Frank Wallhoff

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Frank Wallhoff is a Professor for Assistive Technologies at Jade University of Applied Sciences since 2010. He serves as Dean of the Department of Civil Engineering Geoinformation Health Technology and Head of the Institute for Technical Assistance Systems. His career spans over two decades with significant contributions to human-machine interaction, cognitive systems, and assistive technologies. Previously, he worked at Technische Universität München from 1997-2010 where he completed his doctorate and served as a postdoc and Akademischer Rat.

His educational background includes:

• 1988-1991: School education with A-level/high school graduation
• 1991-1992: Certified Engineer's Assistant
• 1993-1999: Study of electrical engineering
• 2002-2006: Doctorate at Technische Universität München on face detection, identification, and emotion recognition

Wallhoff's research focuses on the intersection of technology and human needs, particularly in assistive technologies for aging populations and human-robot interaction. His work spans cognitive systems with learning capabilities, social robotics, ambient assisted living, pattern recognition, machine learning, human-machine interaction, and facial expression recognition. He has developed significant databases like the FG-NET Database with Facial Expressions and Emotions, which has been widely used in emotion recognition research.

His recent publications (2015-2018) reveal a strong trend toward practical applications of human-robot interaction in healthcare, rehabilitation, and daily living assistance. His work increasingly integrates multimodal sensing, machine learning, and context-aware systems to create adaptive assistance technologies. Key areas include motion exercise recognition for rehabilitation, 3D visualization for underwater vehicle control, and robust human-robot dialogue systems for production environments.

His scientific recognition includes:

• Best Paper Award for 'Experimental Platform for Wizard-of-Oz Evaluations of Biomimetic Active Vision in Robots' at IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Biomimetics (Robio), 2009

Wallhoff has secured significant research funding including the EITAMS project (€1.5 million from Lower Saxony Volkswagen Advance Programme) focused on affordable underwater vehicle systems, and the INTERREG project 'Vital Regions' (2017-2020) developing technologies to support elderly in rural areas. He coordinates the ALIAS project (Adaptable Ambient Living Assistant) and has led multiple projects within the Cluster of Excellence CoTeSys, including JAHIR, ACIPE, EYETRACK, and RealEYE. His research bridges academic innovation with practical applications, particularly in healthcare technology and assistive systems.

He leads the Institute for Technical Assistance Systems at Jade University, where his team develops innovative solutions at the intersection of cognitive systems, human-robot interaction, and assistive technologies. Current initiatives focus on underwater robotics for maritime applications, rehabilitation technologies using motion tracking, and ambient assisted living systems for elderly care.