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Developments in the virtual world
What once seemed futuristic is now becoming reality. From an invisible television to the world's first museum for AI art, the digital landscape is shifting. These are the developments shaping the virtual world.
What once seemed futuristic is now becoming reality: from an invisible television to the very first museum for AI art and the world's first transparent television. Let's get digital! These are the developments in the virtual world.
The world's first transparent television
With the Signature OLED T, LG is launching a television that builds on the concept of the OLED M: it only needs a power cable, image and sound reach the device wirelessly (via LG's own technology, which is hidden in the so-called 'Zero Connect Box'). But what makes this television unique: it is transparent. The Signature OLED T uses a transparent Oled panel and has a built-in 'contrast screen' that can be raised for increased contrast. If the television is switched off and the contrast screen is lowered, you are not staring at a large black surface in your living room, but you are looking straight through the 77-inch panel. Because you can also display images in transparent mode, the screen can also serve as a digital canvas. You can also activate the lower part as a 'normal' screen and display information such as news reports or titles of music that you are playing on this narrow strip, the T-Bar.
Vegetable Dispute
In Vegetable Vendetta, AI gives vegetables the marketing skills of the biggest fast food and luxury brands to promote potatoes and broccoli. Designed by artist Jeroen van der Most (in collaboration with In4Art, EatThis and KU Leuven), this installation asks visitors to scan potatoes or broccoli with a camera. The scan is used to create an AI-generated film starring the vegetable, applying the marketing strategies of brands like McDonald’s and Prada. Van der Most: “Our food system is broken. We eat too much processed food, there is an obesity epidemic and food supply chains are unsustainable. A system that is maintained by a balance of power. Big brands promote their products with big budgets and skills that small producers of healthy vegetables do not have. AI enables small players to create equally good content without the budgets of their big competitors.” The experiment creates commercials that show the vegetable in happy moments or in luxurious settings with beautiful people. By moving a real vegetable in front of the camera, participants can change the content and adjust strategies in the films. The project offers a glimpse into a future where generative AI will be ubiquitous and shake up the balance of power in industries and marketing.
First ever museum for AI art
In 2025, media artist Refik Anadol and his business partner Efsun Erkiliç will open the world’s first museum for AI art. The Grand LA has been chosen as the location. This Frank Gehry-designed building in downtown LA houses shops, chef-driven restaurants, entertainment, the luxury Conrad Los Angeles Hotel, residences… And soon also DATALAND, where human imagination is combined with the creative potential of machines, where the ordinary is transformed into the extraordinary. His fascination with Los Angeles began when Anadol first saw Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner as a child, in which a futuristic LA is the setting. The Turkish-American artist first came to the City of Angels in 2012 to pursue a master’s program in Design Media Arts at the University of California Los Angeles, and two years later to permanently establish Refik Anadol Studio in the city. “Los Angeles is the perfect city to launch DATALAND, a revolutionary museum that supports the fields I have dedicated my career to: art, science, technology and AI research,” says the Creative Director of the upcoming museum. “Our studio has presented exhibitions in incredible places around the world,” adds co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer Efsun Erkiliç, “but having our own space gives us a blank canvas to work with, allowing us to truly push ourselves to dream without boundaries. We are building a visionary museum that ignites the human spirit and drives a journey into the beauty of our collective memories, the world of data.”
Successor to the smartphone?
With its bright orange colour, retro look and bunny on the screen, the Rabbit R1 has something playful. But this is not a toy. Because this square device with its 2,88-inch touchscreen, push-to-talk button, analogue scroll wheel and 360-degree rotating camera could easily replace your smartphone. You give commands via voice control, after which artificial intelligence gets to work for you. You can ask the R1 questions about a recipe, a singer, you name it! Uniquely, you can also use services such as Spotify or Uber by asking instead of opening an app. An additional advantage is its accessibility: being able to do everything with voice control is a godsend for the elderly and people with disabilities. € 185,95.
