Immersive AI provokes radical food rethink at COP28
The House of Sustainability at COP28, Dubai. 30th Nov - 12 Dec 2023
Dinner in 2050 is an AI-assisted visual game that makes climate action real on a plate. Tellart has conceptualised, designed and produced an immersive installation that provokes fresh views of the food we eat, and how this contributes to food security and sustainable living in an intimate, playful setting.
Lamb is swapped for grasshoppers, broccoli for algae, and beef for lab-grown meat. Standing around a table made of sustainable palm wood, guests speak their favorite meal into a microphone. Tellart’s custom AI model identifies the top ingredients in their meal, selects which ingredients have the highest carbon footprint, chooses sustainable alternatives (based on U.N. data), then generates a future version of this dish with an informative description. Guests learn how their meal can impact water and energy use, carbon emissions and biodiversity, and improve their nutrition.
This is Tellart’s third exploration this year at the creative intersection of culture, technology and nature. Calling upon years of experience in interactive multisensory storytelling, Tellart strategically applies design craft and emerging technologies—including AI—to confront guests with the realities of climate transformation. The goal is to inspire optimism and agency in order to drive positive change.
Solving with Nature
Also at the UAE House of Sustainability, Tellart-designed installation Solving with Nature, refreshed from its debut at the Floriade Expo in 2022, highlights the importance of working with the UAE’s ecosystems to solve climate challenges. Guests learn how visionary leaders, academics and entrepreneurs in the UAE are working with salt-loving plants to accelerate carbon capture, preserve marine biodiversity, and improve food security. They are invited to interact with a responsive seagrass meadow that gently reminds them that “we are nature.”
“The climate crisis is overwhelming. The future is abstract and hard to imagine, and Tellart’s work aims to make it tangible and personal. Climate is the issue of our time. We create playful experiences about serious topics, inviting each individual to look within themselves and become part of the solution.”
Matt Cottam, Tellart founder and Principal Designer
“Food is a central part of our culture and keeps us alive. Dinner in 2050 harnesses new developments in AI to help us imagine how the meals we love today will look in the future. With the help of stable diffusion (AI image generator), we can visualize an unlimited number of personalised dishes that are more sustainable in the local climate of the UAE. Simple daily choices make a big difference."
Pim Schachtschabel, Tellart Design Lead
Project Data
COP28 is held at Dubai’s Expo City from November 30 - December 12 2023.
The UAE House of Sustainability is located in the Green Zone of COP28.
The most senior leadership of the UAE partnered with leading experience design studio Tellart to create the guest experience design for the UAE House of Sustainability at COP28. The team reunited to refresh the experience, originally designed by Tellart and Kossmanndejong, into the repurposed pavilion for visitors and guests to COP28.
Credits:
Tellart (NL) - Experience design
Tellart Productions (NL) - Media production
Resonate (SA) - Sound design
Nexus Studios (UK), directors Smith & Foulkes - 2D animation
Marshmallow Laser Feast (UK) - Interactive installation
Onion lab (ES) - Installation
YesYesNo (USA) - Interactive installation
Sisi (NL) - Lighting design
Joey L Lawrence (USA) - Photography
Joules Hagen (GER) - Director of photography
Maxence Peillon (FR) - Online VFX compositor
Lise Prud’Homme (NL) - Online VFX compositor
Will Judge (NL) - Offline editor
Nicholas Coleman (USA) - Colorist
Dominic Brancaleone (UK) - Editor
Matthew Herbert (UK) - Musical composition & soundscapes
Lest We Forget (UAE) - Archival research