The AixCAVE at the IT Center of RWTH Aachen University is a five-sided virtual reality installation for displaying immersive, virtual environments. It was set up and put into operation in August 2012 by Barco N.V. in collaboration with the Virtual Reality Group. With a floor area of more than 5 x 5 square meters and a height of over 3 meters, the system is not only one of the largest in the world, it also sets high standards in terms of projection quality: a combination of high-resolution projectors with high, uniform brightness, specially coated screens, a sophisticated mechanical design and active stereo technology creates a high degree of immersion and therefore presence in the virtual environment. The AixCAVE is used in particular by numerous institutes of RWTH Aachen University and their cooperation partners from industry and academia. The stereoscopic projection of the AixCAVE is generated using four digital projectors per side wall and eight projectors for the floor area. The arrangement of the projection surfaces enables a 360-degree all-round view, which creates an almost perfect immersion and still allows natural movements in the virtual environment. The 24 HD DLP projectors have a resolution of 1920 x 1200 pixels (combined, this means approximately 3840 x 2160 pixels per side wall and is therefore almost 4K) and therefore enable the reproduction of sharp, high-resolution images, which is particularly important for the interactive analysis of complex technical and physical processes. They are operated with a 24-node visualization cluster with 48 NVIDIA GPUs. Each node has two Intel Xeon Skylake CPUs (ten cores with 2.2 gigahertz) and 192 gigabytes of RAM. The nodes also have two NVIDIA Quadro P6000 (Pascal architecture) GPUs per slave node and one on the master node. Since 2015, an acoustic system has been put into operation in addition to the visualization, which is used for sound reinforcement of the user and enables a multimodal presentation of virtual environments. A total of 21 loudspeakers have been mounted on the ceiling for this purpose. Passive optimization of the room acoustics using large-area absorbers reduces the reverberation within the AixCAVE and shields additional sound from the outside area, e.g. to dampen fan noise from the projectors. Acoustic signals can be picked up at any time via 22 microphones embedded in the ceiling to enable communication or interaction. The operation and software expansion of the system is being implemented in collaboration with the Institute for Hearing Technology and Acoustics.

Development of a bed sensor system in an outpatient care setting that records data on the health status of people in need of care and helps to make the work of outpatient care services easier. Overview of success factors for the development and use of innovative ICT (information and communication technology) in outpatient care for the elderly, so that interaction work is promoted and not hindered, - Development of user-friendly sensor, networking and interface technologies and provision of selected prototypes for testing under real conditions, - development of business models for care-related ICT use for developer and user companies, - development and testing of target group-oriented qualification measures for the use of digital technology in outpatient care, - development of innovative approaches for user participation in the technology development process, - implementation of successful transfer and utilization measures for the target groups of outpatient care, technology development and science.

Temi represents an innovative approach to using robotics to counteract the isolation of older people and those in need of care. Being connected with other people is a basic human need. A lack of social contact and the associated loneliness increase the risk of illness and death. Digitalization offers new opportunities to enable contact and social participation even at a distance. However, care home residents have largely been denied access to the digital world to date. Due to the complexity and complexity of the operating levels, standard technology is difficult to use for people in need of care, many of whom have limited mobility. For this reason, the use of tele-robots (TEMI) from Medisana to increase social participation in inpatient care is to be explored and tested.