Permanent Exhibition "Digitally Natural, Naturally Digital" Supervised by Yoichi Ochiai to be Renewed

The National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation (Miraikan; Director: Chieko Asakawa) will partially renew its permanent exhibition "Digitally Natural, Naturally Digital," which is supervised by media artist Yoichi Ochiai—the creator of the Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai signature pavilion "null2." The updated exhibition will be open to the public starting Wednesday, April 1, 2026, as the second installment of the Expo series.

In this renewal, in addition to updating the two central symbol exhibits, "Digitally Natural" and "Naturally Digital," the museum will unveil two new exhibits: one utilizing generative AI that leverages "Large Language Models" to learn linguistic structures from vast amounts of text, and another applying naked-eye 3D stereoscopic technology.

The permanent exhibition "Digitally Natural, Naturally Digital" opened in November 2019 to pose questions about how our view of nature and the world will change in a future where computers and the artificial intelligence (AI) running on them are highly advanced. Due to the evolution of digital devices and software methods, the resolution of the worlds they create is beginning to exceed the limits of our perception. We define this state, where the boundaries between nature and artificial objects dissolve and digital and analog enhance each other's characteristics, as a "new nature" for our future. The exhibition presents this worldview through numerous displays designed to shake up our everyday common sense.

Overview of Exhibition

Public Opening Date: Wednesday, April 1, 2026 Exhibition Area: National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation (Miraikan), 3rd Floor, Permanent Exhibition Zone "Digitally Natural, Naturally Digital" Closed: Tuesdays (may be open on public holidays, during summer vacation, etc.) *Closed from October 1, 2026, to April 22, 2027, for facility maintenance. Opening Hours: 10:00–17:00 (Admission tickets and reception until 16:30) Admission: Adults (19 and older) 630 yen, 18 and under (elementary school and older) 210 yen *Free for preschoolers and for those 18 and under (elementary school and older) on Saturdays. URL: https://www.miraikan.jst.go.jp/exhibitions/future/digitallynatural/

Exhibition Introduction

"Digitally Natural" <Renewed> You can experience a world where butterflies reproduced through printing hide among trees and flowers, and where natural objects and artificial objects created by computers blend without boundaries. Furthermore, a video work has been added using generative AI, in which images of cracked LCD screens fluidly transform. The way the cracks undulate like liquid and constantly change shape visually represents the worldview of "Digitally Natural," where the boundaries between matter and information dissolve and new existences are created.

Credits Ikebana: Yuki Tsuji (Flower Artist, Yuki Tsuji Space Design Institute) Video/Installation: Yoichi Ochiai (Media Artist) Structural Color Printing: FUJIFILM Imaging Systems Co., Ltd. Butterfly Mechanism: International Display Industry Co., Ltd.

"Naturally Digital" <Renewed> One of the representative fields where AI plays an active role is image generation. AI learns common features from a large number of images and creates new images that do not exist anywhere else in the world. This exhibit applies the expression using new AI technology from the "null2" exhibit at the Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai. Through generative AI technology called a "diffusion model," which learns the process of restoring clear images from noisy images, you can view images generated in real-time from footage captured by cameras installed in the venue.

Credits Creator: Yoichi Ochiai (Media Artist) Technical Assistant: Tatsuya Minagawa

"Does it matter if the person you're talking to is human or machine?" <Newly Added> When you speak into the receiver, voice recognition AI converts the words into text, and text generation AI creates a response based on the content. Furthermore, voice synthesis AI reads the response aloud in the voice of media artist Yoichi Ochiai. This series of response mechanisms is centered on generative AI technology called "Large Language Models," which learn linguistic structures from vast amounts of text. In the past, there was only a human at the other end of a black rotary phone, but now the distinction between human and machine is becoming ambiguous.

Credits Creator: Yoichi Ochiai (Media Artist) Technical Assistant: Yuga Tsukuda

"Is this inside or outside the computer?" <Newly Added> This exhibit applies naked-eye 3D stereoscopic technology, allowing you to experience 3D images without special glasses. The camera tracks the position of the eyes of the person closest to it and continuously displays images on the monitor that match their line of sight, creating a sense of depth. This work, which connects a physical sculpture with 3D data, presents a new experience exploring the boundary between the real and the virtual.

Credits Original Concept/Production: Takumi Yokoyama (University of Tsukuba), Digital Nature Group, University of Tsukuba Data Provided by: Stanford Computer Graphics Laboratory

<Regarding the end of certain exhibits in "Digitally Natural, Naturally Digital"> With the renewal, the following exhibits have been closed: - Are colors the same now as they were in the past? - Is this inside or outside the computer?