TH OWL demonstrator brings the workings of neural networks to life

From student project to the Deutsches Museum Bonn

[Translate to Englisch:] Gemeinsam für den Transfer von der Hochschule ins Museum: Prof. Dr. Markus Lange-Hegermann mit Ralph Burmester und Jörg Bradenahl vom Deutschen Museum Bonn vor dem neuen Demonstrator der KI-Akademie OWL.

[Translate to Englisch:] Mit dem Demonstrator können Besucherinnen und Besucher nachvollziehen, wie ein künstliches neuronales Netz Bilder analysiert und klassifiziert.

[Translate to Englisch:] Einblick in die Ausstellung des Deutschen Museums Bonn: Mit „Mission KI“ macht das Museum Künstliche Intelligenz an verschiedenen interaktiven Stationen erfahrbar.

[Translate to Englisch:] „Mission KI – erleben.verstehen.mitgestalten“: Das Deutsche Museum Bonn widmet seine aktuelle Ausstellung der Künstlichen Intelligenz und ihren Auswirkungen auf Gesellschaft und Alltag.

What began as a student project at TH OWL is now part of an exhibition at the Deutsches Museum Bonn: A demonstrator developed by students illustrates how artificial neural networks process images and which areas of an image are particularly relevant to their decisions. On 14 October, Prof. Dr. Markus Lange-Hegermann and Nils Berns, a student at TH OWL, visited the museum and met Ralph Burmester and Jörg Bradenahl, who have supported the project on behalf of the Deutsches Museum.

The demonstrator complements the “Mission KI” exhibition. In the “AI” experience area, visitors can explore how artificial neural networks learn, process information and arrive at decisions.

From university course to museum exhibit

The exhibit originated in 2025 as part of a student project in the “Software Engineering II” module. Under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Markus Lange-Hegermann, Marten Ahmann, Mohamed Abderrahmane, Nils Berns, Daniel Hofmann, Dylan Senger and Fighan Suliman developed an application that visualises how artificial neural networks classify images.

Visitors can directly see which areas of an image are particularly relevant to the neural network’s decision. This makes processes visible that would normally remain hidden inside an AI model.

Nils Berns subsequently continued developing the prototype as a student assistant within the KI-Akademie OWL, preparing it for use at the Deutsches Museum. Together with the museum, the application was adapted both technically and visually and optimised for permanent exhibition use.

“What I particularly appreciate is that this student project did not end with its submission. A project that started in teaching has become an exhibit that now gives many people an accessible way to understand artificial intelligence,” says Prof. Dr. Markus Lange-Hegermann.

Bringing AI to where science meets the public

At the Deutsches Museum Bonn, communicating artificial intelligence takes place in a particularly fitting environment: The museum is located in the Wissenschaftszentrum Bonn, close to key scientific organisations such as the German Research Foundation, the German Academic Exchange Service and the German Rectors’ Conference. Around 60,000 people visited the Bonn site in 2025 alone.

With the new demonstrator, the KI-Akademie OWL now has a second exhibit on display at the Deutsches Museum Bonn. Since the summer, the KI-Energie-Ergometer developed by the KI-Akademie OWL has also been part of the exhibition.

→ Find out more: https://www.init-owl.de/aktuelles/news/detail/init-uebergibt-ki-energie-ergometer-an-das-deutsche-museum-bonn/

With both exhibits, research from Ostwestfalen-Lippe is now present right at the heart of Germany’s scientific community.

Collaboration with the Deutsches Museum continues

The collaboration with the Deutsches Museum Bonn is also set to continue. Another student project will begin this semester as part of TH OWL’s Transferjahr. Ralph Burmester and Jörg Bradenahl support the projects on behalf of the museum and work closely with Prof. Dr. Markus Lange-Hegermann. Together, they develop ideas further and adapt them for an exhibition context so that science becomes accessible and easy to understand.

“I am very pleased about the close exchange with Ralph Burmester and Jörg Bradenahl and about how openly new ideas are developed further. This is exactly how transfer can succeed: when student ideas are turned into exhibits through close collaboration, making science understandable and tangible,” says Prof. Dr. Markus Lange-Hegermann.

Another exhibit set for its museum premiere at the Heinz Nixdorf MuseumsForum

The KI-Akademie OWL will soon also be represented in another museum: The “Ko-Kreativ” demonstrator developed by Nico Baumgart has already been brought to the Heinz Nixdorf MuseumsForum and will make its museum debut there shortly.

Auther: Mona Marie Brinkmann

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