The IWM has its finger on the pulse of the times with its research topics. It provides answers to questions that move our knowledge society in the 21st century. In this document, you can gain an insight into some of the exciting topics that our scientists are working on.
In no other area has the topic of digitalization recently come into focus as much as in schools. But digitalization is more than just new instead of old. Digitalization means using technology wisely. What is conducive to learning in the virtual classroom and how learning content should be prepared has been researched at the IWM for years.
What appears to be a modern classroom at first glance, reveals itself to be a true high-tech laboratory. In the Tübingen Digital Teaching Lab (TüDiLab), there are not only smartboards, laptops and tablets, but also eye trackers, a 360-degree camera and precise sound technology. This is where IWM researchers and prospective teachers from the Tübingen School of Education find out how to make the most of the potential of modern technology.
Composing means putting things together. Cleverly arranged, notes become music. And from LEGO bricks? Researchers at the IWM have developed software that makes music out of Lego pieces. The LEGO table recognizes the position and length of the bricks and assigns them to tones and rests accordingly. It transforms visible patterns into audible melodies. The aim is to make pupils understand the connection between mathematical and musical relationships. What does your favorite song look like in LEGO bricks? Find out for yourself!
Museums are places of knowledge transfer. The central task is to present exhibits in such a way that visitors learn intuitively and independently. The researchers at the IWM provide exhibition designers with important insights for the conception of digital formats. How can these be optimally integrated into a diverse museum landscape? The aim is to improve learning in museums. To this end, the researchers are investigating the learning success that visitors achieve thanks to digital media.
A hands-on museum - more than just an empty phrase at the IWM. In cooperation with the German Maritime Museum Bremerhaven (DSM) and materials scientists from the University of Bremen, a digital twin of an exhibit was created for an experimental exhibition at the IWM. This means, for instance, that the DSM's rare sperm whale tooth carving does not remain trapped in a glass display case. As part of the exhibition, visitors can now rotate and enlarge the digital twin at will. The researchers want to find out how this affects the experience and behaviour of visitors. They are also using eye tracking for this purpose.
Whether in town halls, museums or memorials, multi-touch tables help users to deal with complex information more intuitively and grasp it better - as studies by the IWM also show. Swiping, zooming and sliding makes knowledge tangible. The IWM is working on making even better use of this technology. For example, the researchers have developed applications that make it possible to literally experience art, music and history up close.
How to impart knowledge that lasts? This is a key question for museum educators. A flood of information makes people forget. Findings from the IWM show that the way in which information is presented has a significant influence on how we filter it. In illustrations, colours and comments on the credibility of the information have a decisive effect on whether we forget or remember. The researchers are finding out whether this also applies to 3D exhibitions at the Baths of Pompeii.
There is no doubt that digital media make countless tasks easier. However, the interaction between humans and machines does not always work smoothly. Researchers at the IWM are investigating how people interact with their digital helpers. In addition to the fundamental problems of this human-machine interaction, they are also concerned with the question of acceptance. How must technology be designed so that people are willing to use and cooperate with it? The findings help to improve this cooperation between humans and machines.
Big eyes, elegant movements, polite manners - we are talking about Pepper, the IWM robot with human-like features. The researchers are using him to investigate which factors influence the relationship between humans and machines. Pepper is made of plastic.
Goethe, Schiller, Hölderlin - we revere such poets as unique figures of light. But what if an AI could write poetry just as well? Writing tools are now capable of composing stories and poems. Researchers at the IWM are interested in the question of how these are received by readers. Together with experts from the German Literature Archive in Marbach, they observe the readers. Do they understand the texts? Do they take them seriously? Do they find them beautiful? And when they have to decide, do they recognize the AI.
Teamwork succeeds through mutual understanding. We often have a natural understanding of human team members, but what if an AI is part of the team? Researchers at the IWM are investigating whether humans can assess artificial intelligences. To this end, they have developed a cooperative version of the computer game Tetris. The players guess which piece the AI will choose next. Initial results show that the test subjects quickly improve. They learn to predict the AI's behaviour.