This commissioned science illustration was created for the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light, accompanying the XLuminA research led by Carla Rodríguez and collaborators and published in Nature Communications. XLuminA is an open-source AI-driven framework that simulates and optimizes complex optical microscopes, with the goal of automatically discovering new experimental setups for super‑resolution imaging that go beyond human-designed configurations.
The core idea: instead of manually designing optical tables element by element, XLuminA explores a huge space of possible lenses, beam splitters, phase masks, and parameters to find configurations that produce desired light patterns and even reveal previously unknown concepts in advanced microscopy. Our illustration translates this workflow into a clear visual narrative—from abstract design space and AI optimization through to a concrete optical setup and resulting imaging performance.
Working with Long Huy Dao, I focused on visual concept development, 3D scene construction, and final illustration, designing readable representations of optical components and structuring the image so that non-experts can grasp the overall idea without losing scientific rigor. The piece has been used in press and outreach materials to communicate the XLuminA project and its role in AI‑driven experimental discovery.
