Nicole Zigan will explore the specific requirements and needs for the use of social assistance robots in care homes. These are to be used for people with dementia. Marion Pomey, on the other hand, is dedicated to children and young people in her project: she is researching how "well-being" can be created digitally in out-of-home care.

Several projects deal with the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and show how versatile this technology can be. Matthias Nyfeler is developing a Deep Learning model to classify the sounds of grasshoppers (Orthoptera) using a smartphone. This is intended to advance efficient biodiversity monitoring through citizen science initiatives.

With their projects, Curtis Gautschi and Dominik Kunz are helping to drive forward the digital transformation at the ZHAW itself. Gautschi develops a Generative AI-based text quality assessment tool for Thesis Writer, a ZHAW-based dissertation writing support platform. And Kunz is developing and evaluating an AI-supported tool for the ZHAW to automate the work process for literature reviews.

Helmut Grabner explores the question of what makes an image interesting and how to recognize good, attractive images. In his project, he is using computer vision methods to develop a web-based tool that can recognise and predict the most interesting image. The aim is to help users create images that appeal to their target groups.

Because we can encounter many (deep) fakes in photos and videos in our everyday digital lives, Patrick Giedemann's AI-based platform is designed to help fact-checkers recognise misinformation in videos.

You can find everything about the "Digital Futures Fund" and an overview of all projects funded or submitted to date on the ZHAW digital website.