How do you explain a complex scientific problem without explaining it? How do you make people feel the urgency of a quantum cybersecurity threat, without lecturing them on algorithms and cryptographic vulnerabilities?
This project embraces a radically different approach to science communication—one that trades direct explanations for visual metaphors, intuitive storytelling, and a careful balance between rigor and abstraction.
At first glance, the video resembles an ordinary computer desktop. Familiar icons—representing e-commerce, banking, social media, healthcare, and messaging—fill the screen, mirroring the digital reality we take for granted. But something is off. An atom appears. It mutates. It becomes an all-seeing eye. And then, everything starts to break down: shopping carts empty, banking systems fail, messages become exposed. Without a single line of text or narration, the video captures a sense of unease—a realization that something fundamental is under attack.
THE SCIENCE BEHIND THE METAPHORS
Every visual element is grounded in real cryptographic mechanisms. The email encryption sequence illustrates the principles of public-key cryptography, showing how classical RSA-based encryption is built—and then shattered by quantum decryption. The hand reconstructing the private key from the public one is not a gimmick; it represents the real-world impact of Shor’s algorithm breaking classical cryptographic assumptions.
The turning point comes not with a lecture, but with a character’s action. A small figure—half-hidden under a funnel-shaped hat—watches as chaos unfolds. Then, he breaks the fourth wall and intervenes, symbolizing the role of our company in developing quantum-safe solutions. In a direct nod to quantum cryptography, he blinds the all-seeing eye (a metaphor for the blinding attack in quantum security) and triggers a transformation: classical cryptographic keys shift into a quantum state, where the No-Cloning Theorem ensures security cannot be compromised.
THE GOAL: CREATING QUESTIONS, NOT ANSWERS
This project is not about condensing the mysteries of the Quantum Threat into two minutes. Instead, it aims to create curiosity, to unsettle the audience just enough that they start asking **the right questions. If, by the end, the viewer realizes that their cybersecurity is not as safe as they assumed—and if they feel the need to understand why—then the mission is accomplished.
Science communication is not just about explaining what we know. It’s about finding new ways to engage, even if that means starting from scratch every time. This video is a bet—a risky one, perhaps—but one that embraces the challenge of pushing science beyond mere illustration, into the realm of experience.
Client: Qtlabs - Quantum Technologies Laboratories
Concept & Illustration: Michele Sclafani
Animation: Alessandro Lo Cascio
