durability and System Reliabi-

lity LBF in Darmstadt has created the foundation for a Structural

Health Monitoring (SHM) System in cooperation with the Hochschule

Darmstadt and other partners from the region (HBM, Evonik). In the

framework of the European "Clean Sky Joint Technology Initiative",

which wants to make flying more environmentally friendly, the insti-

tute is now developing this technology further. All Fraunhofer activi-

ties in this initiative are being coordinated by the Fraunhofer LBF.

The SHM system is like a nervous system of the aircraft, in which sen-

sors and evaluation technology register external pressures and

detect damage. This not only makes flights safer, it also reduces

costs. A better recognition of structural damages enables the use of

lighter components, which saves materials, weight and fuel. The

continual surveillance of the outer shell of the aircraft, including

spots that are difficult to reach, reduces inspection costs.

101

www.hessen-it.eu

Scen

ario

20

25

Applications

102

Scenario 2025

Urban history was written today with the official opening of the Metro Area

Consolidated Control Center (MetroCon). The new facility, which was introdu-

ced to a small group of reporters who had received special security clearan-

ces, is the first anywhere to link a city’s previously automated services and net-

worked sensor systems, thereby setting the stage, officials said, for significant

savings and major improvements in operational efficiency, safety and security.

On hand for the dedication of the Center were Mayor Tanya Trin and Metro-

Con General Manager Dr. Park Ho. „We are entering a new era of flexibility in

which city services respond to changing demands on a nearly instantaneous

level,” said Trin. She pointed out that the city’s automated subway system – a

model for MetroCon – achieved high levels of flexibility years ago by variably

spacing trains according to the numbers of passengers counted on platforms

by smart cams and the numbers of riders counted on trains by radio interro-

gation of electronic tickets.

"We have now taken that flexibility a giant step further," explained Ho. "For

instance," he said, as a simulated event appeared on reporter’s PDAs, "if a fire

or major accident were to occur near a subway stop, local microcams with

embedded intelligence would access weather data from the navigation sys-

tems of nearby vehicles, then notify the Transit Authority and, depending on

flame analysis, imaging information, temperature, and flame spread speed,

Transit System computers and MetroCon personnel would reroute trains accor-

dingly and seal subway access points that could be at risk." Statistics based on

MetroCon simulations indicate that a significant number of injuries could be

avoided by implementing the system’s instantaneous response scenarios

during emergencies.

"And that’s just the beginning," said Ho. "Depending on the significance of the

event, a range of additional automated responses might be initiated." He

explained that MetroCon’s new Automatic Traffic Priority Messaging (ATPM)

software will broadcast messages to vehicle navigation systems whenever sig-

nificant security-related events occur. Using embedded intelligence, vehicles

potentially affected by the information will plot a slightly different course, thus

ensuring that they avoid areas in which emergency vehicles are in operation.

Scen

ario

20

25

www.hessen-it.eu

103

"Our simulations have shown that this combination of priority broadcast

and vehicle-based response can clear an emergency site and its access

routes of traffic within minutes without tying up police resources and wit-

hout causing major delays," said Ho, who pointed out that rerouting would

be facilitated by automatically altering traffic light timing to create unob-

structed paths for vehicles travelling around an event’s perimeter. "All in

all, these steps will allow emergency personnel to reach the scene of an

accident or crime as quickly as possible, and will have the added benefit of

sealing off escape routes in case criminal activity is involved," Ho said.

Mayor Trin said that area hospitals, with their disease identification Early-

Alert Network, as well as power plants, police, fire, communications, water,

sewage, gas, electric and sanitation services, will also be part of the big

picture at MetroCon. "We will know and see — in real time — the location

and speed of every police vehicle, every ambulance, and every automated

garbage recovery and recycling unit," she said. "The system will even seal

the windows, lock the doors and switch off the ignitions of vehicles under

certain circumstances."

Dr. Ho added that he expects "significant savings" once MetroCon com-

puters begin monitoring the status of vehicles and networks. "Our systems

will automatically generate and archive logs as to where, when, and under

what circumstance vehicles, systems and personnel are deployed. They will

monitor on-time availability, generate repair histories, and order spares

and repairs automatically. They will support the city’s logistics — as well as

the logistics of private businesses — by allowing these to be coordinated

on an optimised basis with traffic and transit system schedules in real time.

And further down the line," he said, "MetroCon will identify trends, learn

from events, and accelerate decision-making processes for the govern-

ment and private sector throughout the city."

Source: Arthur F. Pease

Ambient Mobility – a model for Hessen

Ambient ICT systems offer many chances for the sustainable develop-

ment of our society. For this reason, the State of Hessen is supporting its

distribution and use in an innovative manner. With the model "Ambient

Mobility" (context-aware mobility) Hessen wants to point out its ecologi-

cal, economic and social potential for mobile citizens and companies and

contribute to their sustainable development and use. The individual per-

son with his needs and rights thereby is of central importance.

Ambient Mobility aims to employ context-aware technologies for the

mobility of people and objects. The term originated in the environment of

the TU Darmstadt and reflects the special potential of ambient technolo-

gies for a new and better mobility. Ambient ICT systems create innovative,

intelligent solutions for the design of our everyday mobile life. This can be

seen in the application examples presented in the areas of automotive,

buildings and living, health, clothing and transport. But as cross-sectional

technologies, their use is not restricted to these areas alone. The areas of

application for their supporting functions encompass all mobile aspects of

our physical world – from smart nanotechnology products to intelligent,

globalised delivery processes. Ambient ICT systems create more quality

of life, comfort, efficiency, security and environmental protection.

Mobility (from the Latin mobilitas) forms a central topic of our times and a

completely economic, social and ecological challenge for our future. The

movement and mobility of people is a human need, that of goods is an

economic resource. That is why mobility affects each individual and society

today, and will continue to do so in the future – even more so. Growing

economic competition places demands on companies and employees to

be more and more present, to be mobile and to be capable of being utili-

sed and reached at all times. Goods and services are being increasingly

cooperatively developed, manufactured and distributed. "Advances" in

science and in the economy are increasingly “driven” by mobility. And the

need for private and social mobility will also continue to grow. We love

mobility not only because it brings us from person to person and connects

us socially, but also because it changes and transforms us. Mobility creates

4

104

Ambient Mobility – a model for Hessen

experiences. 28 percent of German claim that something is missing in their

lives if they don't regularly travel by train, bicycle or car. In 2025, probably

only one in ten people will have no car, and personal traffic will grow,

despite the decreasing population, by 13 percent by 2025.

Whereas mobility generates mostly positive developments in the eco -

nomical and social dimension, it causes new ecological problems and

intensifies existing ones. The growth in motorised traffic damages the

environment. For Hessen, a significant transport and logistics hub at the

geographic centre of Germany and Europe, this is a particular problem.

Over 36 percent of energy–based CO2-emissions in Hessen are caused,

for example, by transport. This proportion is much higher than in other

federal states, the German average is 21 percent (status: 2004). This is also

why Hessen is interested in an ecologically–orientated mobility. How can

mobility be designed for the future? How can we set the course for the

sustainable – i.e. in ecological, economic and social terms wholly compatible

or even advantageous – mobility of tomorrow? These questions always return.

An initiative for the development of sustainability started in Hessen in 2008. The-

rein, sustainability is defined as "the entirety of the ecological, social and economic

dimension" and aims at “securing the needs of the current generation without

endangering future generations, to respect the boundaries of burden on our

planet and the finiteness of our natural resources." Sustainable mobility naturally

presents a challenge. The focus was on the questions of uncoupling economic

growth from transport demands, the reduction of transport's effects on the environ-

ment, and the design of a modern, environmentally friendly transport infra-

structure. Within the scope of a project, the demand and production of sustainable

electromobility will be encouraged.

More information at: www.hessen-nachhaltig.de, status November 2009

105

www.hessen-it.eu

Ambient Mobility – a model for Hessen

106

Intelligent Mobility, sustainable!

The model of Ambient Mobility is designed for sustainable development.

That means that the development and use of ambient ICT systems should

focus on achieving a balance between economic, social and ecological

aspects. No one dimension should be in the foreground alone. This would

inevitably create resulting costs in the other dimensions. Ignoring a

dimension also leads to resulting costs.

Economically speaking, intelligent products and environments present

very attractive opportunities. According to experts, around a billion elect-

ronically equipped, networked objects will be available to one milliard

people by 2013 (see Economic chances, p. 22). The social potential of

ambient services and systems is also indisputable. For example, the

model "Ambient Assisted Living" (AAL), widespread in Germany and

Europe, addresses the social problems of demographic change and

identifies approaches for a long, independent and healthy life for the

elderly (see Social chances, p. 24). The fact that ambient ICT systems can

also make considerable ecological contributions and can form excellent

solutions to the focal point of ecology, is often not taken adequately into

account. For this reason we have devoted the following chapter to that

aspect.

Gre

en A

mb

ient

Mo

bili

ty

www.hessen-it.eu

107

Green Ambient Mobility– the ecological dimension

Ambient ICT systems can be used in transport and logistics. The avoidance

of traffic congestion and accidents, the situation-based navigation of means

of transport, the intermodal linking of different transport carriers and many

more things are well-known goals for a green mobility. But the Ambient

Mobility model is not restricted to intelligent and integrated traffic systems

and the transport of people and goods. Mobile ambient ICT systems sup-

port people in numerous everyday objects and processes, not only when

out and about, but also at home and at work. They provide commercial and

household devices and procedures with additional characteristics, options

and synergies. As the example of the remote transmission of vital signs to

the doctor, which could prevent a short or stationary stay in hospital or in

the surgery, shows: It's all about finding ways – via mobile micro-processes

such as a hand grip, gestures and expressions – to make mobility possible

(the patient's life at home) and to save on mobility (the return journey to

and from the hospital or doctor). The use of ambient ICT systems in our

living environment and mobile devices enable new forms of ICT-supported

mobility:

n It optimises mobility (e.g. navigation systems)n It reduces mobility (e.g. remote diagnosis instead of a visit to the

doctor)n It enables mobility (e.g. independent living at home instead of

hospital or retirement home stays)

Digression:

ICT can be used specifically to protect the environment, and the same is

true of ambient ICT systems. Analysing ambient ICT systems in terms of

their ecological sustainability, the following effects can be distinguished:

n Primary or direct effects: ICT, particularly the hardware, is a cause of

environmental pollution from production, distribution, use and disposal.

n Secondary or indirect effects: The use of ICT has consequences for

other processes (e.g. transport, logistics, media), which can have a

positive or a negative effect on the environment.

n Tertiary or resulting effects: Behaviour and structures adapt to the

changes structures brought about by ICT (e.g. patterns of

consumption, organisation of work, economic structural changes).

The penetration of all personal and commercial sectors by ambient ICT

systems will create both additional burdens and relief for the environ-

ment. The use of ICT always eats up resources – also in the area of mobility

– but the bottom line is that context-aware technologies can, according to

experts, save considerably more than they consume. It is true that the

direct effects include material and energy consumption in the production

and use, as well as pollution in the disposal of ambient products. Context-

awareness will not greatly improve their ecological balance. The growing

miniaturisation will probably lead to greater numbers and shorter compo-

nent life spans, thus cancelling out any advantage. And the energy requi-

red for networking and the growth in data traffic will probably continue to

increase, and could even comprise a few percent of the total national

electricity consumption.

However, these primary environmental effects are balanced out by secon-

dary ones. The use of ambient ICT systems can optimise material- and

energy-intensive processes, or even replace them by signal processing

(dematerialisation). The potential of these secondary effects for relieving

the environment is large and could well exceed the primary effects:

108

Ambient Mobility – a model for Hessen

Gre

en A

mb

ient

Mo

bili

ty

109

www.hessen-it.eu

n Example Automotive: An optimised, adapted driving behaviour

improves fuel consumption and reduces emissions.

n Example Buildings and Living: A central, situation-based building

control system reduces heating needs and electricity consumption,

AAL applications reduce motorised traffic.

n Example Health: Telemedical and AAL solutions, as well as the

efficient use of resources reduce motorised traffic, electricity

consumption and increase material efficiency.

n Example Clothing: The increasing independence of activities from

locations reduces motorised traffic and the avoidable multiple use of

ICT.

n Example Transport: An improved and optimised traffic flow prevents

congestion and drastically reduces fuel consumption and emissions.

Central urban controlling concepts save electricity and material

consumption.

Conclusion

The growing economic, social and ecological mobility requirements

can only be solved by intelligent models and instruments. The

model of Ambient Mobility links two fields of the future, ICT and

mobility, and paves the way for the comprehensive use of sustaina-

ble solutions of an ambient mobility.

Gre

en A

mb

ient

Mo

bili

ty

110

Your partners in Hessen

Your partners in Hessen

Here is a selection of Hessen-based companies, academic and research institutes,

associations and others with competence in the area of Ambient Mobility. The list does

not claim to be complete. Further information about possible Ambient Mobility part-

ners based in Hessen can be found online at www.kompetenzatlas-hessen.de.

5

Adam Opel GmbHITEZ – Internationales Technisches EntwicklungszentrumFriedrich-Lutzmann-Ring65423 Rüsselsheim

Phone +49 6142 7-70Fax +49 6142 7-78800

www.opel.com

Ambient Assisted Living Lab c/o Fachhochschule FrankfurtNibelungenplatz 160318 Frankfurt am Main

Prof. Dr. phil. Gerd Döben-Henisch Phone +49 69 1533-2593Fax +49 69 1533-2400doeben@fb2.fh-frankfurt.de

www.barrierefreie-systeme.de/fh_ffm_aallab

Ambient Intelligence Lab c/o Fraunhofer IGDFraunhoferstraße 564283 Darmstadt

Dr.-Ing. Reiner WichertPhone +49 6151 155-574 Fax +49 6151 155-480reiner.wichert@igd.fraunhofer.de

www.igd.fraunhofer.de

AIM-Deutschland e.V.Richard-Weber-Straße 2968623 Lampertheim

Wolf-Rüdiger HansenPhone +49 6206 131-77 Fax +49 6206 131-73 wolf-ruediger.hansen@aim-d.de

www.aim-d.de

ASI Automatic System Integration GmbHBorngasse 2365594 Runkel

Peter Klein Phone +49 6482 9166-0Fax +49 6482 9166-60pk@asi-gmbh.net

www.asi-gmbh.net

Basys Solutions GmbHGartenstraße 2761352 Bad Homburg

Phone +49 6172 17109-0Fax +49 6172 17109-299info@basys-solutions.com

http://basys-solutions.org

Is your entry missing? Send us your

details to info@hessen-it.eu

111

www.hessen-it.eu

BSC Computer GmbH Ringstraße 535108 Allendorf

Jörg HofmannPhone +49 6452 914060Fax +49 6452 914040info@embedded-intelligence.de

www.embedded-intelligence.de

BGL – Bundesverband GüterkraftverkehrLogistik und Entsorgung e.V.

Breitenbachstraße 160487 Frankfurt am Main

Phone +49 69 7919-0Fax +49 69 7919-227bgl@bgl-ev.de

www.bgl-ev.de

BME – Bundesverband Material -wirtschaft, Einkauf und Logistik e.V.

Bolongarostraße 8265929 Frankfurt am Main

Phone +49 69 30838-0Fax +49 69 30838-199info@bme.de

www.bme.de

C.O.T. – Service GmbH für EDV-PeripherieGueterstraße 564807 Dieburg

Heinz KlaftPhone +49 6071 9270Fax +49 6071 927144service@cot.de

www.cot.de

C4 Security Print GmbHGottlieb-Daimler-Straße 763128 Dietzenbach

Georg FriedrichPhone +49 6074 9176-261Fax +49 6074 9176-207georg.friedrich@c4securityprint.de

www.c4securityprint.de

CASED – Center for Advanced SecurityResearch Darmstadt

DirectorMornewegstraße 3264293 Darmstadt

Prof. Dr. Johannes BuchmannPhone +49 6151 16-50777Fax +49 6151 16-6036buchmann@cdc.informatik.tu-darmstadt.de

www.cased.de/en

Software Cluster Head OfficeMornewegstraße 3264293 Darmstadt

Gino BrunettiPhone +49 6151 16-70821Fax +49 6151 16-55136gino.brunetti@cased.de

www.cased.de/en

Secure Mobile NetworkingMornewegstraße 3264293 Darmstadt

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Matthias HollickPhone +49 6151 16-70920Fax +49 6151 16-70921matthias.hollick@cased.de

www.cased.de/en

CAST e.V. – Competence Center forApplied Security Technology

DirectorFraunhoferstraße 564283 Darmstadt

Claudia PredigerPhone +49 6151 155-529Fax +49 6151 155-499claudia.prediger@cast-forum.de

www.cast-forum.de/en

DirectorFraunhoferstraße 564283 Darmstadt

Prof. Dr. Andreas HeinemannPhone +49 621 4105-1170Fax +49 6151 155-499andreas.heinemann@cast-forum.de

www.cast-forum.de/en

112

Your partners in Hessen

cesah GmbH – Centrum für Satellitennavigation Hessen

Robert-Bosch-Straße 764293 Darmstadt

Dr. Frank ZimmermannPhone +49 6151 392156-12Fax +49 6151 392156-19info@cesah.com

www.cesah.com

Checkpoint Systems GmbHWesterwaldstraße 3–1364646 Heppenheim

Phone +49 6252 703-0Fax +49 6252 703-198de-info@eur.checkpt.com

www.checkpointeurope.com

Daenet Gesellschaft für Informationstechnologie mbH

Hanauer Landstraße 20460314 Frankfurt am Main

Stefan AevermannPhone +49 69 2424080Fax +49 69 24240825info@daenet.eu

www.daenet.eu

DASYS IT.OrganisationRembrandtstraße 1460596 Frankfurt am Main

Phone +49 69 63153141Fax +49 69 63153142info@dasys.de

www.dasys.de

DB Energie GmbHPfarrer-Perabo-Platz 260326 Frankfurt am Main

Gerhard Peter HarmsenPhone +49 69 265-23300Fax +49 69 265-23315gerhard-peter.harmsen@bahn.de

www.dbenergie.de

DB Netz AGTheodor-Heuss-Allee 760486 Frankfurt am Main

Harald HartmannPhone +49 69 265-19171Fax +49 69 265-19045harald.hartmann@dbnetze.com

www.dbnetze.com

DB Systel GmbHKleyerstraße 2760326 Frankfurt am Main

Ulrich MeuserPhone +49 69 265-39500Fax +49 69 265-17265ulrich.meuser@deutschebahn.com

www.dbsystel.de

DC-Datensysteme Vertriebs GmbHAm Sonnenberg 363820 Elsenfeld

Phone +49 9374 99-883Fax +49 9374 99-885dc-datensysteme@t-online.de

www.dc-datensysteme.de

DE-CIX Management GmbHLindleystraße 1260314 Frankfurt am Main

Frank P. OrlowskiPhone +49 69 1730 902-0Fax +49 69 4056 2716frank.orlowski@de-cix.net

www.de-cix.net

DETEC Decision Technology Software GmbH

Bensheimer Straße 6165428 Rüsselsheim

Johannes ThurnerPhone +49 6142 35750Fax +49 6142 357599ruesselsheim@detec.de

www.detec.de

113

www.hessen-it.eu

Deutsche Flugsicherung GmbHResearch & DevelopmentAm DFS-Campus 563225 Langen

Dr. Volker HeilPhone +49 6103 707-5750Fax +49 6103 707-5741volker.heil@dfs.de

www.dfs.eu

DGBMT – Deutsche Gesellschaft für biomedizinische Technik im VDE

Stresemannallee 1560596 Frankfurt am Main

Dr. Thomas BecksPhone +49 69 6308-208Fax +49 69 963152-19dgbmt@vde.com

www.vde.com

Deutsche Lufthansa AGFlughafen-Bereich West60546 Frankfurt am Main

Phone +49 69 69-60Fax +49 69 69-633022

www.lufthansa.com

Division by ZeroSoftware Engineering & Consulting GmbHRheinstraße1565185 Wiesbaden

Ephraim M. FischerPhone +49 611 900 45-0Fax +49 611 900 45-45kontakt@division-by-zero.com

www.division-by-zero.de

EBV Elektronik GmbH & Co. KGBorsigstraße 3662505 Wiesbaden

Phone +49 611 228088-0Fax +49 611 228088-99

www.ebv.com

EDAG GmbH & Co. KGaAReesbergstraße 136039 Fulda

Raoul FlügelPhone +49 661 6000-596Fax +49 661 6000-113204raoul.fluegel@edag.de

www.edag.com

ESA European Space Agency/ ESOCRobert-Bosch-Straße 564293 Darmstadt

Dr. Eva Hassel-von PockPhone +49 6151 90-2861Fax +49 6151 90-961eva.hassel-vonpock@esa.int

www.esa.int

European Business SchoolRheingaustraße 165375 Oestrich-Winkel

Ralf KnochePhone +49 6723 69-0Fax +49 6723 69-133ralf.knoche@ebs.edu

www.ebs.edu

Evangelische Fachhochschule Darmstadt

Nursing and Health StudiesZweifalltorweg 1264293 Darmstadt

Prof. Dr. med. Kerstin WessigPhone +49 6151 8798-54Fax +49 6151 8798-58wessig@efh-darmstadt.de

www.efh-darmstadt.de

F + D Feinwerk- und Drucktechnik GmbHKirchenstraße 3869239 Neckarsteinach

Phone +49 6229 700-0Fax +49 6229 700-67info@fuddruck.de

www.fuddruck.de

114

Your partners in Hessen

Fachhochschule Gießen-FriedbergWiesenstraße 1435390 Gießen

Phone +49 641 309-0Fax +49 641 309-2901

www.fh-giessen-friedberg.de

Feierabend – Online Dienste für Senioren AG

Kaiserstraße 6560329 Frankfurt am Main

Alexander WildPhone +49 69 25 628-0Fax +49 69 25 628-199

www.feierabend.de

Feig Electronic GmbHLange Straße 435781 Weilburg

Andreas LöwPhone +49 6471 3109-344Fax +49 6471 3109-99andreas.loew@feig.de

www.feig.de

FlexSecure GmbHIndustriestraße 1264297 Darmstadt

Erwin StallenbergerPhone +49 6151 50123-0Fax +49 6151 50123-19info@flexsecure.de

www.flexsecure.de

Fraport AGIntermodalityFrankfurt Airport Services Worldwide60547 Frankfurt am Main

Hans FakinerPhone +49 69 690-71146Fax +49 69 690-54451h.fakiner@fraport.de

www.fraport.com

Fraport AG (continuation)

Facility ManagementFrankfurt Airport Services Worldwide60547 Frankfurt am Main

Werner BreitwieserPhone +49 69 690-71569Fax +49 69 690-495-71569w.breitwieser@fraport.de

www.fraport.com

Information & TelecommunicationFrankfurt Airport Services Worldwide60547 Frankfurt am Main

Dr. Rolf FelkelPhone +49 69 690-72025Fax +49 69 690-59848r.felkel@fraport.de

www.fraport.com

Fraunhofer IGDDirectorFraunhoferstraße 564283 Darmstadt

Prof. Dr. techn. Dieter W. FellnerPhone +49 6151 155-100Fax +49 6151 155-105institutsleitung@igd.fraunhofer.de

www.igd.fraunhofer.de

Virtual and Augmented RealityFraunhoferstraße 564283 Darmstadt

Dr.-Ing. Ulrich BockholtPhone +49 6151 155-277Fax +49 6151 155-196ulrich.bockholt@igd.fraunhofer.de

www.igd.fraunhofer.de

Security TechnologyFraunhoferstraße 564283 Darmstadt

Alexander NouakPhone +49 6151 155-147Fax +49 6151 155-499alexander.nouak@igd.fraunhofer.de

www.igd.fraunhofer.de

115

www.hessen-it.eu

Fraunhofer IGD/ Fraunhofer AllianceAmbient Assisted Living

Fraunhoferstraße 564283 Darmstadt

Dr.-Ing. Reiner WichertPhone +49 6151 155-574Fax +49 6151 155-480reiner.wichert@igd.fraunhofer.de

www.igd.fraunhofer.de

Fraunhofer LBFBartningstraße 4764289 Darmstadt

Phone +49 6151 705-0Fax +49 6151 705-214info@lbf.fraunhofer.de

www.lbf.fraunhofer.de

Fraunhofer SITDirectorRheinstraße 7564293 Darmstadt

Prof. Dr. Claudia EckertPhone +49 6151 869-285Fax +49 6151 869-127claudia.eckert@sit.fraunhofer.de

www.sit.fraunhofer.de/en

Gesundheitswirtschaft Rhein-Main e.V.c/o FuP Kommunikations-Management GmbHAugust-Schanz-Straße 8050433 Frankfurt am Main

Linda ThielemannPhone +49 69 954316-0Fax +49 69 954316-25info@gesundheitswirtschaft-rhein-main.de

www.gesundheitswirtschaft-rhein-main.de

GVZ – Güterverkehrszentrum KasselStändeplatz 1334117 Kassel

Klaus OssowskiPhone +49 561 10970-0Fax +49 561 10970-35info@zrk-kassel.de 

www.zrk-kassel.de

HA Hessen Agentur GmbHInnovation, Education, MediaAbraham-Lincoln-Straße 38–4265189 Wiesbaden

Wolf-Martin AhrendPhone +49 611 774-8299Fax +49 611 774-8620wolf-martin.ahrend@hessen-agentur.de

www.hessen-agentur.de

Hermes Logistik GruppeHeinrich-Hertz-Straße 9934123 Kassel

Sven Klimpel

www.hermes-logistik-gruppe.de/en

Hessen-IT New TechnologiesAction-line for the Hessian ICT Market of the HMWVLAbraham-Lincoln-Straße 38–4265189 Wiesbaden

Olaf JüptnerPhone +49 611 774-8469Fax +49 611 774-58469olaf.jueptner@hessen-agentur.de

www.hessen-it.eu

SoftwareAction-line for the Hessian ICT Market of the HMWVLAbraham-Lincoln-Straße 38–4265189 Wiesbaden

Dr. Matthias DonathPhone +49 611 774-8963Fax +49 611 774-58963matthias.donath@hessen-agentur.de

www.hessen-it.eu

Hochschule FuldaMarquardstraße 3536039 Fulda

Prof. Dr. Oleg TaraszowPhone +49 661 9640-328Fax +49 661 9640-184oleg.taraszow@informatik.hs-fulda.de

www.fh-fulda.de

116

Your partners in Hessen

Hochschule RheinMainDesign Informatics MediaKurt-Schumacher-Ring 1865197 Wiesbaden

Prof. Dr. Christoph SchulzPhone +49 611 9495-1200Fax +49 611 9495-1210Christoph.schulz@hs-rm.de

www.hs-rm.de/en

Hochschule DarmstadtInformation Technology and MicrocontrollerHaardtring 10064295 Darmstadt

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Peter FrommPhone +49 6151 16-8237Fax +49 6151 16-8930peter.fromm@h-da.de

www.eit.h-da.de

ccass - competence center for applied sensor systemsBirkenweg 864295 Darmstadt

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Markus HaidPhone +49 170 16 70 205Fax +49 6151 16-8930markus.haid@h-da.de

www.ccass.h-da.de

Knowledge RepresentationHaardtring 10064295 Darmstadt

Prof. Dr. Gerhard KnorzPhone +49 6151 16-8007Fax +49 6151 16-8949gerhard.knorz@h-da.de

www.h-da.de

Wireless Communications and ElectronicsHaardtring 10064295 Darmstadt

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Michael KuhnPhone +49 6151 16-8249Fax +49 6151 16-8931michael.kuhn@h-da.de

www.eit.h-da.de

Hochschule Darmstadt (continuation)

Mobile Computing, Next Generation Networks,Future InternetHaardtring 10064295 Darmstadt

Prof. Dr. Michael MassothPhone +49 6151 16-8449Fax +49 6151 16-8935michael.massoth@h-da.de

www.fbi.h-da.de

Mathematics – StochasticsHaardtring 10064295 Darmstadt

Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Maria Overbeck-LarischPhone +49 6151 16-8651Fax +49 6151 16-8975maria.overbeck@h-da.de

www.fbmn.h-da.de

RF and Microwave Technology,Optical CommunicationsHaardtring 10064295 Darmstadt

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Heinz SchmiedelPhone +49 6151 16-8263Fax +49 6151 16-8931heinz.schmiedel@h-da.de

www.eit.h-da.de

Computer Science and Multimedia TechnologiesHaardtring 10064295 Darmstadt

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Arnd SteinmetzPhone +49 6151 16-9391Fax +49 6151 16-9413arnd.steinmetz@h-da.de

www.media.h-da.de

117

www.hessen-it.eu

Honda Research Institute Europe GmbHCarl-Legien-Straße 3063073 Offenbach/Main

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Edgar KörnerPhone +49 69 89011-750Fax +49 69 89011-749info@honda-ri.de

www.honda-ri.de

HSK, Rhein-Main GmbHLudwig-Erhard-Straße 10065199 Wiesbaden

Holger StrehlauPhone +49 611 432866Fax +49 611 433150holger.strehlau@hsk-gruppe.com

www.hsk-wiesbaden.de

ICS International AGSiemensstraße 1161267 Neu-Anspach

Jose da SilvaPhone +49 6081 9400-0Fax +49 6081 9400-75info@ics-ident.de

www.ics-ident.de

IDENTEC SOLUTIONS Deutschland GmbH

Hertzstraße 1069469 Weinheim

Stefan DewaldPhone +49 6201 9957-44Fax +49 6201 9957-52info@identecsolutions.de

www.identecsolutions.com

IHE Deutschland e.V.c/o Fachverband Elektromedizinische Technik ZVEI – Zentralverband Elektrotechnik- und Elektronikindustrie e.V.Lyoner Straße 960528 Frankfurt am Main

Phone +49 69 6302-275 oder -206Fax +49 69 6302-390info@ihe-d.org

www.ihe-d.org

ITG – Informationstechnische Gesellschaft im VDE

Stresemannallee 1560596 Frankfurt am Main

Dr.-Ing. Volker SchanzPhone +49 69 63-08360Fax +49 69 63-12925volker.schanz@vde.de

www.vde.com

intelligent views gmbhJulius-Reiber-Straße 1764293 Darmstadt

Claudia BaumerPhone +49 6151 5006-423Fax +49 6151 5006-138c.baumer@i-views.de

www.i-views.de

IATA – International Air Transport Association

Poststraße 2–460329 Frankfurt am Main

Phone +49 69 242536-0Fax +49 69 242536-28

www.iata.de

innoforum GmbHBirkenwaldstraße 3863179 Obertshausen

Phone +49 6104 98550Fax +49 6104 985519info@innoforum.de

www.innoforum.de

118

Your partners in Hessen

Integer Solutions GmbHGartenstraße 2761352 Bad Homburg

Olav ReimersPhone +49 6172 59763-117Fax +49 6172 59763-77o.reimers@integer-solutions.com

www.integer-solutions.com

Intersystems GmbHHilpertstraße 20a64295 Darmstadt

Thomas MironiukPhone +49 6151 1747-12Fax +49 6151 1747-11thomas.mironiuk@intersystems.com

www.intersystems.de

Johann Wolfgang Goethe-UniversitätUnibatorGrüneburgplatz 160323 Frankfurt am Main

Phone +49 69 798 34713Fax +49 69 798 35001ozimec@wiwi.uni-frankfurt.de

www.unibator.de

Justus-Liebig-Universität GießenLandscape Ecology and Resources ManagementHeinrich-Buff-Ring 26-3235392 Gießen

Prof. Dr. Stefan GäthPhone +49 641 99-37381Fax +49 641 99-37389stefan.a.gaeth@umwelt.uni-giessen.de

www.uni-giessen.de

LH Engineering GmbHErbacher Straße 68 a64739 Höchst

Norbert HembergerPhone +49 6163 913-775Fax +49 6163 913-774info@lh-engineering.com

www.lh-engineering.com

Logistik RheinMainJean-Gardner-Batten-Straße 860549 Frankfurt am Main

Phone +49 69 2475217-10Fax +49 69 2475217-88wissen@logistik-rheinmain.de

www.logistik-rheinmain.de

Lorenz Zahlungssysteme GmbHEschborner Landstraße 7560489 Frankfurt

Heger BernhardPhone +49 769 78991202bheger@lzs-zahlungssysteme.de

www.lzs-zahlungssysteme.de

Lufthansa Cargo AGFlughafen-Bereich West60546 Frankfurt am Main

Phone +49 69 696-0Fax +49 69 696-91185lhcargo@dlh.de

www.lufthansa-cargo.com

Lufthansa Systems AGAm Weiher 2465451 Kelsterbach

Phone +49 69 696-90000Fax +49 69 696-95959info@LHsystems.com

www.LHsystems.com

MAVinci UGRobert-Bosch-Straße 764293 Darmstadt

Phone +49 6151-3688915Fax +49 6151-3688916team@mavinci.eu

www.mavinci.eu

119

www.hessen-it.eu

Merck KGaAFrankfurter Straße 25064293 Darmstadt

Phone +49 6151 72-0Fax +49 6151 72-2000service@merck.de

www.merck.de

MOBA Mobile Automation AGKapellenstraße 1565555 Limburg

Volker HarmsPhone +49 6431 9577-0Fax +49 6431 9577-177moba-ag@moba.de

www.moba.de/en.html

mobileobjects AGWesterbachstraße 2861476 Kronberg/Taunus

Phone +49 6173 9979-0Fax +49 6173 9979-20info@mobileobjects.de

www.mobileobjects.de

Motorola GmbHTelco-Kreisel 165510 Idstein

Phone +49 6126 9576-0Fax +49 6126 9576-999

www.motorola.com

Opticon Sensoren GmbHOffice DietzenbachWaldstraße 9263128 Dietzenbach

Manuela KuttigPhone +49 6074 91890-0Fax +49 6074 91890-33sales.de@opticon.com

www.opticon.com

Pepperl + Fuchs/ Omnitron AGIm Leuschnerpark 464347 Griesheim

Wolfgang WeberPhone +49 6155 8740-20Fax +49 6155 8740-12wweber@de.pepperl-fuchs.com

www.pepperl-fuchs.com

PRINTRONIX Deutschland GmbHGoethering 5663067Offenbach

Phone +49 69 829706-0Fax +49 69 829706-22emeasales@printronix.com

www.printronix.de

PS4B – Professional Solutions for Business GmbH

Platz der Einheit 160327 Frankfurt am Main

Frank HerzogPhone +49 69 97503-484Fax +49 69 97503-200info@ps4b.de

www.ps4b.de

PSC GmbHRöntgenstraße 4364291 Darmstadt

Phone +49 6151 9358-0Fax +49 6151 9358-97marion.jost@psc.com

http://de.psc.com

REA Elektronik GmbHTeichwiesenstraße 164367 Mühltal-Waschenbach

Phone +49 6154 638-0Fax +49 6154 638-195reainfo@rea.de

www.rea-elektronik.net

120

Your partners in Hessen

RMS Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund Servicegesellschaft mbH

Am Hauptbahnhof 660329 Frankfurt am Main

Marco F. GennaroPhone +49 69 27307-221Fax +49 69 27307-478mgennaro@rms-consult.de

www.rms-consult.de

RMV Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund GmbHAlte Bleiche 565719 Hofheim am Taunus

Dr.-Ing. Josef BeckerPhone +49 6192 294-0Fax +49 6192 294-900info@rmv.de

www.rmv.de

Rittal GmbH & Co. KGAuf dem Stützelberg35745 Herborn

Phone +49 2772 505-0Fax +49 2772 505 2319info@rittal.de

www.rittal.de

SAP Research CEC DarmstadtBleichstraße 864283 Darmstadt

Dr. Knut ManskePhone +49 6227 7-68800Fax +49 6227 7-844632knut.manske@sap.com

www.sap.com/research

Seiko Instruments GmbHSiemensstraße 963263 Neu-Isenberg

Phone +49 6102 297-0Fax +49 6102 297-320info@seiko-instruments.de

www.seiko-instruments.de

Sensitec GmbHGeorg-Ohm-Straße 1135633 Lahnau – Waldgirmes

Phone +49 6441 9788-0Fax +49 6441 9788-17sensitec@sensitec.com mehr

www.sensitec.com

SER GmbHSoftware Engineering Rodinger

Seligenstädter Straße 6863500 Seligenstadt

Manfred RodingerPhone +49 6182 7053Fax +49 6182 7105sergmbh@ser-gmbh.de

www.ser-gmbh.de  

Service Gesellschaft Spedition undLogistik mbH

Königsberger Straße 2960487 Frankfurt am Main

Marc KöhlerPhone +49 69 9708110Fax +49 69 776356info@speditionsportal.net

www.speditionsportal.net

Software AGUhlandstraße 1264297 Darmstadt

Dominik NagelPhone +49 6151 92-1976Fax +49 6151 92-1623dominik.nagel@softwareag.com

www.softwareag.com

Sokymat Transponder Technologies GmbHAm Klingenweg 6A65396 Walluf

Phone +49 6123 791-350Fax +49 6123 791-113

www.sokymat.com

121

www.hessen-it.eu

Sony Computer Entertainment Deutschland GmbH

Frankfurter Straße 23363263 Neu-Isenburg

Phone +49 6102 433-0

de.playstation.com

Speditions- & Logistikverband Hessen/Rheinland-Pfalz e.V.

Königsberger Straße 2960487 Frankfurt am Main

Thorsten HölserPhone +49 69 9708110Fax +49 69 776356info@speditionsportal.net

www.speditionsportal.net

speedikon Facility Management AGBerliner Ring 8964625 Bensheim

Arno SchwarzPhone +49 6151 584-235Fax +49 6151 584-414a.schwarz@speedikonfm.com

www.speedikonfm.com

Smart Future InitiativeDarmstaedter Straße 5264367 Muehltal

Dr. Dr. Norbert StreitzPhone +49 6151 146-972Fax +49 6151 504-7779norbert.streitz@smart-future.net

www.smart-future.net

S Y S M A T GmbHGötzenweg 1063533 Mainhausen

Rainer SchulzPhone +49 6182 8265804Fax +49 6182 8265805info@sysmat.de

www.sysmat.de/en/home

T-Systems International GmbHHahnstraße 43d60528 Frankfurt am Main

Günter GrebePhone +49 69 66531-2710Fax +49 69 66531-239guenter.grebe@t-systems.com

www.t-systems.com

T-Systems Internation GmbHHahnstraße 43d60528 Frankfurt am Main

Harald RuhlPhone +49 69 66531-8821harald.ruhl@t-systems.com

www.t-systems.com

T-Systems International GmbHHahnstraße 43d60528 Frankfurt am Main

Christiane MüllerPhone +49 69 66531-0Fax +49 69 66531-139info@t-systems.com

www.t-systems.com

Technische Universität DarmstadtComputer Integrated DesignPetersenstraße 3064287 Darmstadt

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Reiner AnderlPhone +49 6151 16-6001Fax +49 6151 16-6854anderl@dik.tu-darmstadt.de

www.dik.tu-darmstadt.de

Transport Planning and Traffic EngineeringPetersenstraße 3064287 Darmstadt

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Manfred BoltzePhone +49 6151 16-2025Fax +49 6151 16-4625boltze@verkehr.tu-darmstadt.de

www.verkehr.tu-darmstadt.de

122

Your partners in Hessen

Technische Universität Darmstadt (cont.)

Databases and Distributed SystemsHochschulstraße 1064289 Darmstadt

Prof. Dr. Alejandro BuchmannPhone +49 6151 16-6230Fax +49 6151 16-6229 buchmann@dvs.tu-darmstadt.de

www.dvs.tu-darmstadt.de

Flight Systems and Automatic ControlPetersenstraße 3064287 Darmstadt

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Uwe KlingaufPhone +49 6151 16-2190Fax +49 6151 16-5434klingauf@fsr.tu-darmstadt.de

www.fsr.tu-darmstadt.de

TelecooperationHochschulstraße 1064289 Darmstadt

Prof. Dr. Max MühlhäuserPhone +49 6151 16-3709Fax +49 6151 16-6597max@informatik.tu-darmstadt.de

www.tk.informatik.tu-darmstadt.de

Railway EngineeringPetersenstraße 3064287 Darmstadt

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Andreas ÖttingPhone +49 6151 16-65911Fax +49 6151 16-6903oetting@verkehr.tu-darmstadt.de

www.verkehr.tu-darmstadt.de

Management & LogisticsHochschulstraße 164289 Darmstadt

Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Hans-Christian PfohlPhone +49 6151 16-2123Fax +49 6151 16-6503pfohl@bwl.tu-darmstadt.de

www.bwl.tu-darmstadt.de

Technische Universität Darmstadt (cont.)

Multimedia Communications LabRundeturmstraße 1064283 Darmstadt

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Ralf SteinmetzPhone +49 6151 166151Fax +49 6151 166152ralf.steinmetz@kom.tu-darmstadt.de

www.kom.tu-darmstadt.de

Simulation, Systems Optimization and RoboticsHochschulstraße 1064289 Darmstadt

Prof. Dr. Oskar von StrykPhone +49 6151 16-2513Fax +49 6151 16-6648stryk@sim.tu-darmstadt.de

www.sim.tu-darmstadt.de

Automotive EngineeringPetersenstraße 3064287 Darmstadt

Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Hermann WinnerPhone +49 6151 16-3796Fax +49 6151 16-5192winner@fzd.tu-darmstadt.de

www.fzd.tu-darmstadt.de

TECTUS Transponder Technology GmbHAdlerstraße 263322 Rödermark

Udo W. DoegePhone +49 6074 8619-28Fax +49 6074 8619-29u.doege@tec-tus.de

www.tec-tus.de

Telenet AG Rhein-MainFrankfurter Straße 129b64293 Darmstadt

Michael VesterPhone +49 6151 7333-50Fax +49 6151 7333-25info@telenet-ag.de

www.telenet-ag.de

123

www.hessen-it.eu

Uniklinikum Gießen und Marburg GmbHKlinikstraße 3635392 Gießen

Prof. Dr. Kurt Heinz MarquardtPhone +49 641 99-44494Fax +49 641 99-44499kurt.marquardt@akad.med.uni-giessen.de

www.uniklinikum-giessen.de

Universität KasselCommunication TechnologyWilhelmshöher Allee 7334121 Kassel

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Klaus DavidPhone +49 561 804-6314Fax +49 561 804-6360david@uni-kassel.de

www.comtec.eecs.uni-kassel.de

Distributed SystemsWilhelmshöher Allee 7334121 Kassel

Prof. Dr. Kurt GeihsPhone +49 561 804-6275Fax +49 561 804-6277geihs@uni-kassel.de

www.vs.uni-kassel.de

Public Law, Environmental Law and IT LawNora-Platiel-Straße 534109 Kassel

Prof. Dr. Alexander RoßnagelPhone +49 561 804-3130Fax +49 561 804-3737a.rossnagel@uni-kassel.de

www.uni-kassel.de

VDE Initiative MikromedizinStresemannallee 1560596 Frankfurt am Main

Johannes DehmPhone +49 69 6308-348Fax +49 69 6312925dgbmt-imm@vde.com

www.vde.com

VDE Prüf- und Zertifizierungsinstitut GmbH

Usability ChecksMerianstraße 2863069 Offenbach am Main

Dr. Thomas SeitzPhone +49 69 8306-318Fax +49 69 8306-855thomas.seitz@vde.com

www.vde.com

VDE Verband der Elektrotechnik Elektronik Informationstechnik e.V.

Stresemannallee 1560596 Frankfurt am Main

Phone +49 69 6308-0Fax +49 69 6312925service@vde.com

www.vde.com

VDA – Verband der AutomobilindustrieWestendstraße 6160325 Frankfurt am Main

Phone +49 69 97507-0Fax +49 69 97507-261info@vda.de

www.vda.de

Vodafone D2 GmbHAlfred-Herrhausen-Allee 165760 Eschborn

Rudolf MarkschlägerPhone +49 69 2169-5101Fax +49 69 2169-8509rudolf.markschlaeger@vodafone.com

www.vodafone.com

Volkswagen AG KasselKommunikation/4976Dr. Rudolf-Leiding-Platz 134225 Baunatal

Rudolf StassekPhone +49 561 490-4975Fax +49 561 490-3505rudolf.stassek@volkswagen.de

www.volkswagen.de

Woco Industrietechnik GmbHHanauer Landstraße 1663628 Bad Soden-Salmünster

Phone +49 6056 78-0Fax +49 6056 78-7212info@de.wocogroup.com

www.wocogroup.com

ZVEI – Zentralverband Elektrotechnik-und Elektroindustrie e.V.

Lyoner Straße 960528 Frankfurt am Main

Phone +49 69 6302-0Fax +49 69 6302-317zvei@zvei.org

www.zvei.org

ZIV – Zentrum für integrierte Verkehrssysteme GmbH

Robert-Bosch-Straße 764293 Darmstadt

Dr.-Ing. Peter SturmPhone +49 6151 27028-0Fax +49 6151 27028-10kontakt@ziv.de

www.ziv.de

Your partners in Hessen

124

125

www.hessen-it.eu

The action-line Hessen-IT

Hessen-IT is the action-line of the Hessian Ministry of Economy, Transport,

Urban and Regional Development for the entire information and com -

munication market in Hessen. Hessen-IT provides information and ser-

vices on matters such as the online market, e- and m-commerce, software

and telecommunications providers and teleworking. We focus on both the

10,000 Hessian companies that offer products and services on the infor-

mation and communication market, as well as the small to medium-sized

enterprises that use them.

Our provider databases facilitate the search for suitable service providers

when carrying out IT projects. At the same time, these databases form an

information and communication platform for providers, who can use it to

present themselves to users and potential customers.

News tickers, e-mail and print newsletters report regularly on the ICT market

in Hessen. Numerous publications and series supplement the information

provided on the website. The brochures can by ordered easily online, or

downloaded.

Hessen-IT has initiated various networks and industry get-togethers, in

which both commercial and non-commercial providers have formed

alliances. Regional multimedia and e-commerce centres, as well as

chambers of commerce, trade chambers and other regional parties all

work together with the goal of further securing Hessen's strong position

in the German and European ICT market and of bringing us further along

the path towards an information society.

6

The action-line Hessen-IT

126

On the online calendar of the website you will find an overview of these

networks and gatherings, as well as a notice of events in which Hessen-IT

is participating. Competent members of the team are also present at inter-

national trade fairs such as the CeBIT, or at regional events throughout

Hessen. In addition, Hessen-IT organises seminars and workshops on

different topics.

The Hessen-IT project team is happy to help you.

Please visit our website at

www.hessen-it.eu

The publication series of Hessen-ITOpportunities to purchase and download as a PDF file are available at

www.hessen-it.de

Hessen-Media (about us)

2001 Hessen-infoline-Netzwerk (Volume 26)

Projektdokumentation (Volume 1)

Education and Science

2002 Telemedizin in Hessen–Beiträge aus dem Universitätsklinikum Gießen (Volume 24)

2001 Entwicklung und Einsatz elektronischer Medien als Lehr- und Lernmittel an hessischen Hochschulen (Volume 27)

Kompetenzzentren und Onlinedienste im Schulwesen – Beispiele für Hessen-Media Projekte (Volume 25)

2000 Die virtuelle Universität (Volume 15)

E-Government

2002 Auf dem Weg zu E-Government – Hessens Kommunen im Internet (Volume 37)

Wirtschaftsförderung und Standortmarketing im Internet (Volume 36)

Market reports IT-location Hessen

2008 Telekommunikationsanbieter in Hessen 2008 (Volume 60)

2006 IKT-Markt in Hessen (Volume 58)

2004 Softwareanbieter in Hessen 2004 (Volume 50)

Telekommunikationsanbieter in Hessen 2004 (Volume 49)

2003 Online-Anbieter in Hessen (Volume 2)

2002 E-Shops in Hessen (Volume 28)

2000 Der Telekommunikationsmarkt in Hessen (Volume 21)

127

www.hessen-it.eu

Guidelines for IT applications

2010 Ambient Mobility - Intelligent Products and Environments for Mobile Citizens and Businesses (Volume 62)

SOA - Mehr als nur flexible Softwarearchitekturen (Volume 63)

Notleidende Projekte - Eine Hilfestellung für IT-Projekte in sieben Akten(Volume 64)

Die Gamesbranche - Ein ernstzunehmender Wachstumsmarkt (Volume 59, 2nd revised edition)

Satellitennavigation in Hessen - Ideen über All (Volume 65)

2009 Ambient Mobility – Intelligente Produkte und Umgebungen für mobile Bürger und Unternehmen (Volume 61)

Rating für IKT-Unternehmen (Volume 53, 2nd revised edition)

2008 Leitfaden zur Patentierung computer implementierter Erfindungen(Volume 51, 2nd revised edition)

2007 Web 2.0 – Neue erfolgreiche Kommunikationsstrategien für kleine und mittlere Unternehmen (Volume 57)

Die Gamesbranche – Ein ernstzunehmender Wachstumsmarkt (Volume 59)

In modernen Märkten überleben – Kooperationen mittelständischer Softwareunternehmen in Hessen (Volume 44, 2nd edition)

2006 Internet-Marketing nicht nur für kleine und mittlere Unternehmen (Volume 52)

Basel II – Rating für IT-Unternehmen (Volume 53)

RFID – Geschäftsprozesse mit Funktechnologie unterstützen (Volume 54)

Anti-Spam – Ein Leitfaden über und gegen unverlangte E-Mail-Werbung (Volume 55)

VoIP – Telefonieren über das Internet (Volume 56)

Leitfaden Webdesign – Internetpräsenzen besser planen und gestalten (Volume 7, 5th edition)

2005 Recht im Internet (Volume 33, 2nd edition)

Gefunden werden im Internet (Volume 32, 2nd edition)

128

The publication series of Hessen-IT

2004 Wettbewerbsvorteile durch barrierefreie Internetauftritte (Volume 48)

Domainregistrierung international (Volume 47)

Wireless-LAN: Stand und Entwicklungspotenzial, Nutzungsansätze für KMU(Volume 46)

2003 E-Business-Konzepte für den Mittelstand (Volume 45)

Leitfaden „In modernen Märkten überleben“ (Volume 44)

Projektleitfaden „Software-Ergonomie“ (Volume 43)

„Digitale Signatur“, Leitfaden zum Einsatz digitaler Signaturen (Volume 42)

Die Bedeutung der E-Logistik für den Mittelstand (Volume 41)

Management von Kundenbeziehungen im Internet (Volume 40)

Leitfaden „Webdesign – Internetpräsenzen besser planen und gestalten“ (Volume 7)

2002 IT-Sicherheit für den Mittelstand (Volume 38)

E-Paymentsysteme – Bezahlen im Internet (Volume 35)

ASP: Mehr als nur Mietsoftware (Volume 34)

Recht im Internet (Volume 33)

Gefunden werden im Internet (Volume 32)

E-Learning für KMU – Neue Medien in der betrieblichen Aus- und Weiterbildung (Volume 31)

Telehaus Wetter – ein TeleServiceZentrum (Volume 30)

2001 Kasseler Praxis-Dialog Tele@rbeit – Analysen · Erfahrungen · Positionen (Volume 29)

2000 Leitfaden „Webdesign international“ (Volume 22)

E-Shop-Software (Volume 20)

Hessische Handwerker entdecken das Internet (Volume 19)

Leitfaden zur Anwendung eines Ratingsystems für IT-Unternehmen in Hessen(Volume 18)

Software-Dialog Hessen (3) (Volume 17)

Leitfaden „E-Shop“ (Volume 16)

129

www.hessen-it.euThe publication series of Hessen-IT

130

131

Hessian Ministry of Economy,Transport, Urban and Regional Development

www.hessen-it.de

Hessen IT

Volume 62

Ambient MobilityIntelligent Products and Environments for Mobile Citizens and Businesses

ISBN 978-3-939358-62-6 Hessen-IT Volum

e 62

Ambient Mobility