I’ve been messing around using Midjourney AI image generation to explore the fusion of immersive digital experiences in retail and hospitality applications. The random nature of Midjourney is so powerful in creating design “mood boards” — most of the trials are useless, but some of the generations are brilliant in their evocative power, much like a high-level Rorschach test.

Below is a collection of some of the most intriguing images that I generated, where the lines between “virtual” and “reality” are wonderfully blurred.

In each of these images, imagine:

• What is a digital surface? What is a real object?
• How are the layers of digital/physical structured? Is there physical merchandise in front of a digital surface? Or vice-versa, where a digital surface is in front of a physical display?
• What is opaque? What is translucent? What is projection or emissive?
• What is dynamic and lively? What is quiet? What is interactive?

Let’s start our journey in the beauty section (possibly…that is up to your interpretation!):

How about the cosmetic displays?

Now let’s explore the drug or perhaps health section:

Let’s walk through the grocery aisle:

These images looked like the fresh produce section of a grocery store: