Brother Grimm —
Magic Typewriter

Brand
Mercedes-Benz

Launch
DEC 2016 —
HQ Mercedes-Benz R&D North America

Role
Design Manager

Contribution
–> UX Concept
–> Creative Direction
–> Project Management

Design a practical and understandable way to demonstrate what machine learning is capable of today.

Develop a demo that enacourages people to interact with artificial intelligence and would inspire a discourse about machine learning.

For a panel discussion we’ve been asked to develop three interactive demos that would allow participants to experience what artificial intelligence is already capable of today.

Interaction Design
The user starts writing a few words or sentences on the typewriter. Once the user stops the machine takes over and continues the story. The user can take the piece of paper and show the story to share their experience.

Experience Concept
Our goal was to showcase machine learning algorithms that can be trained by feeding them texts and then would be able to write their own stories. We wanted to create an experience that is playful and entertaining, so participants of the panel discussion wouldn’t be afraid to interact with it. We also wanted to point out that the machine is taking over and doing the work for the user.

Instead of using a display, we decided to build something more tangible and real.

Storytelling —
Powered by Machine Learning

1
——

Start typing your intro to the story. A few letters or words are enough for the machine to get some cues. The machine will take over and finish your fairy tale in the style of the brothers Grimm.

2
——

The typewriter starts typing as if
the ghosts of brothers Grimm would hit
its keys.

This visualizes how artificial intelligence can do some tedious work for you — in this example, move the heavy keys of an ancient typewriter and tell 'your' story in unexpected ways.