New AI Exhibit’s Interactive Screen Creates Synthesized Versions Of Viewers

May 24, 2019 by Dave Haynes

A new interactive digital artwork at the Barbican in London uses camera sensors and a big digital display to generate unique digital forms of people who visit an exhibit called AI: More Than Human.

At the entrance to the exhibition, the visitor is greeted by a screen which acts as a mirror, reflecting a unique
synthetic form.

Starting as a primitive form, the reflection learns from the visitor’s movements and adapts to suggest an agile, superior version of themselves. The artwork evolves, generating a new visual response for each visitor, with 47,000 possible variations.

AI: More than Human is a major exhibition at the Barbican, exploring creative and scientific developments in AI. It  opened recently and runs through August. The interactive piece was commissioned by the Barbican to the video art/experiential design collective Universal Everything.

I often think interactive displays that encourage stupid people tricks – like dancing in front of a screen in a mall – lack much of a point or strategy, and are more novelty than useful marketing tool.

This is very different – placed in the right setting and entirely in context. Very cool.

More pix here … video below.

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