Neurocom SA – is an IT software and services provider delivering mission-critical software solutions that are ideal for handling huge volumes of data and providing super-fast processing, at the highest accuracy, security and reliability. The company offers innovative, highly competitive, value adding system and software solutions, towards the needs of telecom providers, finances, transport and tourism sector, building on its know-how on data analysis and data processing (structured, unstructured, semi-structured data) with many different restrictions (batch, stream, transaction-oriented) and complex process streams.
The Foundation of Research and Technology – Hellas (FORTH), established in 1983, is one of the largest research centers in Greece with well-organized facilities and highly qualified personnel. The Foundation includes eight Research Institutes and its headquarters and head office are located in Heraklion, Crete. FORTH has an excellent scientific performance, as well as an important social and economic contribution, and a reputation as a top-level research foundation worldwide. The The Institute of Computer Science (ICS-FORTH) has had a relatively long history and recognised tradition in conducting basic and applied research, developing applications and products and providing services. Research Activities of ICS cover important research and development areas, encompassing new perspectives, emerging fields of research and technological challenges worldwide, as well as in the public and private sector of Greece. Thus, ICS acts as a catalyst for the development of the Information and Communication Technologies sector in Greece, and the creation of favourable conditions for the emergence of an Information Society acceptable by all citizens.
The Human Computer Interaction (HCI) Laboratory of ICS-FORTH is an internationally recognised centre of excellence, with accumulated experience in user interface software technologies, design methodologies, and software tools. The Laboratory carries out leading research activities focused on developing user interfaces for interactive applications and services that are accessible, usable, and friendly to all users in the Information Society, while, at the same time, providing an appropriate framework and tools for reducing development time and cost. The research activities of the Laboratory, rooted in the principles of Universal Access and Design for All, address the development of interactive applications and services for various platforms, such as personal computers, smart appliances, mobile phones, and other computational devices. The research results of the Laboratory include infrastructures, architectures, methods, prototypes, programming tools and languages, as well as methodologies for the maintenance, reuse, modification and expansion of computational systems. Systematic monitoring, evaluation and integration of these systems are achieved in practice through the development of advanced applications and services, such as mobile information systems, applications for smart environments, advanced and accessible web applications and portals, entertainment applications (eg games ) and educational software. Moreover, the main objective of the Laboratory refers to Ambient Intelligence technologies and their applications in Smart Environments, following a User-Centred Design and Universal Access approach. In this context, the HCI Laboratory develops novel software development frameworks and methods, and develops ambient interactive systems applications and services targeted to enabling natural, intuitive, high-quality, unobtrusive, inclusive and fault-tolerant interaction of people with the intelligent environment via multiple modalities and devices, integrating multidisciplinary technologies such as recognition and monitoring of users interaction with the environment, distributed processing, reasoning mechanisms, computer, sensor and actuator networks, computer vision algorithms, multimedia content design, and multimodal interaction techniques. Another key objective is to evaluate the experience of using interactive technologies and the impact of these technologies on the individual and society, as well as highlighting their potential and benefits in various aspects of everyday life.