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Hands-On AI

inIT Demonstrator Inaugurated at the Heinz Nixdorf MuseumsForum

How can a few building blocks be transformed into a realistic image? Visitors to the Heinz Nixdorf MuseumsForum (HNF) in Paderborn can now find out for themselves. “Ko-Kreativ”, an interactive AI demonstrator developed at the Institute Industrial IT (inIT), has found a new home at the world's largest computer museum. The exhibit was officially inaugurated on October 29, 2026.

“Ko-Kreativ” was developed as part of the KI-Akademie OWL by Nico Baumgart, a research associate in the Mathematics and Data Science research group led by Prof. Dr. Markus Lange-Hegermann. The demonstrator illustrates how artificial intelligence can take human ideas, interpret them and transform them into new images.

Getting Creative with Building Blocks and AI

The concept is simple: Visitors use wooden blocks to create a shape of their choice. A depth camera captures the height profile of the blocks and converts it into a grayscale image. This image, together with a prompt, is then fed into an AI model that generates a full-color image.

Even identical arrangements of blocks can produce very different results. The demonstrator encourages visitors to experiment while illustrating how generative AI works and the role human creativity plays in the process.

Bringing Research to Life in the Museum

With more than 5,000 exhibits across 6,000 square meters of exhibition space, the Heinz Nixdorf MuseumsForum showcases the past, present and future of information technology. The new demonstrator adds an interactive and playful introduction to generative AI.

“We want our demonstrators to make AI understandable and accessible through hands-on experiences. By experimenting themselves, visitors gain a better understanding of how AI works, what opportunities it offers and where its limitations lie. We are particularly pleased that we can now share our research with a wider audience at the Heinz Nixdorf MuseumsForum,” explains Prof. Dr. Markus Lange-Hegermann.

The exhibit brings current AI research from Lemgo to a wider audience through an accessible, hands-on experience, helping to strengthen AI literacy beyond the university.

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