9 years opening the doors of technology to society

The CiTIUS joins once again the Ciencia Singular event, organized by the University of Santiago de Compostela to bring cutting-edge research closer to the public. Throughout Saturday, November 8th, the center will open its doors and become a meeting space between science and society, with demonstrations, immersive experiences, and outreach talks showcasing how artificial intelligence is already part of our daily lives.

The event will feature four visiting sessions (at 10:00, 12:00, 16:00, and 18:00 hours), each one preceded by a welcome from the center's management, and will include a comprehensive tour of the experimental and technological demonstration areas of CiTIUS (a center co-financed by the European Union through the Galicia Feder Program 2021–2027).

In the morning session (10:10–14:00), the adult audience will be able to experience Game-CiTIUS: the artificial intelligence that learns by playing, a playful way to discover how machine learning algorithms work through a console designed at the center itself. In the Robotics Laboratory, the activity Among robots and sensors will introduce visitors to the work in collaborative robotics and artificial intelligence applied to industry and infrastructure inspection. Meanwhile, A look at the invisible will provide an immersive virtual reality experience, traveling through the microscopic world to explore the beauty and complexity of molecular structures invisible to the human eye. Two scientific outreach talks will also be held in the Auditorium: ‘From Pico Sacro: smart cameras, battery-free sensors, and even 5G/6G’, by Natalia Abel Fernández, and ‘RePowerSIC: the wireless energy revolution’, delivered by Antonio García Loureiro.

In the afternoon (16:10–20:00), the program will resume with new open demonstrations. Among them, a portable version of artificial intelligence for real-time detection of people and faces, and the A look at the invisible experience, which will once again offer its virtual tour through the microscopic world. Additionally, the first afternoon talk will take place at 17:10: ‘RePowerSIC: the wireless energy revolution’, on this occasion led by Natalia Seoane Iglesias. This will be followed by another outreach session: ‘From Playstation to quantum computing: the silent revolution of supercomputing’, by Francisco Javier Cardama.

Children will also have specific spaces to learn while playing. In the morning, they can participate in Vakaloura: discover your learning type, an activity to identify their personal style (visual, auditory, or kinesthetic), and in Bioxogos: the game begins within you, where they will experience how the body's electrical signals are transformed into movement, turning each heartbeat and muscle contraction into an opportunity to understand how science analyzes and interprets what happens within us.
In the afternoon, the proposals will continue with Informatics and life, a practical workshop reproducing real-life science research using tools developed at the center, such as CystaAnalyser and STERapp, and a new session of Bioxogos.

Ciencia Singular is an open and free initiative that aims to bring science closer to society and foster scientific vocations among the younger audience, showcasing the work of Galician research centers. The complete program of activities can be consulted on the event's official page.