Science Speed Dating at the Wissenswerkstadt: Hands-on KI

Experience and Engage with Science

What does it feel like when research becomes tangible? At the Science Speed Dating event, visitors had the chance to find out. In interactive encounters, they met researchers who presented their current projects in the field of sustainable artificial intelligence, not through lectures, but with interactive demonstrators that invited touching, testing, and exploring. The exhibition was part of GENIALE 2025 at the Wissenswerkstadt Bielefeld.

Research to Participate In

The SAIL project promotes formats that make science visible and tangible. Because sustainable AI is not only about ecological and technical responsibility, but also about social participation. “Especially in dialogue with the public, it becomes clear how important it is to communicate AI in an understandable way and to talk together about its opportunities and risks”, explains Sinem Görmez, research associate in the SAIL project.

Nine researchers from the region presented interactive demonstrators that made current topics in AI research tangible from image recognition and human-computer interaction to robotics. A highlight was the collaborative robot presented by Sinem Görmez (TH OWL). Visitors could control it themselves and work together with it to build a tower of wooden blocks. The experiment impressively demonstrated how humans and machines can intuitively collaborate and that modern robotic systems are not only safe but also accessible and playful.

Another crowd favourite was the humanoid robot Nao, showing how research in social robotics can create not only technical but also emotional connection. The demonstrator was exhibited by Valeriia Tykhonenko and Lasse Moritz Möller (Paderborn University).

Lina Mavrina from the University of Bielefeld presented Maverick – an Adaptable Explanatory Agent, showcasing how artificial intelligence can flexibly explain its decisions and adapt to different users. Julian Bültemeier from TH OWL explored how adversarial examples deliberately deceive AI systems, highlighting the challenges of ensuring robustness and trust in machine learning. Julius Wörner, also from TH OWL, demonstrated his innovative electronic nose, illustrating how AI is being used to digitize and interpret our sense of smell. Peter Kuchling and Bjarne Jaster invited visitors to actively train an AI model, providing hands-on insight into the importance of careful data selection. Finally, Justin Baudisch presented SHARLY – an AI agent for smart (care) environments, designed to act as a reliable and supportive everyday assistant.

Experiencing Science – for All Generations

Whether children, teenagers, or adults – Science Speed Dating captivated people of all ages. Through vivid examples, engaging conversations, and interactive experiments, it became clear: sustainable AI is a collective endeavour that can only grow through dialogue with society. Formats like the Science Speed Dating help bring research out of the lab and into the city turning science into something that’s not just communicated, but shared and experienced together in the spirit of responsible and participatory AI development.