Fraunhofer Gesellschaft is the leading organization of applied research institutes in Europe, undertaking contract research on behalf of industry, the service sector and governmental institutions. It currently maintains 67 research institutes in locations throughout Germany and has a staff of more than 22000, the majority of whom are qualified scientists and engineers.
The Fraunhofer-Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO is a leading institution in the fields of technology management and industrial engineering. It supports companies in the development, implementation and application of innovative products. Providing a human factors lab, a vehicle-interaction lab, a usability lab, an ambient intelligence and interaction lab (for testing, prototyping and evaluating interaction in ambient intelligence environments) and a virtual reality lab, Fraunhofer IAO integrates expertise from a variety of research and development activities.

The Competence Team “Human Factors Engineering” has more than 30 years of experience in the field of human factors and ergonomics of machinery, products and automotive cockpits. IAO has been participating in European Research Programmes since 1983. Ergonomic evaluation and (re)design of concepts and products are performed by effective methods of market research and usability and UX engineering. Applied methods of analysis and evaluation can reach from a theoretical human factors overview over surveys and usability testing up to empirical experiments. The researchers also have broad experience in human-machine-interaction and long-term experience in applied research and software engineering, IAO integrates expertise for homogenous and precise research and development activities.

Link to partner website