An interactive exhibit at 42kaiserslautern innovation center in Kaiserslautern, Germany, is labeled "theme world health." The instructions tell users to stand on the bench and roll the ball to activate the screen. (Heather Benit/Stars and Stripes)
The number 42 is famously known as “the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything,” according to Douglas Adams’ cult classic “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.”
It is also in the name of 42kaiserslautern, a new innovation center that tackles real-life ultimate questions while also showcasing science and technology projects by regional universities, institutions and businesses.
Although primarily designed for workshops and events, it is open to the public. When I stopped by for a self-guided tour, I had already read about the projects online, which helped me understand the displays better.
Pedestrians on busy Eisenbahnstrasse, linking the city center to the train station, can glimpse exhibits through the large windows.
From the outside, the place looks like a science and discovery center, with an energy-efficient “home of the future,” a robotics-assisted vegetable garden and a virtual-reality flight simulator decorating the front windows.
Inside, visitors can explore the interactive exhibits using printed instruction materials or an audio guide, both available in English. Guided tours can be arranged in advance in English.
The themes of the exhibits ranged from artificial intelligence health care to solar panels in housing to sustainable agriculture, offering a glimmer of hope in a time when technology is often talked about as taking jobs or polarizing populations.
It all sounded so promising and inviting. My experience, though, proved to be something of a letdown.
42kaiserslautern is a new innovation center in Kaiserslautern, Germany. It houses a range of futuristic exhibits that are highly interactive. (Heather Benit/Stars and Stripes)
This "house of the future" is one of the exhibits at innovation center 42kaiserslautern in Kaiserslautern, Germany. (Heather Benit/Stars and Stripes)
At 42kaiserslautern innovation center in Kaiserslautern, Germany, a conference room provides space for workshops and discussions. A range of futuristic exhibits gives the facility the look of a science center. (Heather Benit/Stars and Stripes)
At one exhibit, a cellphone set up to serve as an AI dermatologist analyzed skin images and compared them to a large database for assisting doctors in diagnosing skin diseases. The instructions looked easy enough — just three steps — but I couldn’t get past step one.
Another section had headphones to experience an app that shares medical data with doctors to support rural health care, but no sound came through.
Unfortunately, the only person on staff available to assist me on the afternoon I was there spoke only German and Ukrainian.
One other patron was browsing the exhibits that afternoon. I watched her try out a flight simulator designed to strengthen back muscles and test balance. The user lies vertically on the training device, pretending to navigate an aircraft through the Grand Canyon.
This exhibit at the 42kaiserslautern innovation center in Kaiserslautern, Germany, shows how technology is changing agriculture. (Heather Benit/Stars and Stripes)
Exhibits decorate the windows of 42kaiserslautern, a new innovation conference center, in Kaiserslautern, Germany. Visitors are welcome to come in a see the exhibits or stop in at the cafe. (Heather Benit/Stars and Stripes)
A printed guide in English is offered to explain the exhibits at 42kaiserslautern innovation center in Kaiserslautern, Germany. (Heather Benit/Stars and Stripes)
The cafe and an open conference room were filled with empty chairs, giving the impression of a workspace between events rather than a bustling science center.
But that could soon change. The team behind the 42, a nonprofit subsidiary of Science and Innovation Alliance Kaiserslautern, plans to make the project more amenable to English speakers.
“Since the American presence is an important part of the city’s community life, we aim to develop events and activities that specifically include this community,” 42kaiserslautern’s Sabine Martin said.
For now, 42 feels like a promise of technology and innovation that hasn’t quite arrived but is bursting with the potential to become a place well worth checking out.
42kaiserslautern
Address: Eisenbahnstrasse 42, Kaiserslautern, Germany
Hours: Monday-Saturday, 9 a.m.- 7 p.m.
Cost: Free
Information: Online: 42kaiserslautern.de
