Besso pedestrian tunnel turns into a giant digital brain

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Institutional Communication Service

24 July 2019

The new permanent installation in the Besso pedestrian tunnel “NeuralRope#1. Inside an Artificial Brain” will be unveiled on 2 September 2019 at 11:30 am. It was conceived and realised thanks to a joint effort between visual artist Alex Dorici and the Director of the USI-SUPSI Dalle Molle Institute for Artificial Intelligence Luca Maria Gambardella.

The creativity of the duo will show through the work, combining aesthetic aspect and scientific content to bring the public closer to the theme of artificial intelligence. The installation will be permanently housed in the Besso tunnel, a busy place used daily by pedestrians to reach the city centre and the railway station. The aim of the creators of the installation is to seek a strong and continuos interaction with the people passing through. The installation is an artificial neuronal network: it is a digital system composed of neurons and connections that reproduces some of the functions of our brain and is able to learn concepts from examples. "NeuralRope#1. Inside an Artificial Brain" observes what happens inside the tunnel, interprets hand movement and learns from the images that visitors choose to show, and gives back a new elaborated version.

The unveil of the installation will begin with the institutional inauguration at 11:30 am, and a live tv broadcast with the national conference “Digital Switzerland 2019” that will be held in Basel. The public inaugural event will be held at 6:30 pm followed by a cocktail and dj set.    

The initiative was implemented as part of the L*3-Lugano Living Lab platform, a partnership that brings together the city, USI, SUPSI, and companies active in new technologies.

 

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