AI Symbiosphere

at Xintiandi Design Festival 2024

Mission:
Our world is facing a major challenge: the depletion of the Earth’s limited resources demands urgent attention and action. The AI Symbiosphere installation at the Xintiandi Design Festival aims to inspire reflection on the crucial relationship between humans, nature, and animals.

How can we shape our coexistence with nature in the future?

When visitors visit the installation, its reflection on the digital water surface is transformed into an animal image.

The entire installation consists of modular steel elements and real plants. The activity zone is located in the middle.

The installation is located within the popular Xintiandi Style 1 shopping complex

Idea:
Our unique approach blends AI technology with nature to create a transformative experience. Inspired by a pond where animals gather to share limited resources equally, we use AI to transform visitors’ reflections into animal images. The innovative concept bridges urban and natural elements, encouraging visitors to rethink their relationship with the environment. By merging real and virtual worlds, we aim to inspire greater awareness and responsibility for our planet’s limited resources.

The visitors are very interested in testing the installation.

Solution:
In the middle of a shopping center, visitors enter a forest within an urban environment and come across a digital fountain at its center. Screens of different sizes simulate a water surface. As they look into the well, AI technology captures their reflection and transforms it into an animal image, creating a 30-second personalized video, ready to share via a QR code. The installation fosters greater environmental awareness and responsibility.

There is also things to discover above the installation.

There are huge screens with interactive displays on the ceiling construction of the entrance hall.

The installation is freely accessible to all visitors during Design Week.

The reflections of the visitors are transformed into animal faces.

With 95% of materials reused or recycled, the installation promotes environmental awareness. Real plants from partner „Maratti“ are reused post-exhibition. The „Flamingo“ steel structure is designed for quick assembly and recycling. The modular system ensures high efficiency and sustainability. An AR experience, „Saying Goodbye, One Last Time,“ enhances the installation, blending live performances with AR technology to create a unique farewell ceremony.

Lovingly designed details make the installation a real experience. For example, empty bottles and cans symbolically serve as the fruit of a banana tree.

Concept & Design & Production
VAVE Studio

Creative Director
Haijie Hu, Zhuyu Miao, Lisa Chen

Concept Design
Elsa Ge, Junrong Zhang

Space Design
Xiang Ou, Simon Huang

Communication Design
Rebecca To, Chris Dong

Technical Director
Frank Fu

Project Coordination
Frank Fu, Junlei Zhou

Operational Support
Ziyuan Dai, Wenbin Xiong

PR Manager
Daisy Li, Shichao Yang, Victoria Cocco

Partners:

Indoor plant consultant
MARATTI

Structure consultant
Flamingos

Acoustic Consultant
OASTHAUS

Sponsors
LEYARD-LINSO LED

Construction
MARATTI, Flamingos

Project scale
100 sqm

Project Typology
AI Interactive Installation

Venue
XINTIANDI Design Festival, Shanghai, China

Exhibition Period
Jun 14–30, 2024

Photo/Video:
XINTIANDI Design Week, VAVE Studio

FURTHER PROJECTS