Volkswagen Group / CARIAD

A camera-tracked generative installation for Volkswagen Group / CARIAD at IAA Mobility 2025 in Munich. Two overhead cameras turn visitor movement into a 14,000 × 2,000 px realtime composition across a 15 × 5.5 m LED wall and a 360° wraparound screen.

2025 · Volkswagen Group / CARIAD · IAA Mobility, Munich, Germany

Realtime Graphics · Computer Vision · TouchDesigner · Python

Year: 2025
Client: Volkswagen Group / CARIAD
Role: Creative direction, generative systems, technical development
Location: IAA Mobility, Munich, Germany
Tools: Realtime Graphics, Computer Vision, TouchDesigner, Python

Updated 4 October 2026

The LED wall seen from across the exhibition hall, its warm generative composition visible from the neighboring booths

Input Live video feeds from two PoE overhead cameras positioned in the booth trusses, capturing visitor position and movement across the floor

Perception Computer vision pipeline processes camera feeds in realtime — blob detection and optical flow extract visitor positions, trajectories, and movement velocity. All data is anonymized at the point of capture; no images are stored or transmitted

Generative System / Model Custom generative graphics system built in TouchDesigner, with particle systems, fluid simulations, and procedural geometry parameterized by the perception layer's output

Behavior The generative composition responds to the number, position, and movement of visitors — density of particles, flow direction, and color temperature shift based on aggregate crowd behavior, creating a feedback loop between audience and artwork

Output 14,000 × 2,000 px realtime generative visuals on a 15 × 5.5 m high-density LED wall, plus a 360-degree wraparound LED screen encasing the entire booth

Commissioned by CARIAD — the automotive software company of the Volkswagen Group — for the Group’s Auto × Software Night at IAA Mobility 2025 in Munich, this installation transforms the Volkswagen booth into a responsive environment that reacts to the people moving through it.

The system runs on a 14,000 × 2,000 pixel high-density LED wall (15 × 5.5 meters) plus a 360-degree wraparound LED screen. Two PoE cameras positioned overhead track visitor position and movement in realtime, feeding anonymized spatial data into a TouchDesigner-based generative graphics pipeline.

Rather than playing back pre-rendered content, the installation generates its visuals continuously. The composition responds to crowd density, movement patterns, and dwell time — creating a living artwork that is never the same twice and that makes the boundary between observer and participant deliberately ambiguous.

System Diagrams

System architecture — cameras, optical flow perception, three cook-gated generative scenes, switch + output chain driving the LED wall and wraparound display — System architecture — two overhead cameras feed an optical-flow perception layer; three generative scenes (one cooking at a time) are composited and output to the 14k × 2k LED wall and 360° wraparound

Images

Volkswagen Group lettering over the generative composition wrapping the corner of the booth's LED wall — Volkswagen Group branding integrated into the generative composition wrapping the corner of the LED wall

Multicolored generative particle trails spread across the darkened booth, visitors silhouetted in front of the LED wall — Colorful particle trails spread across the darkened booth, visitors silhouetted against the wall

Visitors standing in front of the LED wall as a painterly generative composition shifts across it — Visitors watching the generative composition shift across the 15 × 5.5 m LED wall

Overview of the Volkswagen Group booth — the generative LED wall behind the vehicle display and seating areas — Booth overview — the generative LED wall behind the vehicle display and lounge seating

Wide view of the Volkswagen Group booth at IAA Mobility 2025 — realtime generative particle visuals filling the 14,000 × 2,000 px LED wall as visitors gather in front — Wide view of the booth — realtime generative particle visuals filling the 14,000 × 2,000 px LED wall as visitors gather in front

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