Gudrun Klinker

About

Gudrun Klinker is a pioneering figure in neurorobotics, augmented reality, and medical robotics, whose work bridges computational neuroscience, human-robot interaction, and surgical assistance. She is best known for leading the development of the Neurorobotics Platform (NRP) for the Human Brain Project, a comprehensive simulation framework that connects biologically realistic spiking neural network models to virtual robots and rich sensory environments—enabling researchers to validate brain models through embodied interaction (117 citations). Her groundbreaking "Beaming into the Rat World" system (17 citations) created a real-time, cross-scale telepresence experience between humans and rats, pushing the boundaries of immersive virtual reality and teleoperation. In the medical domain, Klinker made significant contributions to robotically assisted cardiac surgery, developing optimal port placement and augmented reality navigation tools that improved preoperative planning and intraoperative guidance (29 and 18 citations). She has also addressed the ethical and social dimensions of neurorobotics (17 citations), ensuring responsible innovation. With a career spanning from early vision systems on systolic arrays to cutting-edge brain-inspired robotics, Klinker’s work has profoundly shaped how we integrate artificial brains with physical bodies for both scientific discovery and clinical impact.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

Top Papers

1. 1
   Connecting Artificial Brains to Robots in a Comprehensive Simulation Framework: The Neurorobotics Platform

   117 citations · 2017
2. 2
   Optimal port placement and enhanced guidance in robotically assisted cardiac surgery

   29 citations · 2006
3. 3
   Augmented reality for port placement and navigation in robotically assisted minimally invasive cardiovascular surgery

   18 citations · 2004
4. 4
   Beaming into the Rat World: Enabling Real-Time Interaction between Rat and Human Each at Their Own Scale

   17 citations · 2012
5. 5
   Ethical and Social Aspects of Neurorobotics

   17 citations · 2020
6. 6
   A visual tracking model implemented on the iCub robot as a use case for a novel neurorobotic toolkit integrating brain and physics simulation

   10 citations · 2015
7. 7
   Implementation and performance of a complex vision system on a systolic array machine

   8 citations · 1988
8. 8
   Improved preoperative planning in robotic heart surgery

   7 citations · 2005
9. 9
   The Neurorobotic Platform: A simulation environment for brain-inspired robotics

   3 citations · 2016
10. 10
    An environment for telecollaborative data exploration

    3 citations · 2002

Key Collaborators

Contact & Links