[By Vimita Mohandas, Channel News Asia]
Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and Fraunhofer – one of Europe’s largest research organisations – have jointly set up a new research centre to develop 3D technology.
The S$14 million Fraunhofer Interactive Digital Media @NTU will focus on interactive and digital media research and look into commercialising applications. The research centre is funded by NTU, Fraunhofer and the Media Development Authority.
Developing cutting-edge 3D technology to solve real-world problems – that is the aim of the newly opened Fraunhofer Interactive Digital Media @ NTU.
Among prototypes it has developed so far, is a virtual augmented Chinese learning aid. The learning game will benefit non-Chinese learners. To find out the meaning of a particular Chinese character, all they have to do is point it towards a camera and its image will be flashed on a screen.
The centre also hopes to develop breakthrough projects for the benefit of sectors such as tourism, culture and transport.
With media technologies constantly changing, the research centre hopes to engage youths.
Professor Freddy Boey, Provost-Designate of NTU, said: “Today, our young people are very media savvy, very visual. Everybody has an iPhone, iPad and this is where we’re coming in. With good graphic improvements, it will engage young people, not only in Singapore but the whole of Asia.”
The centre will also work on research areas like computer graphics and computer vision. The facility will also offer joint PhD programmes in visual computing with two leading universities from Germany and Austria.
As a start, a total of 20 scholarships will be given to promising PhD students – 10 from NTU and another 10 from the universities in Germany and Austria.
Under this programme – graduate researchers can go to Austria or Germany for at least a year to do their thesis and research at the Fraunhofer institutes there and vice versa. It signed agreements for the two joint programmes with Graz University of Technology and Technische Universitat Darmsradt.
See the original story here: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1137203/1/.html