Simbiòpolis
Technology, people and nature in balance:
a new way of inhabiting the future
From June 13 to August 31, 2025, at Palau Robert
Simbiòpolis is an immersive and interactive experience that merges technology and digital art to explore how we live, move, learn, and care within the city of the future. It’s a journey for all citizens to see, try, and reflect on the world we are building.
The exhibition invites us to rethink our relationship with technology, nature, and one another in an increasingly interconnected environment.
A free-entry exhibition organized by Mobile World Capital Barcelona and the Government of Catalonia.
Curator by: Rosa Pera Roca
Find us: Palau Robert. Pg. de Gràcia, 107
Art and technology intertwine to observe.
To the humanistic and nature-respecting vision of Society 5.0 — which incorporates advanced technologies into people’s daily lives to improve them — art adds posthumanist perspectives that dismantle the boundaries between the urban, the natural, and the human.
The exhibition immerses us in subtle realities, often imperceptible to the senses, where people, algorithms, other animal species, non-human environments, and intelligent technological devices coexist in ecosystems that anticipate forms of cooperation yet to be imagined.
An immersive journey
into Society 5.0
Simbiòpolis transports us to a city model where technology is organically integrated into our daily lives to improve quality of life and create more sustainable and inclusive environments.
All within the context of Society 5.0, which aims to humanize digital technologies and turn them into useful tools to tackle today’s major global challenges.
Two languages, one future:
technology and digital art
The exhibition is structured around three main thematic axes: city, people, and nature. The Simbiòpolis experience is built on the dialogue between technological experiences and digital artistic proposals:
- Technological Experiences allow visitors to interact with innovations presented at the latest MWC. It’s an opportunity to discover cutting-edge digital solutions such as digital twins, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, robotics, and supercomputing—technologies applied in key areas like mobility, health, education, and sustainability.
- Digital Art Installations offer a critical, emotional, or symbolic perspective on the same social challenges. They are sensory and immersive experiences that explore the connections between people, machines, data, nature, and emotions.
TECHNOLOGY AND CITY: URBAN FLOWS, SHARED FUTURES
How does technology transform the way we inhabit cities? This thematic block explores the relationship between innovation and urban environments: mobility, services, logistics, data, and quality of life.
TECHNOLOGICAL EXPERIENCES
- Barcelona in your pocket
Interact with Barcelona’s digital twin and discover how real-time decisions can be made about public services and urban planning using key data.
In collaboration with the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC)
- Mind your delivery
Choose a travel option and observe, through an interactive map, the impact of your logistical decisions on the city: traffic, pollution, efficiency, and air quality.
In collaboration with EIT Urban Mobility
ARTISTIC PROPOSALS
- Toxicity. Driven Breathless
Real-time environmental data installation visualizing air pollution in 120 cities around the world.
In collaboration with Stanza
- I’m Alive
Interactive projection connecting data and urban life, exploring the invisible interaction between systems that organize the city.
In collaboration with Stanza
- Nine Episodes
Audiovisual work in nine chapters exploring how technology is redefining society and our perception of the future.
In collaboration with Thomas Thwaites
TECHNOLOGY AND NATURE: FOOTPRINT, LANDSCAPE, COEXISTENCE
Is it possible to coexist with the planet through technology? We delve into the relationship between technology and nature. This second stage invites us to reflect on the environmental impact of our habits and discover how technology becomes an ally in promoting sustainable lifestyles and consumption.
TECHNOLOGICAL EXPERIENCE
- Have a good impact!
An interactive machine calculates the visitor’s carbon footprint based on their lifestyle. Thanks to AI and supercomputing, it offers personalized recommendations for more sustainable consumption.
In collaboration with CaixaBank
ARTISTIC PROPOSALS
- Cascade
A sound and visual installation that recreates the flows of nature and connects us with ecological rhythms we often ignore.
In collaboration with Marc Vilanova
- The City as an Organism
An immersive dome that transports us to a future where nature and city are not opposites but coexist in symbiosis within a Society 5.0 inspired by natural ecosystems.
In collaboration with TigreLab
TECHNOLOGY AND PEOPLE: LIVING TOGETHER, COOPERATING, CARING
How is our daily life transformed by technology? This final section of the exhibition focuses on the most intimate areas: education, health, care, emotion, and human interaction.
TECHNOLOGICAL EXPERIENCES
- A metaverse of learning
An immersive experience showing how the airline trains its staff using virtual reality. It also showcases Vueling’s global network through data visualizations.
In collaboration with Vueling
- Robotising your life
Interact with a humanoid robot and discover how robotics is already transcending industrial environments to integrate into our daily lives.
In collaboration with Invelon
ARTISTIC PROPOSALS
- Somoure
A robotic wearable that invites reflection on caregiving from a technological and emotional perspective.
In collaboration with Mònica Rikic
- Peaceful Places
An interactive installation that reclaims the hug as a primary emotional technology and reflects on the need for physical connection in a hyper-digitalized world.
Agenda
Guided tour open to the public
Family Day (for children aged 6 to 13)
Guided tour for Club Vanguardia subscribers
Workshop “Living in Tech” + Guided tour
Club Vanguardia roundtable + guided tour
Workshop “Can machines participate in care (or should we care for machines)?” by Mónica Rikić + Guided tour
Partners
From 13 June to 31 August
