At the interactive event on March 13, 2025, around 250 participants embarked on a unique journey into the workings of internal world models and experienced how our environment shapes our perception in real time.
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.
Even our youngest visitors eagerly wrote prompts. Foto: Jürgen Gocke
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.
“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”
But BrAInWorlds was more than just a sensory experience: inspiring talks by Prof. Ilka Diester, Jun.-Prof. Dr. Monika Schönauer, and Dr. Adam Kortylewski opened new perspectives on the intersection of brain research and AI, inviting lively discussion and exchange.
This extraordinary event was made possible by the dedication of Prof. Ilka Diester and a committed team including Zoe Jäckel, Sabrina Livanec, Bettina Schug, Natalia Ilin, and over 30 other helpers. In addition we appreciate the collaborative co-organization of the event with the following teams:
