Berlin-based creative technologist Chantal Pisarzowski was nominated for the prestigious Lumen Prize 2024 with her project, n≠1. A student at HTW Berlin, Chantal's n≠1 is a VR installation designed to explore whether it can help people who are grieving. It focuses on creating a digital version of someone who has passed away, allowing users to interact with them in a virtual space in real-time.

‍

Unlike emerging commercial projects that already exist that capitalize on the person's loss and aim to present almost a replacement to their deceased loved one, Chantal's work is aimed specifically at using AI as a tool to aid in the grieving process whilst asking critical questions. What are the ethics of digital cloning? Can AI tools serve in a therapeutic sense? And if you could pass one last message onto your loved, what would you say?

‍

VR and AR technologies have the possibility to blur the boundaries between space and time. While we often think of them as having a profound impact on our present and future, Chantal demonstrates how these tools can mediate our connections to the past.

‍

n≠1 follows Chantal's VR project, HELGA, where she created a digital twin of Berlin feminist and activist Helga Goetze who passed away in 2008. HELGA was shown as a VR installation at MANIFEST:IO 2024. Since then, Chantal has shifted form using an OpenAI ChatGPT model to training her own LLM, allowing for participants to experience more nuances and a range of responses from the inspiring and charming Helga.

‍

Watch Chantal's talk at MANIFEST:IO 2024 on "Between Times: Encountering the Departed Through VR and AI" on our Youtube channel.