Among stands showcasing all kinds of technological advances, the spaces that Mobile World Capital Barcelona features represent a back to basics. In an environment made with 100% natural, locally sourced materials, technology is more present than ever, but it serves to tap the five senses that we sometimes forget we possess when we are fixated in front of a screen.
For this purpose, a gamified experience has been devised that starts with the creation of the visitor’s own avatar. It is not a caricature but uses facial recognition techniques to identify the user’s features and automatically generate a photorealistic avatar that can be accessed through a unique QR code. From there, a sensory journey unravels, which is detailed in the following pages of this supplement. With the physical and virtual worlds intermingled without knowing to what extent we are in one or the other, smell, taste, touch, hearing, and sight are put to the test through solutions based on cutting-edge technologies such as the metaverse, immersive reality and artificial intelligence. The activities start at the MWCapital space at MWC and continue at 4YFN and Beat Barcelona, all within the Gran Via venue of the Fira de Barcelona.
All three venues have chosen to create special architectural designs in collaboration with the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC). Architects Vicente Guallart and Daniel Ibáñez have been directly involved in transferring the dialog between the virtual and physical worlds to the design of stands whose central axis is the city of Barcelona. The informal and open-air Beat Barcelona space recreates the coastline from Besòs to Llobregat. In turn, the MWC stand, surrounded by tech giants, represents the coat of arms of the Catalan capital when viewed from above. Seen from below, Gaudí, Dalí and Puig i Cadafalch are clearly honored.
This nod to the past is combined with the most futuristic construction techniques. The IAAC has opted for the use of parametric digital technology, robotic construction and digital fabrication using 3D printers within the hall itself. In a way, the construction of the stands is living proof of the combined capacity of humans and robots. And all this is infused with a model defined as “through and for sustainability”, where locally sourced materials such as wood take center-stage.
