In 1998 Glasgow's Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) included in its interactive display in the basement a piece entitled "Generator".
Designed by Robert Pepperell, who previously had already collaborated with Coldcut on an interactive audiovisual piece called "Synopticon" (1996), the machine allowed visitors to live-mix audio and video sources.
The installation consisted of two consoles, one for the sounds and the other for images, with button banks, a set of computers, a video projector and speakers. The colourful buttons on the consoles were organised into rows and each represented a channel of audio or video. Musical genres went from rock and hip-hop to opera, jazz, and so on.
By pressing different buttons, users without any previous musical training could select a piece of rock music and mix it with opera or jazz. There was a caveat, though: the actual clip was chosen randomly by the computer from a database of clips classified by style.
So, the final mix was the result of a collaboration between the user and the computer. Both, you may argue, influenced each other, but neither of them had total control on the output that was therefore unpredictable (check out Pepperell's essay on "Computer aided creativity: practical experience and theoretical concerns" to learn more about the "Generator").
Fast-forward to our days and you will discover a similar idea, but with very different technology and applied to accessories in an installation at Nike House of Innovation in Paris (79 Avenue des Champs-Élysées).
To celebrate the launch of the Air Max Pulse sneaker, Modem, a studio specialised in designing spatial experiences, immersive retail experiences, installations and exhibitions at the intersection of physical and digital, created for Nike an engaging immersive installation for visitors, that employs Artificial Intelligence.
The installation features an interactive mixing table with OpenAI's deep learning text-to-image generator DALL·E 2 at its core. Users playing with the machine can choose from pre-defined prompts to generate dynamic and engaging images.
The visuals, accompanied by evocative soundscapes delivered by concert venue-caliber speakers, are projected on five screens, creating a truly immersive environment.
The installation capitalizes on the current cultural zeitgeist surrounding Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology, tapping into its interactive and entertaining nature.
Enhancing consumer experience is a must, but many brands are struggling to do so and end up offering a passive experience for the user. Many retail environments are still relying on other types of technologies that are offering a limited consumer interaction compared to AI, including QR codes, VR or tablet screens.
Modem's creation, instead, transforms the retail experience, taking it onto another level, converting the traditional idea of retail environment into an interactive user-led space that has some connections with Pepperell's "Generator".
Modem often developed multisensory installations for Nike, employing in their past displays robotic elements and Unreal Engine, the suite of integrated tools for game developers to design and build games, simulations, and visualizations.
AI is currently being employed in different fields, from healthcare to fashion and music: integrating the most creative aspects of this technology in a retail environment is a logical choice as this model of unpredictable human/machine interaction may offer a more engaging and memorable experience for the consumer. But the same could be said about museums that would include installations similar to the "Generator" in their spaces or dedicated AI booths that could allow visitors to play with their archives.
In 1998 Pepperell's "Generator" ended up resonating with museum visitors of all ages: as stated in Pepperell's essay, a private research commissioned by GOMA found that the public response to the piece was overwhelmingly positive.
The research revealed that the audience showed a remarkable level of engagement and that the installation effectively stimulated a strong emotional connection between the audience and the artwork, creating a remarkably indelible and immersive experience for visitors (I can confirm this point personally - to this day I still have fond memories of discovering the machine in 1998 as a student in Glasgow and playing with it a lot, it was pure joy).
The technique of collaborative interaction behind the "Generator" found further expression in a commercially released music composition software called "Playtime", released as part of the CD-ROM that accompanied the "Let Us Play" album produced by Coldcut in 1997.
This aspect could be replicated in some ways with AI: brands employing AI-based installations in their premises could reward their consumers with exclusive libraries of prompts for text-to-image systems given for free with a product (libraries could change for each consumers and could be generated by text applications such as ChatGPT).
Consumers could then be able to play with the prompts at home, maybe coming up with images that could then be used at customising in-store booths or even order a product customized with that specific image they have generated. In a nutshell, the possibilities of AI and retail are endless and are within reach, waiting to be seized by those who attentively listen and understand how to leverage it in innovative and imaginative ways (and to do so knowing the rich history of computer aided art can definitely help...).
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