The Physics Colloquium, hosted by ETH Zurich, is a prestigious series of lectures featuring renowned physicists and researchers. These experts share their insights on various physics topics. In the Autumn Semester of 2015, Dr. Toni Acin, Group Leader at ICFO, Spain, was invited to speak at the Zurich Physics Colloquium. His lecture was titled ‘Quantum Information with Black Boxes,’ focusing on device-independent quantum information processing. This innovative approach in quantum information applications treats devices as ‘quantum black boxes’ that process classical information. Dr. Acin’s presentation offered new perspectives on fundamental quantum physics questions, highlighting the unique nature of processing classical information in a quantum framework.

As graphic designer at ICFO, I am often asked to help visually illustrate scientific concepts and/or presentations. In this case, we created a sophisticated virtual setting to visually represent Antonio Acin’s talk ‘Quantum Information with Black Boxes’ at the Zurich Physics Colloquium. This setting showcases an array of semi-transparent, cube-shaped devices with glowing edges, symbolizing the ‘quantum black boxes.’ These boxes process classical information in a quantum manner, a core concept of the talk. Integrated into the scene are holographic waves, which illustrate the complex journey of quantum formulas, 3D photon models, and quantum states entering and exiting these boxes. This graphical composition embodies the essence of the lecture, emphasizing our understanding of these black boxes: we know what we put in and what we get out, but not how they work inside.