The dAIper Hackathon, held from April 24 to 26, 2026, was a collaborative innovation event between FAU and Procter & Gamble (P&G), focused on advancing computer vision and AI through real-world industrial challenges. The event attracted 34 selected participants working alongside 12 team members from both the FAU and P&G sides. The experts from academia and industry provided hands-on mentorship, helping teams explore modern foundation models and classical computer vision techniques applied to complex imagery.
Quotes
“Incredible opportunity and I really enjoyed being in the company of people who
love computer vision as well.”
“It was really fun, an awesome location and […] it was very enjoyable.”
The hackathon took place at the Speinshart Monastery, specifically the Scientific Center for AI and SuperTech (SSC), a truly unique venue that offers the perfect environment for creative and focused collaboration. Surrounded by centuries of history and a spirit of innovation, participants found quiet workspaces for intensive teamwork. SCC provided on-site accommodation and full catering, and an atmosphere that encourages a full focus and inspiration far beyond the routines of everyday university life. To support these efforts, participants were provided with NHR@FAU resources, leveraging high-performance computing to handle the large-scale data and intensive processing required for cutting-edge AI solutions. This three-day session successfully bridged the gap between scientific research and industrial application. The participants reached high-quality results on four very challenging tasks. Four award-winning student teams received prizes donated by P&G: The Absorbents (gold), DeepDAIper (silver), dAIcon (bronze), Clean Diapers (honourable mention). Bernhard Egger, FAU