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How can artificial intelligence (AI) and extended reality (XR) be put to good use in research, business and the world of work? Mittweida University of Applied Sciences addressed these questions at the KOSMOS Festival in Chemnitz at the end of August.
The focus of the presentation was the KI:X project ā a knowledge incubator for digital technologies of the future. The aim is to create a space where staff and students can engage creatively with technologies and utilise them for various projects in collaboration with external partners.
In order to engage precisely these external stakeholders in digital technologies and encourage their collaboration with the project, staff from the Chairs of Virtual Technologies and Systems Electronics in Chemnitz presented a demonstration robot that allowed visitors to experience the practical applications of digital technologies first-hand.
The robot attracted a great deal of interest from visitors and provided numerous starting points for discussion. The demonstrator is equipped with a LiDAR system and a gas sensor and was developed as a prototype for safety concepts in production environments. It can autonomously map its surroundings, navigate within them and avoid obstacles. Furthermore, it can also be controlled remotely via a network connection.
At the KOSMOS Festival, we wanted to show that future technologies donāt have to be abstract or difficult to access. When people can experience a robot for themselves and discuss specific applications with us, it opens up entirely new ways of engaging with the topics of AI and XR,
says Ronja Schneider, a project assistant on the KI:X project at Mittweida University of Applied Sciences.
At the same time, weāve noticed that many people want to know how such technologies can be used sensibly and responsibly within businesses. It is precisely this kind of dialogue that we want to foster with AI,
adds Claudia GrƤnitz-Kleiber from MIKOMI.
As well as the robot, questions regarding the practical use of VR headsets in businesses were a key topic of discussion. The face-to-face discussions centred on which applications can offer genuine added value and where the limitations or reservations regarding new technologies lie.
The appearance at the festival thus provided an opportunity to dispel reservations and engage with a wide audience in a discussion about the opportunities and challenges posed by digital technologies of the future.
About the KI:X project ā an open research space for AI and XR
AI:X is establishing a knowledge incubator at Mittweida University of Applied Sciences for future digital technologies at the interface between artificial intelligence and extended reality. The planned research facility is intended to provide a central infrastructure for the research, development and testing of new technologies.
A particular focus is on collaboration with industry partners. Concrete applications and real-world examples from the business world are intended to help link research and teaching closely with practical issues and to advance the transfer of scientific findings into the business sector.
KI:X sees itself as an open innovation ecosystem. Students and researchers are to exchange knowledge together with external stakeholders from various fields, develop and investigate new application ideas, and prepare for their subsequent implementation. One of the foundations of this approach is cross-industry innovation, which brings together ideas and knowledge from different sectors.
The project is led by the Chair of Virtual Technologies and is being implemented in collaboration with MIKOMI (Institute for SME Cooperation at Mittweida University of Applied Sciences), BCCM (Blockchain Competence Centre Mittweida) and SICIM (Saxon Institute for Computational Intelligence). The Chairs of Systems Electronics, Future Technologies and Entrepreneurship, as well as Media Informatics and Virtual Production, are also involved in the project.
The AI:X project is funded by the Federal Ministry for Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR) as part of the federal programme āUoAS Research Space Qualificationā until September 2029.
