ArchiGuesser - AI Art Architecture Educational Game

Joern Ploennigs, Markus Berger, and Eva Carnein

AI for Sustainable Construction
University of Rostock
Rostock, 18059, Germany
{Joern.Ploennigs; Markus.Berger; Eva.Carnein}@uni-rostock.de
arXiv:2312.09334v1 [cs.AI] 14 Dec 2023

Abstract
The use of generative AI in education is a controversial topic. Current technology
offers the potential to create educational content from text, speech, to images
based on simple input prompts. This can enhance productivity by summarizing
knowledge and improving communication, quickly adjusting to different types of
learners. Moreover, generative AI holds the promise of making the learning itself
more fun, by responding to user inputs and dynamically generating high-quality
creative material.
In this paper we present the multisensory educational game ArchiGuesser that
combines various AI technologies from large language models, image generation,
to computer vision to serve a single purpose: Teaching students in a playful way
the diversity of our architectural history and how generative AI works.

1 Introduction
The new challenges of generative AI in education are widely discussed from pros and cons [1, 8, 10] to
regulatory implications [2, 11]. The discussion is dominated by the potential threats of student misuse.
Practical examples that actually demonstrate how generative AI can be used in education are rare in
the discussion with a few examples from teaching code with Chat GPT [12] to engaging students’
interest in art in STEAM classes with image-generation [4]. In consequence, many practitioners
are already ahead of education in adopting generative AI. A recent study analysing 85 millions of
Midjourney prompts has shown that more than 6 % are related to architecture [6]. The analysis points
out that the platform actually has good understanding of architectural styles and people query and
combine them across periods and geographic locations to create new designs.
Within this paper we show how we can utilize that in education. We present a multisensory educational
game that is combining multiple generative AI technologies to engage students in learning about
architectural styles. With the game we particularly put focus on the diversity of architectural history
across the globe. The game principle is simple: Display an image or read a poem for a randomly
selected architectural style and encourage the user to make educated guesses about the specific
architectural style presented, its geographical origin, and the time period it was created in. The
advanced game mode incorporates images and text inspired by real landmarks known for their striking
representation of certain architectural styles, adding an extra layer of complexity in identify both the
original and newly fused styles, along with their respective locations and time periods. This challenge
enhances the gameplay and breaks down traditional cultural boundaries in architectural history.
We designed the game to be multisensory to enhance memorization [9, 5] by generating visual and
auditive content and providing a tactile interface in which the user gives his guess by positioning
3D-printed objects of the various architectural styles onto a map (see Fig. 1a). These 3D objects
have been designed to embody distinctive style features giving the user visual and tactile hints for
identification. The user is awarded points based on the proximity of his guess to the correct values
and is ranked on a leaderboard. This makes the game enjoyable individually or in a group.

Preprint. Under review.

 Select Game mode: Game Mode Image: Interface Haptic: Interface Online: Show AI generated
User guesses:
Image | Sights | Poem Generate and show Select & place 3D User selects
Style, Location, information on correct
Interface: image of architectural printed Object for Style Style, Location, style with
Time, (Site)
Haptic | Online style and location (& Site) on Map Time, (Site) in GUI characteristics,
architects, time range,
Game Mode Sights: Interface Haptic: etc.
Compute
Random Architectural Generate and show Select Time on
Correctness
Style, Location, (Site) image of famous Architectonic
Score
sights in a new style Calendar

Interface Haptic:
Game Mode Poem: TTS Rank Score vs. other
Camera detects
of AI-generated Players, Teams or
style, location and time
poem about style on Tier List
with openCV

(a) Gameplay (b) Architecture

Figure 1: ArchiGuesser Impressions
2 The Generative AI pipeline
We developed the game with the goal to create a multisensory experience that caters to different
learning channels to teach architectural styles and also helps students understand the capabilities and
workings of generative AI. Therefore, we decided that the content for the game should be generated
primarily by AI including style descriptions, images, and poems.
Figure 1b shows the resulting ArchiGuesser pipeline that is integrating various AI technologies. After
selecting a game mode the game is presenting generated images or poems for a randomly selected
style and optional landmark. The user’s task is to identify the architectural style, geographical location,
historical period, and landmark by positioning 3D-printed objects on a map. A physical slider allows
users to specify the time period. We employ marker-based computer vision with OpenCV to identify
the object types and positions. Subsequently, we compute a score to evaluate the user’s accuracy in
comparison to the ground truth. We present this score along with information about the correct style,
providing users with additional information to learn to recognizing the styles.
In the game, we wanted to represent the richness of architectural history worldwide and avoid cultural
bias. To achieve this, we utilized ChatGPT (GPT 4) to provide us with a list of the top 10 architectural
styles for each socio-cultural region of the world, as outlined for example in [3] and [13]. This process
was repeated 10 times. We selected the most consistent 30 responses to eliminate hallucination.
Next, we tasked ChatGPT with providing concise JSON summaries encompassing style, time period,
characteristics, and notable architects. With control questions we evaluate the quality of the response.
Lastly, we meticulously curated the content to ensure accuracy, making only a few corrections as
ChatGPT shows a solid knowledge of architectural history[7].
We then generate images with Midjourney with two methods depending on the game mode. In
the ’Image’ mode, an image of a building in a specific architectural style is generated. We use
templated prompts, such as "Building of <name> architectural style by <architect>," as well as
prompts generated by ChatGPT that summarize the style using nouns and adjectives. In the ’Sights’
game mode, we have curated a selection of renowned local sites that exemplify distinct architectural
styles. These images are uploaded to Midjourney for reinterpretation into a different style.
The poem game mode offers an alternative non-visual experience in which an architectural style is
conveyed through recited poetry. We create these poems using templated prompts in ChatGPT that
request a style-themed poem (describing opt. a landmark) without explicitly naming the style. To
bring these poems to life, we convert them into speech using a custom-trained voice on elevenlabs.io.

3 Conclusion
Generative AIs offer us new and fun ways to reshape education and teach in engaging and creative
ways. We present an example for a generative AI-driven multisensory educational game that teaches
the diversity of architectural history, from the styles we see around us every day to unfamiliar styles
from across the world. With generative AI we can also break up these traditional cultural boundaries
and remix them in new, fictional ways. We can show what Neuschwanstein might look like if built
in the Chinese imperial era or what happens if Art Deco is fused with elements from African Mud
Brick style. This enables students to think about stylistic elements outside of their cultural bubbles.
They can learn about the history of architectural styles, and at the same time gain new impulses for
their own architectural designs. With generative AI all these novel possibilities can be made part of a
simple and fun game like ArchiGuesser (Demo video: https://youtu.be/zuvKQeuoWuQ).

2
References
[1] David Baidoo-Anu and Leticia Owusu Ansah. Education in the era of generative artificial
intelligence (AI): Understanding the potential benefits of ChatGPT in promoting teaching and
learning. Journal of AI, 7(1):52–62, 2023.
[2] Philipp Hacker, Andreas Engel, and Marco Mauer. Regulating ChatGPT and other large
generative AI models. In ACM Conf. on Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency, pages
1112–1123, 2023.
[3] Jeff M. Jones. The 9 unique regions of the world, https://objectivelists.com/2022/
12/30/regions-of-the-world/, 2022.
[4] Unggi Lee, Ariel Han, Jeongjin Lee, Eunseo Lee, Jiwon Kim, Hyeoncheol Kim, and Cheolil
Lim. Prompt aloud!: Incorporating image-generative AI into STEAM class with learning
analytics using prompt data. Education and Information Technologies, pages 1–31, 2023.
[5] Magdalena Novak and Stephan Schwan. Does touching real objects affect learning? Educational
Psychology Review, 33:637–665, 2021.
[6] Joern Ploennigs and Markus Berger. AI art in architecture. AI in Civil Engineering, 2(1):8,
2023.
[7] Joern Ploennigs and Markus Berger. Decoding Cultural Heritage with AI, chapter Generative
AI and the History of Architecture. Springer, 2024.
[8] Junaid Qadir. Engineering education in the era of ChatGPT: Promise and pitfalls of generative
AI for education. In IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference, pages 1–9. IEEE, 2023.
[9] Michel Quak, Raquel Elea London, and Durk Talsma. A multisensory perspective of working
memory. Frontiers in human neuroscience, 9:197, 2015.
[10] Jürgen Rudolph, Samson Tan, and Shannon Tan. ChatGPT: Bullshit spewer or the end of
traditional assessments in higher education? Journal of Applied Learning and Teaching, 6(1),
2023.
[11] Miriam Sullivan, Andrew Kelly, and Paul McLaughlan. ChatGPT in higher education: Consid-
erations for academic integrity and student learning. 2023.
[12] Nigar M. Shafiq Surameery and Mohammed Y. Shakor. Use Chat GPT to solve programming
bugs. Int. J. of Information Technology & Computer Engineering (IJITC), 3(01):17–22, 2023.
[13] Zhiqiang John Zhai and Jonathan M Previtali. Ancient vernacular architecture: characteristics
categorization and energy performance evaluation. Energy and buildings, 42(3):357–365, 2010.