Honorary Mention
Synthetic Memories is a heritage preservation initiative using generative AI to reconstruct and safeguard personal memories at risk of being lost or never visually documented. Through guided sessions, participants describe their special memories, which trained interviewers transform into AI-generated visual representations—tangible images refined collaboratively to strengthen emotional connections.
domesticstreamers.com/art-research/work/synthetic-memories
domesticstreamers.com/art-research/work/the-citizens-office-of-synthetic-memories
This process supports individuals affected by displacement, conflict, or neurodegenerative diseases, helping them reconnect with their past, dignify it, and retain a sense of identity.
Photo: Domestic Data Streamers
Photo: Domestic Data Streamers
Photo: Domestic Data Streamers
Photo: Domestic Data Streamers
Photo: Domestic Data Streamers
Photo: Domestic Data Streamers
Photo: Domestic Data Streamers
The project sits at the intersection of art, technology, and social innovation. It fosters intergenerational and cross-cultural dialogue while addressing new ethical frictions between subjective memory and AI-generated content. It serves as a prototype for the public sector, health institutions, museums, and cultural organizations worldwide to engage with subjective memory preservation.
Launched as a research project in 2023 by Domestic Data Streamers, it expanded with the Citizens’ Office of Synthetic Memories at the Design Hub Barcelona in 2024. The museum functioned as a prototype for new municipal services, enabling visitors to generate and contribute personal stories to the city’s intangible cultural archive. The exhibition merged art and scientific dissemination, showcasing AI’s role in memory reconstruction. Over three months, it welcomed 10,900+ visitors, with 300+ participating in memory reconstruction sessions.
The initiative continues expanding through scientific research, artistic collaborations, and human rights advocacy, working with institutions like the University of Toronto, British Columbia, Amsterdam, and Southern California. It explores new forms of memory storytelling, supports migrant communities, and develops reminiscence therapy for early-stage dementia in partnership with elderly care facilities.
Credits
Artist collective: Domestic Data Streamers
Curation: Domestic Data Streamers and José Luis de Vicente
The names of all team members of DDS have been organized according to the age at which they had their first memory:
Matilde Sartori, Alex Johnstone, Martina Nadal, Ignasi Monfort i Amat, Irene Altaió Carné, Marçal Cid, Natalia Santolaria, Ivett Yunga Vera, Maria Moreso Vinals, Iolanda Monsó Curia, Joana Bisbe, Arantza Loza, Blanca Navarro Nieto, Pau Ventosa San Martino, Dani Verano, Marc Conangla, Pol Valverde i Valverde, Anton Zyrianov, Juan Aritzi, Lucia Bona, Esteban Piacentino, Self Else, Clara Vituri, Nicolas Olmos López, Helena Galí i Bonet, Axel Gasulla Rogla, Ander Alvaro, Pau Aleikum, Marta Handenawer, Santi Cros
Design and mediation of participatory workshops: Anais Esmerado
Office staff: Marina Olivares, Ainoa Pubill, Misty Virginia Frantum, and Anna Bocciai
Associate researcher: Prof. Alex Mihailidis
Museographic design: Gennis Senén and Ignasi Ávila Padró
Guest artist: Anna Roura
Photography: Marc Asensio and Elisabet Mateu
Audiovisuals: Valentina Lazo, Gerard Vidal and Rodrigo Traverso
Linguistic review: María del Mar Garrocho Blázquez
Special thanks: Kevin Slavin, Simone Ross and Olga Subiros
With support from: BIT Habitat – Innovation agency from Barcelona City Council;
Disseny Hub Barcelona (DHub); Institut Ramon Llull
Website credits
Artist collective: Domestic Data Streamers
Curation: Domestic Data Streamers and José Luis de Vicente
Design and mediation of participatory workshops: Anais Esmerado
Office staff: Marina Olivares, Ainoa Pubill, Misty Virginia Frantum, and Anna Bocciai
Associate researcher: Prof. Alex Mihailidis
Museographic design: Gennis Senén and Ignasi Ávila Padró
Guest artist: Anna Roura
Photography: Marc Asensio and Elisabet Mateu
Audiovisuals: Valentina Lazo, Gerard Vidal and Rodrigo Traverso
Linguistic review: María del Mar Garrocho Blázquez
Special thanks: Kevin Slavin, Simone Ross and Olga Subiros
With support from: BIT Habitat – Innovation agency from Barcelona City Council;
Disseny Hub Barcelona (DHub); Institut Ramon Llull
Biography
Domestic Data Streamers (ES) is a Barcelona-based collective of journalists, researchers, coders, artists, data scientists, and designers exploring new data languages and their social impact since 2013. Their work manifests as films, installations, digital experiences, performances, and exhibitions across diverse settings—from schools and prisons to museums and the UN Headquarters. Operating globally in over 45 countries, they’ve collaborated with prestigious institutions like Tate Modern, Hong Kong Design Institute, and California Academy of Sciences.
Jury Statement
In the 1995 film Ghost in the Shell, the fully cyborg protagonist reflects: “There are countless ingredients that make up the human body and mind, like all the components that make up me as an individual with my own personality.” Memory, the physical body, a sense of the future, and connections to vast networks of information—all shape our identity. Synthetic Memories is a sincere and compassionate initiative that seeks to preserve personal identity and dignity when memory is at risk—due to dementia or other unfortunate life events. Using interviews and contextual data, AI helps reconstruct individualized narratives, enabling people to reconnect with their past. This fosters emotional well-being and restores a sense of self. By addressing the often-overlooked realm of mental and emotional health, the team at Domestic Data Streamers highlights a vital dimension of what it means to be human. Already implemented in public services, their work shows how design and technology can collectively serve the common good—offering scalable models for collaboration and the nurturing of meaningful global communities.