Why it’s interesting
a terrarium places a society of AI characters on a projected miniature landscape. The inhabitants build, farm, remember events, and develop everyday routines, while visitors can enter a so-called god prompt through a book-like control surface. One sentence may change available resources or redirect behavior across the settlement, making the consequences visible throughout the small world. The mix of physical model, simulation, and audience intervention feels like a life simulator enclosed in an ecological display rather than a conventional chatbot.
How to try it
Open the official Ars Electronica project archive and examine the exhibition images before reading the short description of the interaction. Look for the projected characters on the terrain and the book-shaped prompt interface used by visitors in the gallery. The archive is free to browse without an account, installation, camera, or microphone permission. The original work required the physical exhibition setup and is not presented as a remotely playable web simulation, so the online page serves as documentation of the completed experience.
Requirements and sources
Till Schönwetter presented a terrarium at Ars Electronica Festival 2025. The festival page and official program support the creator, exhibition date, miniature terrain, visitor prompt interface, and archival status recorded here. The characters draw on generative-agent research: memory, reflection, and planning mechanisms guide building, farming, and responses to environmental or visitor changes. These agents are designed components of an artwork, not living beings or a reliable model of human society. Audience prompts can alter the simulation, but the archive does not claim that the installation remains available for remote control after the festival.