The department has extensive experience within research in information technology. Our researchers have a high scientific expertise and broad industry experience within fields like mobility, security and universal design. Our activities include national and international cooperation with both public and private partners within these fields. In addition to applied research our services cover concept studies, prototyping, training, evaluation, consultancy and development.

Our expertise is mainly used in projects commissioned by private and public customers, the Research Council of Norway and the European commission. Our staff has background in electronics, computing science and social sciences at Master or PhD level.

We cover a broad range of activities from theoretical modeling with advanced tools - to practical end-user testing and analysis with state-of-the-art lab equipment. It is important to ensure that our work is relevant in practical settings and we work closely with commercial partners leading in their field. Our customers include the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development, Supervisory Authorities, Hospitals, Norsk Tipping and several SMEs.

Special Topic: Social robots and applications

NR is currently engaged in several research projects involving robots applied to welfare, health, rehabilitation, education, tutoring, and learning. Our field of expertise covers human-computer interaction (HCI) and human-robot interaction (HRI), user experience (UX), user-centered development, sensor technology, artificial intelligence and machine learning, as well as ethics and privacy. Applications include social robots in second-language learning for various target groups, social robots for pupils with autism spectrum disorder, and robotics for elderly care.