ZESS Research Projects

KIWI@SIWI

AI-supported individual identification for wild animals

KIWI@SIWI (AI-supported individual identification and management implications for wild animals in the wild using the example of bison) aims at developing an app that makes it possible to reliably recognize bison in their natural environment. With the help of artificial intelligence, the app will recognize individual animals in the wild and retrieve their profile (age, sex, genetic profile, etc.) – a photo of the respective animal should suffice. This would give rangers, researchers and animal owners completely new possibilities for herd management or behavioral observations.

KIWI@SIWI is being funded by the EU and the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Industry, Climate Protection and Energy (MWIKE) NRW as part of the “NEXT.IN.NRW” innovation competition with a total of around 1.5 million euros. The app is to be developed using the example of the bison living in Wittgenstein. It could later be used in a wide variety of contexts – from zoos to agriculture and wildlife management.

Four chairs at the University of Siegen are involved in the project: ZESS researchers Prof Michael Möller (Chair of Computer Vision), Jun-Prof Jovita Lukasik (Chair of Visual Computing), and Prof Klaudia Witte (Chair of Ecology and Behavioral Biology) are joined by Prof Volker Wulf (Chair of Business Information Systems and New Media) as well as NanoGiants GmbH as a practical partner.

DFG Research Unit 5336 “Learning To Sense”

The Confluence of Machine Learning and Sensor System Development

The German Research Foundation (DFG) has selected L2S as one out of eight research units in Germany that conduct dedicated fundamental research on artificial intelligence along with an interdisciplinary partner field, in this case sensor system development. The project is situated at ZESS where it can build upon more than 30 years of experience in the field of fundamental and application-oriented, interdisciplinary, research. 

You can learn more about the DFG Research Unit 5336 “Learning to Sense” as well as its News, Vision, Team, Projects, Collaborators, L2S Talks, and Open Positions.