How do we build real human connection in a world shaped by swipes, screens, and algorithms? This Thursday Gathering explores how technology is reshaping presence, intimacy, and emotional visibility — and how digital tools can move beyond surface-level interaction to foster meaningful relationships. Join us for Berlin’s vibrant weekly after-work event series designed to spark innovation, connection, and collaboration across startups, creatives, investors, researchers, and curious minds. Expect interactive sessions, expert talks, info tables, and plenty of opportunities to connect.
In the Demo Table zone you will discover various products, technologies and projects being presented by the founders or startup-representatives.
In the Info Table zone you will find out about projects, organisations and ideas.
Want to present your organisation? Send us an application!
However remember, this is NO HARD SALES zone.
Unwind, connect, and vibe to the rhythm! This lively session blends casual networking with great music, offering the perfect atmosphere to meet fellow innovators, exchange ideas, and forge new collaborations. Grab a drink, enjoy the beats, and build meaningful connections in a relaxed, energetic setting.
We’ve never been more connected—yet never felt more unseen. In an age of constant stimulation, emotional invisibility has become a quiet but profound side effect of our digital lives.
This workshop introduces the concept of emotional visibility: the fundamental human need to feel seen without having to perform. It explores how attention-driven technologies contribute to disconnection—and how technology, when designed differently, can help restore presence and connection.
Participants will experience Oru, a presence-based AI that listens differently. There is no fixing, no coaching—just space to be. Positioned where overstimulation meets invisibility, Oru offers a calm, human-centered approach to AI, inviting reflection and emotional grounding back into everyday life.
This workshop is a reflective experience, encouraging participants to explore emotional visibility, reconnect with their inner presence, and consider how technology can support—rather than compete with—our need to be seen.
Learning Outcomes
Participants will:
1. Understand the concept of emotional visibility
2. Recognize how constant stimulation and attention-driven technology amplify emotional invisibility
3. Experience a live demo of Oru and reflect on how AI can foster presence rather than distraction
4. Contribute feedback during Oru’s early testing phase
Participants will leave with continued access to Oru—a quiet reminder of what it feels like to be seen.
While technological advances like digitalization and AI are fundamentally changing how we live and interact, a significant share of the global population is struggling with chronic feelings of loneliness. In this session, we dive deep into the interplay between cutting-edge technology and our social health to explore a pressing question: Is technology the driver of our isolation, or can it be the key to our cure?
The session begins with psychologist and founder Dr. Silvan Hornstein, who will demystify the core concepts of loneliness and share the latest scientific evidence on effective interventions. He will also introduce his current project, platoniq.health, which focuses on developing evidence-based digital interventions to combat loneliness in the form of an app.
The second half of the event features a podium discussion on the complex relationship between AI and loneliness. A panel of diverse experts, including Lea Merkel (MD & Co-Founder of Loneliless), Lara Sachs (Co-Founder of platoniq.health), Lily Chuang (Founder & CEO of True Touch AI) and Katrin Weber (Social connection Specialist, Bezirksamt Tempelhof-Schöneberg), will explore whether AI companions can provide genuine emotional support or merely serve as "digital placebos. Together, they will discuss how we can use technology to foster real-world human connections and examine the ethical boundaries of AI in the mental health space. Join us to discover whether the future of AI is one of isolation or a new era of human connection.
From dating apps to hobby-based platforms, curated communities, and in-person events, the ways we connect are rapidly evolving. As digital tools multiply, so does the desire for more meaningful, human-centered interaction—both online and offline.
In this fireside chat, we’ll explore why people are moving beyond endless swiping and transactional networking toward formats that prioritize shared interests, presence, and real connection. We’ll look at how app culture has shaped social behavior, what feels broken in today’s connection economy, and why new models—offline events, matchmaking concepts, and interest-based platforms—are emerging in response.
Drawing from real-world experience, the conversation will touch on who shows up, how different demographics connect, how these formats are validated and scaled, and what challenges creators face when building spaces for connection. We’ll close by looking ahead: how will people meet, network, date, and build communities in the future—and what role will technology and offline experiences play together?
Sharlene is an artist, connector, and experience architect whose work lives at the intersection of sensation, nature, and human meaning. Her practice is built on a single belief: that a single encounter, when designed with intention, can quietly shift the way a person sees the world.
For over two years, her event series Beyond the Surface and her Intimacy Cards have brought people together across festivals and workshops — creating the conditions for genuine human connection in a world that often discourages it. The through line in every project is the same insight that fungi have been demonstrating underground for half a billion years: we are not meant to be alone, and our most important relationships are symbiotic.
That conviction is now taking its most ambitious form. In 2027, Sharlene is a part of a team that will launch the Museum of Mushrooms — a fully immersive, interactive, traveling exhibition debuting in Berlin — designed to engage every sense, expand every mind, and permanently change how visitors relate to the natural world and to each other.
Ich arbeite an der Schnittstelle von Forschung, Kultur und sozialer Teilhabe. Mein Schwerpunkt liegt auf der Entwicklung und Vermittlung von Konzepten, die gesellschaftliche Verbindung und Solidarität fördern. Dabei begleite ich Projekte und Organisationen, die das soziale Miteinander und innovative Formen des Zusammenhalts in den Mittelpunkt stellen.
How do we build real human connection in a world shaped by swipes, screens, and algorithms? This Thursday Gathering explores how technology is reshaping presence, intimacy, and emotional visibility — and how digital tools can move beyond surface-level interaction to foster meaningful relationships. Join us for Berlin’s vibrant weekly after-work event series designed to spark innovation, connection, and collaboration across startups, creatives, investors, researchers, and curious minds. Expect interactive sessions, expert talks, info tables, and plenty of opportunities to connect.
In the Demo Table zone you will discover various products, technologies and projects being presented by the founders or startup-representatives.
In the Info Table zone you will find out about projects, organisations and ideas.
Want to present your organisation? Send us an application!
However remember, this is NO HARD SALES zone.
Unwind, connect, and vibe to the rhythm! This lively session blends casual networking with great music, offering the perfect atmosphere to meet fellow innovators, exchange ideas, and forge new collaborations. Grab a drink, enjoy the beats, and build meaningful connections in a relaxed, energetic setting.
We’ve never been more connected—yet never felt more unseen. In an age of constant stimulation, emotional invisibility has become a quiet but profound side effect of our digital lives.
This workshop introduces the concept of emotional visibility: the fundamental human need to feel seen without having to perform. It explores how attention-driven technologies contribute to disconnection—and how technology, when designed differently, can help restore presence and connection.
Participants will experience Oru, a presence-based AI that listens differently. There is no fixing, no coaching—just space to be. Positioned where overstimulation meets invisibility, Oru offers a calm, human-centered approach to AI, inviting reflection and emotional grounding back into everyday life.
This workshop is a reflective experience, encouraging participants to explore emotional visibility, reconnect with their inner presence, and consider how technology can support—rather than compete with—our need to be seen.
Learning Outcomes
Participants will:
1. Understand the concept of emotional visibility
2. Recognize how constant stimulation and attention-driven technology amplify emotional invisibility
3. Experience a live demo of Oru and reflect on how AI can foster presence rather than distraction
4. Contribute feedback during Oru’s early testing phase
Participants will leave with continued access to Oru—a quiet reminder of what it feels like to be seen.
While technological advances like digitalization and AI are fundamentally changing how we live and interact, a significant share of the global population is struggling with chronic feelings of loneliness. In this session, we dive deep into the interplay between cutting-edge technology and our social health to explore a pressing question: Is technology the driver of our isolation, or can it be the key to our cure?
The session begins with psychologist and founder Dr. Silvan Hornstein, who will demystify the core concepts of loneliness and share the latest scientific evidence on effective interventions. He will also introduce his current project, platoniq.health, which focuses on developing evidence-based digital interventions to combat loneliness in the form of an app.
The second half of the event features a podium discussion on the complex relationship between AI and loneliness. A panel of diverse experts, including Lea Merkel (MD & Co-Founder of Loneliless), Lara Sachs (Co-Founder of platoniq.health), Lily Chuang (Founder & CEO of True Touch AI) and Katrin Weber (Social connection Specialist, Bezirksamt Tempelhof-Schöneberg), will explore whether AI companions can provide genuine emotional support or merely serve as "digital placebos. Together, they will discuss how we can use technology to foster real-world human connections and examine the ethical boundaries of AI in the mental health space. Join us to discover whether the future of AI is one of isolation or a new era of human connection.
From dating apps to hobby-based platforms, curated communities, and in-person events, the ways we connect are rapidly evolving. As digital tools multiply, so does the desire for more meaningful, human-centered interaction—both online and offline.
In this fireside chat, we’ll explore why people are moving beyond endless swiping and transactional networking toward formats that prioritize shared interests, presence, and real connection. We’ll look at how app culture has shaped social behavior, what feels broken in today’s connection economy, and why new models—offline events, matchmaking concepts, and interest-based platforms—are emerging in response.
Drawing from real-world experience, the conversation will touch on who shows up, how different demographics connect, how these formats are validated and scaled, and what challenges creators face when building spaces for connection. We’ll close by looking ahead: how will people meet, network, date, and build communities in the future—and what role will technology and offline experiences play together?
Sharlene is an artist, connector, and experience architect whose work lives at the intersection of sensation, nature, and human meaning. Her practice is built on a single belief: that a single encounter, when designed with intention, can quietly shift the way a person sees the world.
For over two years, her event series Beyond the Surface and her Intimacy Cards have brought people together across festivals and workshops — creating the conditions for genuine human connection in a world that often discourages it. The through line in every project is the same insight that fungi have been demonstrating underground for half a billion years: we are not meant to be alone, and our most important relationships are symbiotic.
That conviction is now taking its most ambitious form. In 2027, Sharlene is a part of a team that will launch the Museum of Mushrooms — a fully immersive, interactive, traveling exhibition debuting in Berlin — designed to engage every sense, expand every mind, and permanently change how visitors relate to the natural world and to each other.
Ich arbeite an der Schnittstelle von Forschung, Kultur und sozialer Teilhabe. Mein Schwerpunkt liegt auf der Entwicklung und Vermittlung von Konzepten, die gesellschaftliche Verbindung und Solidarität fördern. Dabei begleite ich Projekte und Organisationen, die das soziale Miteinander und innovative Formen des Zusammenhalts in den Mittelpunkt stellen.