Great success for a special cooperation project: The delina - Innovation Award for Digital Education 2025 recognized the immersive VR project "Im Labyrinth der Demokratie: Finde deinen Weg (In the labyrinth of democracy: find your way!)" was awarded third place in the Society and Lifelong Learning category.
The interactive film project was created in collaboration between the Filmboard Karlsruhe, the Institute for Intelligent Interaction and Immersive Experience (IIIX) at Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences, the Lions Club Karlsruhe-Mitte and the Stadtjugendausschuss Karlsruhe. The IIIX was scientifically involved through institute director Prof. Dr. Matthias Wölfel, who accepted the award on behalf of the project team together with producer and director Dr. Oliver Langewitz, lead actress Nadine Knobloch and VR cameraman Oskar Tanaka.
"In the Labyrinth of Democracy" combines blended learning approaches with immersive virtual reality (VR) in an innovative way. Teenagers and young adults engage with democratic decision-making processes in workshops and then experience them first-hand in an interactive VR film. In doing so, they can actively shape the course of the story and playfully reflect on the importance of democratic principles for their own actions.
Matthias Wölfel expresses his appreciation for the award:
"We are delighted! The topic is a matter close to our hearts and this award encourages us to continue with this project. Thanks to Oliver Langewitz and the whole team for their great commitment."
The project was also recognized in the local press: The Wochenblatt Karlsruhe reported on the award ceremony and the importance of the VR project for the political education of young people (to the article).
Promoting media literacy among youth - a key concern of the IIIX
The IIIX is committed to strengthening young people's media and technology skills in a variety of ways. As part of events such as the Girls' Day or in cooperation with schools, workshops on new technologies such as VR or artificial intelligence (AI) are held regularly. The aim is not only to enable young people to use digital technologies, but also to give them a deep understanding of how they work and their effects.
One current example is the new IIIX project "Reality Check - Fake or Fact in the Age of Generative AI", which is funded by the Carl Zeiss Foundation. The project aims to empower young people to critically question digital information and act confidently when dealing with new technologies.
At this year's LEARNTEC where the delina award ceremony took place, the IIIX was also actively involved: in a workshop, IIIX employee Karl Fischer discussed ways in which young people can be made even more aware of the dangers and opportunities of AI. Wladimir Hettmann presented how large language models can be used playfully in museums and Nathalia Sautchuk-Patrício gave a presentation on embodied agents for teaching.
We would like to congratulate everyone involved on winning the delina Award 2025 and look forward to continuing to work together on innovative educational projects for the society of tomorrow!