1. INTRODUCTION

The studio began with a broad question:

How does the politics of Artificial Intelligence relate to the universe?

Instead of approaching the topic through technological optimism or speculations, our group investigated the underlying human behaviors that shape our relationship with both AI and the unknown.

Our initial research revealed whenever people imagine Artificial Intelligence, they instinctively represent it as a humanoid figure. This observation led us to question why human beings consistently attribute human characteristics to things. The answer brought us to the concept of anthropomorphism, the tendency to humanize non-human entities in order to make them emotionally and cognitively approachable. As our research progressed, we realized that anthropomorphism itself was only a symptom of something deeper: communication. Humans naturally search for familiarity because communication depends on shared language, recognizable behaviors, and emotional resonance. If we cannot understand something, we reshape it until it resembles ourselves. This realization created a fundamental shift in the project:

What if humans could learn to communicate with something completely beyond themselves?

Inspired by the Bauhaus spirit of imagining the unimaginable and designing beyond conventional boundaries, we dreamed of establishing a dialogue not with machines, but with the universe itself. This became the foundation for The Voice of the Universe, an immersive installation that invites visitors to experience the oldest forms of communication known to us: the radio emissions continuously produced by stars, planets, nebulae, pulsars, and black holes.

Our project encourages participants to experience communication through sound. To remind us that we are not separate observers of the cosmos, but expressions of it.

2. THE PROJECT

The Voice of the Universe is an interactive installation that generates communication beyond spoken language. Instead of presenting the universe as an object to be studied, it invites participants to experience it as an entity capable of dialogue. Visitors place their heads inside a sculptural helmet inspired by the appearance of a meteorite or celestial rock. Then they place one finger on a heartbeat sensor that measures their pulse in real time. Based on this physiological input, the system selects and plays a corresponding recording of radio emissions collected from the universe. These sounds are not fictional compositions but scientific recordings taken directly from NASA and translated into frequencies audible to the human ear. Every participant therefore experiences a unique encounter with a different part of the cosmos.

„The installation does not attempt to explain the universe. Instead, it creates a quiet moment of contemplation. The heartbeat acts as a symbolic bridge between the human body and the rhythms of the cosmos, transforming astronomical data into an intimate sensory experience.“

At the conclusion of the interaction, participants receive a printed card describing the celestial body they encountered. Each card combines scientific information with a short poetic reflection, so everyone can carry a fragment of the experience beyond the installation itself.

Presented during the Dessau Design Show (DDS), the installation generated thoughtful conversations among visitors, many of whom described the experience as calming, immersive, and unexpectedly humbling. Rather than focusing on technological spectacle, the project encouraged reflection on scale, interconnectedness, and our shared place within an immeasurably larger universe.

2.1 DEVELOPMENT

The project developed through several stages of research, gradually moving from political of AI and the universe, toward broader philosophical questions concerning communication.

Our first investigations examined contemporary discussions surrounding the politics of Artificial Intelligence, particularly questions of governance, anthropomorphism and the cultural tendency to represent AI as human. These investigations highlighted how familiarity creates trust and understanding, revealing that human-centered design often reflects our own psychological need for connection. This led us to study anthropomorphism more closely. Research in psychology and design suggests that humans naturally project emotions, intentions, and personalities to create a better connection and empathy. Instead of viewing anthropomorphism as only a design strategy, we looked at it as a fundamental communication mechanism.

The project then expanded into the field of radio astronomy. Since the early twentieth century, NASA has recorded electromagnetic emissions originating from celestial bodies across the universe. By translating these radio waves into audible frequencies, phenomena such as pulsars, solar activities, planetary magnetospheres, and nebulae can be experienced as sound. These recordings became the conceptual foundation of the installation.

The philosophical framework of the project was further informed by thinkers such as Alan Watts and Carl Sagan, whose writings emphasize humanity's inseparable relationship with the cosmos. Instead of portraying humans as isolated observers, these perspectives understand consciousness as one expression of a much larger universal process.

Finally, the Bauhaus philosophy played a significant role throughout the design process. Rather than replicating existing technologies, we embraced experimentation, interdisciplinary thinking, and speculative design to imagine forms of interaction that do not yet exist but encourage new ways of experiencing the world.

2.2 METHOD

We followed an iterative research-through-design methodology that mixed theoretical questioning, discussions, prototyping, and testing. It all with extensive literature review and visual research into AI ethics, anthropomorphism, communication theory, and cosmology. These investigations were documented on Miro through brain storm and mind mapping, visual essays, and image-making, which allowed our ideas to evolve through both discussion and visual experimentation.

Following the research phase, we generated multiple conceptual directions before converging on communication as the main theme. Storytelling became an essential design tool, that enabled scientific knowledge to be translated into emotional experiences. In the next step several physical prototypes with different scales, materials, and forms before the final helmet was constructed. The sculptural exterior intentionally resembles a meteorite, reinforcing the impression that participants are placing their heads inside a fragment of the universe itself.

Audio testing with the help of Berlin open lab team, involved experimenting with different astronomical recordings and considering how physiological input could influence each participant's experience.

Throughout the semester, guidance and feedback sessions with Prof. Dr. Michelle Christensen and Prof. Uwe Gellert, as well as ideation with classmates, and of course exhibition visitors continuously informed the refinement of both the installation and its accompanying narrative.

2.3 SOUVENIRS

To extend the experience beyond the installation, every participant received a souvenir card featuring the celestial body they encountered during their interaction. Each card combined scientific information with a short poetic narrative, trying to change astronomical phenomena into personal reflections.

These souvenirs invited visitors to carry a fragment of the experience with them. They served as quiet reminders that the universe can be understood not only through scientific observation but also through imagination, emotion, and contemplation.

The five cards represented different cosmic voices, each offering a unique perspective on human existence:

1. Auroras. The Sun's Whisper reminds us that even the Sun communicates through invisible waves. Its gentle voice becomes a metaphor for comfort, renewal, and the promise that every difficult day is followed by another sunrise.
2. TON618. The Shining Black Hole transforms one of the largest known black holes into a reflection on time and mortality, encouraging visitors to treasure the approximately three billion heartbeats each human is given throughout life.
3. Earth. The Home celebrates our planet as an ancient yet ever-changing place where nature continually reveals beauty through wind, oceans, mountains, and life itself, inviting us to appreciate the extraordinary within the ordinary.
4. Amalthea. The Quiet Mother draws inspiration from Greek mythology to remind us that care, compassion, and quiet acts of nurturing often shape the future more profoundly than power or recognition ever could.
5. Carina Nebula. The Shape of Creation reflects on one of the galaxy's most active stellar nurseries, revealing that creation is inherently chaotic and that imperfection, transformation, and incompleteness are essential parts of beauty.

Together, these souvenirs became the final chapter of the installation, a tangible keepsake encouraging participants to continue listening, reflecting, and recognizing themselves as part of the same vast universe they had just experienced.

3. CONCLUSION

The Voice of the Universe began as an investigation into the politics of Artificial Intelligence but gradually transformed into an exploration of communication itself. the project questioned why humans constantly seek familiarity when confronting the unknown. This shift redirected our attention away toward the oldest relationships humanity has ever had: its relationship with the universe.

By translating scientific data into a multisensory experience, Our installation creates a space where visitors momentarily step outside everyday language and encounter the cosmos through listening rather than explanation.

In doing so, the project proposes that design can function not only as a medium for solving problems but also as a catalyst for perspective, empathy, and wonder.

Ultimately, The Voice of the Universe invites us to reconsider our place within existence, not as isolated individuals observing the cosmos from a distance, but as temporary expressions of a universe continuously discovering itself through us.

4. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This project was developed as part of the 2026 summer semester Studio within the MA Integrated Design program at Hochschule Anhalt.

We would like to express our sincere gratitude to Prof. Dr. Michelle Christensen for her brilliant guidance, feedback and passion for the project. Prof. Uwe Gellert for his continuous encouragement throughout the semester. Their support helped us to think critically while embracing experimentation and speculative design.

Special thanks to Berlin open lab crew for their continuous support, time and energy. Their efforts helped us to experience a new version of ourselves.

Finally, we would like to thank everyone who visited our installation during the Dessau Design Show (DDS). Their curiosity, reflections, and generous feedback became an essential part of the project itself, reminding us that meaningful design ultimately comes to life through the experiences of its participants.