Daniel Sonntag

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Daniel Sonntag serves as Scientific Director of Interactive Machine Learning at the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) and holds an Endowed Chair of Applied Artificial Intelligence at University of Oldenburg. He leads multiple significant research initiatives including No-IDLE (Interactive Deep Learning Enterprise), MASTER (Mixed reality ecosystem for teaching robotics), Ophthalmo-AI (intelligent eye care diagnostics), pAItient (AI applications in medicine), and XAINES (explainable AI with narratives).

His research spans intelligent user interfaces, natural language processing, information retrieval, dialogue systems, common-sense modeling, and explainable machine learning methods for cognitive computing. His work particularly focuses on multimodal-multisensor interfaces for medical and health systems and Industry 4.0 applications. His research has had industrial impact, with SmartWeb's multimodal interaction design forming the technical infrastructure for Apple's Siri.

His recent publications demonstrate strong trends in medical AI applications, particularly in eye tracking, radiology report generation with enhanced interpretability, and interactive federated learning frameworks. His work consistently bridges theoretical AI advances with practical medical and industrial applications.

• German High Tech Champion Award (2011)

As a principal investigator, Sonntag leads national and European projects funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, Federal Ministry of Health, and Horizon Europe. He has supervised numerous researchers including Michael Barz, Jan Zacharias, and Alexander Prange across multiple projects. His research group has successfully transitioned technologies to industry, with former researchers joining companies like Apple, Wacom, and Semvox.

Sonntag's laboratory work centers on the Interactive Machine Learning department at DFKI, with strong connections to medical institutions and industry partners. His team develops cognitive assistance systems, mixed reality applications for smart factories, and AI-based diagnostic support tools, particularly in ophthalmology and radiology.