Current Press Releases

Luca Cuccovillo, Patrick Aichroth, and Thomas Köllmer received the Best Paper Award at the 2024 AES International Conference on Audio Forensics in Denver (Colorado, USA) at the end of June. They described a method which not only makes it possible to determine whether the speech is synthesized or not, but also provides a score indicating how reliable this recognition is.

Loud or unpleasant driving noises can impair the enjoyment of music in the car. Some sound systems therefore dynamically adjust the volume and bass. However, individual sound preferences are not taken into account. A study from Fraunhofer IDMT in Oldenburg has now investigated the influence of background noise on the personal sound experience while driving – and shows how an adjustment of individual sound preferences once could improve the sound in the vehicle (and beyond).

Some children learn to talk sooner than others. This makes it difficult to detect anomalies in language acquisition immediately and in the first years of their lives. However, to give children affected by such a developmental delay a good start when they go to school, early support is essential. Together, Fraunhofer IDMT in Oldenburg and the Klett Group are exploring to what extent technological solutions can help nursery teachers to identify support needs.

The Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Media Technology IDMT celebrated its 20th anniversary yesterday, Wednesday, May 22, 2024, with a festive and entertaining event in the Parkcafé of the Festhalle Ilmenau. More than 100 invited guests from politics, science and industry accepted the invitation from Institute Director Professor Joachim Bös. The anniversary celebration took place at the same location where the official launch of the Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Media Technology IDMT was celebrated 20 years ago.

Since October 2023, SWR Media Services GmbH has been using the audio matching software of the Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Media Technology IDMT for its automated advertising monitoring. The software checks the correct broadcasting of commercials and sponsor mentions in five SWR radio programs during the advertising hours. In the past, the correct broadcasting of commercials was checked manually.

Since November 2023, Luca Cuccovillo, an audio forensics researcher at the Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Media Technology IDMT in Ilmenau, has been leading the ENFSI expert working group on Forensic Speech and Audio Analysis (FSAAWG). The group promotes research activities, best practices, training opportunities, and development of innovative techniques in the field of audio forensic science across Europe.

Since the beginning of the year, researchers at Fraunhofer IDMT in Oldenburg have been studying the communication parameters of level-dependent hearing protectors and users’ auditory perception of their environment in the “ProSA” (Protection and Situational Awareness) project. The aim is to facilitate needs-based recommendations for individual occupational groups in the future. The project is funded by the German Social Accident Insurance (DGUV).

Laura Tuschen, head of the Assistive Speech and Language Analysis group, gives an insight into the work of the research group. The focus is on technologies that support people in verbal communication.

On October 1, 2023, the starting signal was given for a new project in which artificial intelligence (AI) is to be combined with human intuition. The project is being led by Professor Jörn Arnecke from the Center for Music Theory at the University of Music FRANZ LISZT in Weimar. Andrew McLeod, researcher at Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Media Technology IDMT, is playing a supporting role as an advisor for the artificial musical intelligence in the project. The aim of the "Musik-Automat" project is to create new ways to learn musical composition through the interactive interplay between students and AI. An app is to be developed for this purpose.

On October 24, 2023, the German actress and co-founder of the MaLisa Foundation, Maria Furtwängler, presented the results of the study "Climate change and biodiversity: What does television show - what do viewers want?" in Munich. The study was initiated jointly by the MaLisa Foundation and the four German major television stations ARD, ZDF, ProSiebenSat.1 and RTL Deutschland. The study investigated whether there is a discrepancy between the presentation of the climate crisis and biodiversity in German television programs and the perception of these topics by viewers. The Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Media Technology IDMT was responsible for the audio and video analysis of the television program as a research partner in the one-year project.