Media

Interview with Alex Waibel on the Titan accident

Tagesschau, June 22, 2023

In collaboration with researchers from KIT and Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), Alex Waibel has developed a method that enables video conferencing even under extreme conditions, as transmission is possible over very low bandwidths.

In the summer of 2022, he tested this method during a submarine expedition to the wreck of the Titanic at a depth of around 4,000 meters with the Titan submarine, which is known from the accident in June 2023.

Communication with the mother ship at such depths has so far only been possible via text messages using sonar. These were ideal test conditions for Waibel to try out his method. In the submarine a sound recording was first converted into a text message using automatic speech recognition and then transmitted to the mother ship via sonar. AI was then used to create a synthetic reconstruction of the speaker’s voice and video. Despite complications, such as the failure of one of the two sonar devices, some dialog was transmitted.

During a similar expedition to the wreck of the Titanic, contact with the Titan submarine was lost in mid-June 2023. Despite days of searching, the Titan could not be found and the search was finally abandoned as the survival of the occupants had to be ruled out.

Alex Waibel was often interviewed during these days to report on his experiences in the submarine and to give an assessment of the situation. Below you will find an interview with the German Tagesschau.