What is life? — An exploratory experience for Lowlands

Description

We were commissioned to design an immersive experience for Lowlands that invites visitors to explore the fundamental question: What is life? Rather than offering a biology lesson or a single, definitive answer, the installation transforms this question into an exploratory journey — one that sparks curiosity, reflection, and wonder.

Impression

A man standing in front of an interactive object.

Developed in close collaboration with leading researchers (The Origins Center and TNO), the experience unfolds as a sequence of interactive moments in which visitors continuously attempt to capture their own definition of life.

Hands on a device that shows an abstract form of life.
Man holding object on a keycord

Each visitor receives an object that travels with them through the installation. This object serves as a dynamic vessel for their evolving definition, which is questioned, challenged, reshaped, or rewritten at every interaction point and recorded on the object.

Hand interacting with a custom device that shows different properties of life.
Man with headphones talking to an AI

Dialogue with an AI agent shaped by previous interactions

Three persons standing in front of a screen showing a tree with a label "life".

Science itself has no consensus on what constitutes life, making the question both elusive and essential. Understanding life is crucial not only for discovering life beyond Earth, but also for grappling with ethical dilemmas and emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence.

People standing in front of the entrance of a container.

The experience does not aim to provide closure. Instead, it opens space for new questions. It challenges visitors to think and to feel. They leave not with clarity, but with astonishment—a renewed awareness of how little we truly know, and how much remains to be discovered.

Credits

  • Concept & Experience Design
  • Krom
  • Software
  • Krom
  • Content & Research
  • Origins Center
  • AI Conversation Design
  • TNO
  • Production
  • Brandwacht en Meijer

Other work

Arrow icon

An interactive sphere projection for De MuseumFabriek

close

Krom Logo
Krom Logo
Mouse PointerMouse PointerAudio On IconAudio Off IconClose Icon