Prof. Dr. h.c. Hasso Plattner

ME310 Projects of the Year 2009-2010


In the third iteration of this course (2009/10), the HPI collaborated with SAP in both projects to offer challenging and relevant design tasks to the global student teams in Potsdam and Stanford.

SAP TrustCard - Request. Record. Remember. Remind. Return. Reuse!


The first SAP project of the 2009/10 iteration of ME310 dealt with the "Mobility of Things". The broad topic imposed a tough challenge for the students and made them explore a variety of possible solution spaces. These ranged from scenarios in disaster management to the entire range of possible applications of RFID technology in commercial environments. Ultimately, the team used their get-together in Potsdam to decide on the final direction of their work and came up with a solution that is able to save precious resources by making lending processes between strangers a commonality in our everyday lives. Their concept includes two aspects. A card that serves as digital collateral for the lended item and a state of the art software system that helps users to keep track of their lent and rented items.

SAP Adaptable - Video conferencing at your fingertips!

The task of the second SAP ME310 Team was to conceive new techniques that allow real collaboration in videoconferences. With software such as the SAP Business Objects Explorer available, the questions arises of how this immediate access to data can be used most efficiently in remote settings. Or put in another way: How can we create the feeling that participants of a video conference are really exploring data, collaboratively? The team came up with a series of prototypes, both on software and hardware level. They eventually led to the final prototype, which stands at an impressive 6'x6'x3', combines a video conference setup with a touch table, and is equipped with a software that - building on SAP newDB - combines cutting edge interaction speed with immediate data availability. The highlight, however, is a technique that captures hand movements of all participants and is able to display them on the remote side, almost as if the partners in video conference shared a single table.