As part of TUD Freshers’ Week 2026, we welcomed two groups of enthusiastic freshers to the Living Lab on October 5, 2026. The visit continued our ongoing collaboration with iFSR (Computer Science Students’ Council at TU Dresden). Students explored interactive demonstrators at ScaDS.AI Dresden/Leipzig and discovered how AI works in practice. The visits also introduced students to our ongoing research projects and opportunities available during their studies at TU Dresden.

Getting Hands-On with the Demonstrators

Following a short introduction, the freshers explored the demonstrators, familiarized themselves with different technologies, and asked questions. The Living Lab team, including Dr. Iryna Okhrin, Neringa Jurenaite, and Moritz Müller, guided them through the activities. Four interactive demonstrators gave students a glimpse into different areas of AI research and their practical applications:

• Metis/ST-Buddy: AI Companions for Students
  Chrakhan Barzanji and Graciana Ewa Löffler presented two demos developed at the junior research group Needs-Oriented AI-Coaching for Students (NAIC). Metis is an AI companion for students,which supports them through knowledge, reflection and assistance with all aspects of their day-to-day student life. ST-Buddy is a course-specific conversational agent that provides students with low-threshold academic and organizational support.
• Magic Mirror: Fashion, Body Images, and Digital Aesthetics
  The Magic Mirror showed how speech recognition and generative AI allow users to virtually try on clothes and change backgrounds. It also serves as an educational tool, highlighting the often overlooked embedded biases and internalized power structures.
• asanAI: Building Machine Learning Models
  With asanAI, students explored how to create and train machine learning models through an interactive platform. The demonstrator also helped explain basic machine learning concepts.
• Multicut: Understanding Complex Algorithms
  Multicut introduced students to image segmentation. It showed how algorithms can identify and separate different regions within images.

Exploring AI Together

The sessions focused on hands-on experiences rather than lengthy technical presentations. As a result, students could try out the demonstrators and explore different AI applications themselves. This helped them understand how researchers turn ideas into practical solutions. Additionally, the sessions encouraged conversations between the students and our team.

Beyond the demonstrations, the freshers learned about opportunities to get involved with ScaDS.AI Dresden/Leipzig during their studies, from student jobs to theses supervision. They also discovered ongoing projects and where to find further information about our research activities. In addition, our team encouraged them to connect with researchers working in areas that interest them. The Freshers’ Week tours brought new students closer to AI research. They also showed how theoretical concepts connect with practical applications.

Outlook

We hope these visits inspire students to explore AI throughout their academic journey. We thank iFSR for the continued collaboration and the students for their interest and joining us. We are glad to continue the tradition of the Freshers’ Living Lab tour, which has been organized by Neringa Jurenaite for several years now.