Press Releases

Language skills constitute an important foundation for educational success, social participation, and personal development. Researchers at Fraunhofer IDMT are developing automated methods for analyzing children’s speech to identify developmental risks early on and support professionals in documentation, intervention planning, and progress monitoring. This technology addresses various application areas and can be integrated into digital diagnostic, educational, and therapeutic services.

The Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Media Technology IDMT will present its expanded Content Verification Toolbox at IBC 2026, September 11–14 in Amsterdam. With a particular focus on audio and speech, the toolbox combines technologies for verification, forensics, provenance, tracking and content intelligence.

Drones can pose a security risk to airports, critical infrastructure, military facilities, and large-scale events. However, they are difficult to detect when they fly beyond visual line of sight, for example, when visibility is impaired by terrain, buildings, or weather. Fraunhofer IDMT in Oldenburg has developed an intelligent acoustic sensor solution that detects and localizes drones based on their characteristic sound patterns, even without visual contact. Fraunhofer IDMT experts will demonstrate the technology live on a demo vehicle during Drone Days from August 26 to 28.

What does our brain reveal about us? Recording brain activity via electroencephalograms (EEGs) provides important insights for science and medicine. For example, modern AI systems can identify early signs of disease in these signals. However, the individual data patterns also allow conclusions about specific individuals. Experts refer to these as “brainprints”. The “NEMO” project, coordinated by Fraunhofer IDMT, has researched technologies to enhance data protection while simultaneously improving the availability of EEG data for scientific research. The researchers’ approach aims to significantly reduce the risk of reidentification in recorded EEG data, while preserving relevant information for data analysis. The research results have already been successfully demonstrated using sleep phase analysis as an example.

The Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Media Technology IDMT has successfully completed its work on the research project “Neuroadaptivity for Autonomous Systems” (NAFAS). The experts from Oldenburg played a key role in the development of a mobile EEG system for brain-computer interfaces as part of the project, which in total received 30 million euros in funding from the Cyber Agency. In doing so, they made a significant contribution to achieving the project’s first milestones.

Researchers from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, the University of Hamburg, Freie Universität Berlin and the Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Media Technology IDMT show in a recent publication in the journal Nature Climate Change that television in Germany remains one of the most important media for engaging with the issue of climate change. Moreover, television can contribute to societal consensus-building. The study finds that climate-related television content primarily reaches news-oriented audiences, while disengaged and sceptical groups rarely encounter the topic due to their preferred TV formats.

Music rights can be a real problem for figure skaters, as recent headlines surrounding the 2026 Olympics have shown. Spanish figure skater Tomàs-Llorenç Guarino Sabaté, known for his free skate to music from the Minions film series, became embroiled in a rights controversy shortly before his Olympic debut in Milan-Cortina: The music he had used in many competitions throughout the season was initially not allowed to be used at the Olympic Games because the necessary copyright approvals were not confirmed in time – just a few days before the start of the competitions.

In film, television, streaming, or live productions, ensuring good speech intelligibility is one of the biggest challenges for professional sound engineers. Algorithms developed by Fraunhofer IDMT in Oldenburg, Germany analyze listening effort in real time and provide recommendations for adjustments. In addition, the digital assistant ”YourSound” enables users of audio devices and infotainment systems to playfully adapt audio to their personal preferences. But the researchers not only focus on software: Fraunhofer IDMT brings AES67 to DSP hardware for audio over IP. Visit us at The NAMM Show in Anaheim, USA, from January 22-24, 2026, at our booth 14916/5 (German Pavilion) or at www.idmt.fraunhofer.de/hsa.

Fraunhofer IDMT in Oldenburg has developed an intelligent sensor solution that detects drones even outside the line of sight. The acoustic detection technology can be combined with radar, camera, and lidar to form a complete system.

In film, television, streaming, or live productions, ensuring good speech intelligibility is one of the biggest challenges for professional sound engineers. Algorithms developed by Fraunhofer IDMT in Oldenburg provide recommendations for action based on an objective analysis of listening effort in real time. With many years of close collaboration and research cooperation, RTW has now integrated these technologies into its hardware-based audio measurement platform.