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.

Experience design studio Tellart served as creative lead, in partnership with the Salama bint Hamdan Al Nahyan Foundation, to develop specific multisensory interventions for the UAE House of Sustainability at COP28, including creating and executing the Dinner in 2050 installation.

Credits:

Client - Salama bint Hamdan Al Nahyan Foundation for COP28

Tellart (NL) - Experience design
Tellart Productions (NL) - Media production
Resonate (SA) - Sound design
Sisi (NL) - Lighting design
Matthew Herbert (UK) - Musical composition & soundscapes
Loom Atelier (NL) - Spatial design
Michael Garnett (UK) - Vessel architect
OKA ceramics (UAE) - Ceramics
House of Artisans (UAE) - Khous mats

Research:
UAE Research entities including the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA) and Ne'MA