On June 28, 2025, Freie Universität Berlin welcomed many interested visitors from 5 PM to midnight to the Long Night of the Sciences (LNDW). We, the Human-Centered Computing (HCC) Research Group, participated by presenting our research to the broader public.

At the LNDW, we invited visitors to experience the intersection of technology, privacy, and design through a series of interactive exhibits. Each exhibit challenged assumptions, sparked conversations around human-centered design, and encouraged critical thinking about our relationship with digital tools and artificial intelligence.

Visitors took on our fast-paced arcade challenge designed around deceptive cookie banners. The goal? Outsmart misleading designs and reclaim digital rights. One participant impressively set the high score by completing the challenge in just around 16 seconds—a clear victory against the Cookie Monster of manipulative consent forms.

At this station, participants teamed up with an AI to distinguish between images of wolves and huskies—a task that exemplified the subtle challenges machines face in image recognition. The exhibit prompted visitors to compare their intuition with the decision-making process of AI, raising questions about the trustworthiness of machine vision. By experiencing this game, visitors are introduced to responsible AI aspects. (Created as part of ENKIS)

This exhibit offered visitors personalized feedback on their digital privacy habits. Out of the total participants, 18 demonstrated a Grundbewusstsein für Datenschutz (fundamental awareness of data privacy), while about 14 were classified as having a more casual awareness. Encouragingly, only one to two individuals showed only a minimal understanding, and they received helpful tips and materials to boost their digital literacy.

When asked about the influence of companies on personal privacy, many visitors expressed concern over platforms like TikTok and ChatGPT. In contrast, opinions on the DB Navigator app were more balanced, with sentiments ranging from carefree to concerned.

Another station was the collection of student-designed prototypes from interdisciplinary teams in computer science and product design that emerged from the course Coding IxD. These student projects combined creativity with critical thinking: Hear the Art turned simple paper into interactive sound tools. Visitors could touch hand-crafted sheets connected to microcontrollers and hear how their gestures transformed into music, blending tactile exploration with digital expression. Paper Math presented a fresh take on learning visual subjects, such as geometry. It combined intuitive design with technology to engage school children and reignite their interest in mathematical concepts. Handwriting++ examined the enduring relevance of handwriting in the digital age. Despite our reliance on screens, visitors reflected on how writing by hand remains a powerful, personal form of communication and information storage.

More information on all Coding IxD student projects can be found here.

In the Find The Odd Face exhibit, visitors tested an AI’s ability to recognize emotional expressions in a series of randomized faces. As part of a student thesis project, the exhibit generated lively discussions around AI's limitations in reading subtle or culturally nuanced facial cues, raising essential questions about how we design, trust, and rely on emotion-detection technologies.