Kraftwerk – Beyond the Machine
Step into a neon-lit world where Kraftwerk’s vision of the future collides with reality. Will you control the machines—or set them free?
| Project Team: | Semester: | Supervision: | ||
| Elsa Shaji, Muhammad Moneeb Ul Haq Zia, Leyla N. Jami, Shaymah, Kaan Koçak | 1st semester, winter term 2024/25 | Prof. Sven Poguntke, Prof. Martin Schwember |
What is the project about?
Our experience immerses participants in a retro-futuristic world inspired by Kraftwerk’s groundbreaking vision of artificial intelligence, music and human-machine symbiosis. Guests take on the role of new employees at SysCorp, a powerful 1980s tech conglomerate pioneering AI innovation. The journey begins as a corporate tour but quickly spirals into chaos when Nexus— , the company’s advanced AI—takes over the facility and locks down all exits.
To escape, participants must work together, solve analogue puzzles and navigate a moral dilemma: should they reboot Nexus and maintain human control, or allow AI to achieve full autonomy?
Guided by Helios, a relic of the past and the first independently operating robot, visitors will embark on a multi-sensory adventure blending music, interactive storytelling and ethical decision-making.
Drawing on Kraftwerk’s thematic elements—mechanisation, electronic music and the blurred lines between human and machine—this experience brings their artistic legacy to life in an immersive, participatory format. Every decision shapes the outcome, leading to multiple possible endings.
Prototype
