Space-age wizardry has been used to entice teenagers to consider applying to university.
Pupils from Brighton schools have been visiting Sussex University to find out what post-school education has to offer.
Artificial intelligence beastie, Maggie the Octopod, was introduced by Dr Adrian Thompson to show university life does not have to be all lectures and exams.
He said: "I spoke about what is really happening in the world of artificial intelligence which is much more exciting than crazy sci-fi on the television.
"Maggie is part of a new way of thinking which uses research about how animals interact with their natural environment. It can be hard for children to understand what the subjects in the prospectus are all about in practice.
"Maggie is a visible application of our work and the children loved playing with it."
Maggie, named after Maggie Boden who founded the School of Cognitive and Computing Sciences at the university, is part of a project which has been running for two-and-a-half years and continues to advance the development of artificial intelligence in the academic world.
Dewi Vaughan, head of Year 10 at Longhill School, Rottingdean, Brighton, said:
"The trip was a real eye-opener for the 14 and 15-year-olds taking part from our school. It has revealed a new world of possibilities for them and provides a new set of challenges to be met as they begin their GCSE studies."
The visits have been organised as part of a three-year project aimed at promoting universities to young people without a family history of degree-level education.
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