1,500,000 visitors in 300 European cities participate every last Friday of the month of September in Researchers’ Night, an event which takes place every year all over Europe and Greece, since 2005. Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas hosts the event in Heraklion, Crete, in its main building.
In 2025 the Ambient Intelligence Programme of the Institute of Computer Science presented:
- Smart Greenhouse: The Intelligent Greenhouse is a small-scale experimental prototype that integrates various technologies to act as an intelligent cultivation space. In particular, an extensive network of sensors and actuators monitors the internal and external environmental conditions (e.g., soil temperature and moisture, air, solar radiation, weather conditions) along with specific growth parameters of vegetables (e.g., weight of growing produces) and permits the remote management. In parallel, sophisticated agronomic scenarios automatically adjust the internal environmental conditions to ensure optimal growth of each plant, while advanced mechanisms based on machine learning detect unwanted changes in the greenhouse’s microclimate and common problems (e.g., diseases, technical failures).
- Madinadhes in Anogeia: A system that presents madinadhes of Anogeia and the Cretan dialect in a unique and entertaining way. Madinadha is an integral part of the oral and musical tradition of Anogeia and their lyrics arise spontaneously, approaching different thematic areas, such as love, death, separation, etc. The system, therefore, enables users to read and listen to indicative madinadhas and excerpts from “Bulk Tunes” accompanied by rich multimedia content. In fact, by playing multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blank and matching games, visitors can become familiar with the creation of madinadha, as well as with the use of the Cretan dialect in a playful way, delving deeper into this unique ability possessed by the people of Anogeia.
- Smart Cities Dashboard: The system includes a central dashboard and a mobile application that allow monitoring of environmental conditions in cities in Greece. It offers real-time data, interactive maps, notifications and personalized content. Specifically, users can browse dashboards for each city, compare data between cities, and report incidents or environmental issues. The app provides personalized notifications and updates based on the user’s profile and enhances environmental awareness through interactive visualizations and educational content.
- PotteryXR: Enhancing Pottery Education with XR Technologies: An interactive ΧR experience developed for VR Headsets. Aimed at students and educators, it enables users to create, shape, and personalize virtual pottery using immersive, hand-tracked tools. Users can carve the clay in real time using virtual sculpting instruments and decorate their creations with realistic brush painting. The system mirrors traditional pottery-making techniques, offering a rich, hands-on approach to learning about ceramic arts and cultural heritage. Through artistic experimentation and tactile interaction, the experience fosters creativity, motor skills, and historical appreciation in an engaging and accessible digital environment.
- Printed Fabrics/Seals: The aim of the system is to inform the local population and visitors on issues related to tourism and culture of the city of Larissa throughout the year, utilizing alternative and innovative ways of interaction. Specifically, it aims to disseminate the cultural heritage of the city of Larissa and to inform and familiarize users with the production process of printed fabrics. The user has the ability to navigate a cultural map through the augmentation of physical surfaces with digital information, using square paper tabs, which function as personal interactive screens. By placing the card on a cell, information related to printed fabrics, formwork, printed production workshops, as well as samples of such fabrics is displayed on it.
