The space agency's Technology Transfer Program awarded the prize to Ernst Pechtl and Hans Geiger of SuperWise Technologies AG of Wolfratshausen, Germany. They developed the Apollo image recognition system for their "eye-Phone."

The program allows one to take a photograph with a cell phone, select the item of interest with a cursor and, in real time, pre-processed information on the object selected is sent to the mobile phone.

"It could be a building, a mountain, a tree, plant or a special event such as a local festival," explain Pechtl. "The amount of information you receive depends on you, if you want to know more you just click the 'more button' and you trigger a more detailed search responding to your profile of interest. Applications include tourism, education, remote healthcare, security, science, etc."

The eye-Phone won the ESA competition's regional prize for Bavaria, Germany, and is expected to soon become commercially available.