E.L.I.S.A (Emotional Logic Interface for Spatial Analysis) is an interactive installation by Felix Stollberger. Paying tribute to the first chatbot in history, it recreates a psychotherapy practice from the 1970s.
At the core of the work lies the tension between the analog warmth of the room and the cold, binary logic of an algorithm. The visitors' experience is built on two levels: A first screen, controlled only by two buttons and a rigid decision tree, encourages reflection on one's own inner "Happy Palace."
Simultaneously – based on these responses – an abstract visualization is generated in VVVV and displayed on a second monitor.
The installation is a critique of the current trend to outsource complex psychological processes to inaccessible AI systems. The hoped-for "Happy Palace" remains just a flickering, barely adjusted wireframe model. E.L.I.S.A makes exactly that discomfort tangible, which inevitably arises when human empathy is replaced by machine efficiency.
Visitors are invited to take a seat and become part of a system that ultimately leaves little room for true individuality.
