Hannah Johnston

Jonas Oppenlaender, Hannah Johnston, Johanna Silvennoinen et al.

Image generation using generative artificial intelligence has become a popular activity. However, text-to-image generation - where images are produced from typed prompts - can be less engaging in public settings since the act of typing tends to limit interactive audience participation, thereby reducing its suitability for designing dynamic public installations. In this article, we explore body prompting as input modality for image generation in the context of installations at public event settings. Body prompting extends interaction with generative AI beyond textual inputs to reconnect the creative act of image generation with the physical act of creating artworks. We implement this concept in an interactive art installation, Artworks Reimagined, designed to transform existing artworks via body prompting. We deployed the installation at an event with hundreds of visitors in a public and private setting. Our semi-structured interviews with a sample of visitors (N = 79) show that body prompting was well-received and provides an engaging and fun experience to the installation's visitors. We present insights into participants' experience of body prompting and AI co-creation and identify three distinct strategies of embodied interaction focused on re-creating, reimagining, or casual interaction. We provide valuable recommendations for practitioners seeking to design interactive generative AI experiences in museums, galleries, and public event spaces.

Hannu Simonen, Atte Kiviniemi, Hannah Johnston et al.

In the creative practice of text-to-image (TTI) generation, images are synthesized from textual prompts. By design, TTI models always yield an output, even if the prompt contains unknown terms. In this case, the model may generate default images: images that closely resemble each other across many unrelated prompts. Studying default images is valuable for designing better solutions for prompt engineering and TTI generation. We present the first investigation into default images on Midjourney. We describe an initial study in which we manually created input prompts triggering default images, and several ablation studies. Building on these, we conduct a computational analysis of about 750,000 images, revealing consistent default images across unrelated prompts. We also conduct an online user study investigating how default images may affect user satisfaction. Our work lays the foundation for understanding default images in TTI generation, highlighting their practical relevance as well as challenges and future research directions.