Visitors explored two immersive spaces that evoked different cognitive and emotional states. The ‘Connected Thinking’ room, dominated by warm yellows and greens, was an inviting space with plants, games and interactive activities that encouraged social interaction between visitors. In contrast, the “Isolated Perception” room was darker and bathed in cold blue tones. Here, participants immersed themselves in video games and virtual realities, creating a more introspective and isolated atmosphere. The results were startling: prompts given after the isolated perception space often led to images that radiated darkness and loneliness, while the prompts from the connected thinking space led to bright and open representations. This experiment clearly showed how quickly the external environment shapes our internal models of the world.
After visiting each room, participants were asked to describe the word ‘connection’. Their descriptions were then converted into AI-generated images using FLUX AI, an AI image generator developed by Black Forest Labs. The results were striking: prompts provided after the Isolated Perception room often led to darker, closed, and solitary imagery, whereas those from the Interactive Thinking room resulted in bright, open, and social representations. This experiment visually demonstrated how external environments quickly shape our internal world models.
The event culminated in an art exhibition in which the AI-generated images were shown as a window into the changing perceptions of the participants.
But it was not only the unique concept of the event that inspired the visitors, it was also the accompanying scientific contributions by Prof. Ilka Diester, Junior Prof. Dr. Monika Schönauer and Dr. Adam Kortylewski, which offered exciting insights into the research, provided valuable impulses and rounded off the evening. The combination of practical contributions and in-depth research made BrAInWorlds an inspiring platform for exchange and knowledge transfer.
The BrAInWorlds event was initiated by Prof. Ilka Diester, with the active support of Zoe Jäckel, Sabrina Livanec, Bettina Schug, Natalia Ilin and 30 other dedicated helpers, whose efforts made this immersive experience possible.
The enthusiastic feedback from visitors underlined the impact of the event:
“Thank you so much for this event! I had only a fuzzy imagination about Brain and AI research, and now I have a very concrete image in my mind of what it means to do this sort of research.”
“Such a fun event!”
“Amazing!”
”Very good lectures!”
”Super exciting!”
You will soon find the AI image gallery and exciting videos of the event on our new BrainLinks BrainTools website. We will keep you up to date here.