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The AIT Austrian Institute of Technology has secured third place in the prestigious Houska Prize in the Non-University Research category with its project “Green Manikin – AI-supported mixed reality first aid training”. The award ceremony took place yesterday evening at the MuseumsQuartier in Vienna.
Taking the right action in emergencies saves lives – yet realistic training is expensive, logistically complex and difficult to replicate. The “Green Manikin” training solution, developed and evaluated at the AIT Center for Technology Experience, addresses this problem by combining real-life procedures on a patient simulation manikin with mixed reality (MR) based on green-screen technology: Trainees work immersively with real medical tools (such as a ventilator or stethoscope) and an MR headset in simulated operational situations and a wide variety of scenarios. The AI-based interaction with the patient simulation manikin or the injured person makes the training even more immersive.
High training effectiveness and measurement of biosignals
In addition to its technical development, “Green Manikin” has also been scientifically evaluated in studies at AIT. The results show that, in terms of its effectiveness, mixed-reality training is comparable to real-world operational exercises and outperforms traditional virtual-reality training. The AIT training solution also measures behavioural data and biosignals, which provide key metrics for evaluating the training.
“The Houska Prize is a wonderful recognition of our work, in which people are always at the centre. Technology should and must serve people, not the other way round. The prize highlights the importance of cutting-edge international research in the field of hybrid worlds and related collaborations, such as the work on this topic within the III.Lab in partnership with the University of Salzburg. Research at the AIT Center for Technology Experience focuses on the development of human-centred, intelligent and robust systems that effectively support people in dynamic and complex situations”, emphasises Prof. Manfred Tscheligi, Head of the Center for Technology Experience at AIT and Professor of Human-Computer Interaction & Usability at the University of Salzburg.
“Green Manikin was developed over many years by an interdisciplinary team at AIT – combining expertise in computer science and XR development, psychology, communication sciences and training methodology. From the very beginning, emergency services personnel and trainers were also involved in the development”, emphasises Green Manikin project manager Jakob Uhl from the AIT Center for Technology Experience. The project is also a key outcome of the XR4Challenging Environments research focus at the AIT Center for Technology Experience.
The solution has already been tested in collaboration with partners such as Johanniter Austria, the Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund of Austria and the Inselspital, University Hospital for Emergency Medicine in Bern, Switzerland. These partners have expressed a keen interest in the solution and in further collaboration with AIT.
Economic relevance
In future, Green Manikin could be used as a solution for emergency services and paramedics, hospitals and universities, central training centres, and corporate health management. The spin-off from AIT is planned for Q2 2026.
“With Green Manikin, we are demonstrating that there is tremendous potential in the field of Extended Reality (XR) in particular, which can deliver significant practical benefits and added value. The spin-off of Green Manikin is part of AIT’s structured spin-off and entrepreneurship programme, which systematically supports researchers on their journey from idea to market-ready company”, emphasises Alexander Svejkovsky, AIT Managing Director for Finance, Processes and Administration. “We are delighted with the awards at the Houska Prize; AIT has thus demonstrated its scientific excellence in two areas at once”, says Svejkovsky.
AIT’s Voltera project wins the Houska Prize
The Voltera research project, led by the AIT Center for Energy, was awarded first place at the Houska Prize. Using artificial intelligence, the system analyses the state of electricity grids in real time and dynamically calculates how much energy can be safely absorbed or fed into the grid. This enables renewable energy to be integrated efficiently without compromising the stability of the grids.
About the Houska Prize
The Houska Prize was established in 2005 by the B&C Privatstiftung and is considered the most prestigious private award for applied research in Austria. It recognises projects that demonstrate a high degree of innovation and clear economic benefits. The aim is to raise the profile of excellent research and to strengthen Austria’s position as a centre of innovation in the long term.
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