From Our Writers

10 Mind-Bending Ways to Test the New "Nano Banana" AI

(And Why It’s Smarter Than Your Average Robot)

If you’ve been hanging around the internet lately, you might have heard the term "Nano Banana Pro." It sounds like a smoothie ingredient, but it’s actually the affectionate community nickname for Google’s latest AI model, Gemini 3.0 Pro.

Why the hype? Because this new model doesn’t just "paint" pixels like the AI of last year. It has a reasoning engine. That means it understands physics, lighting, 3D space, and even humor before it starts creating. It’s less like a photocopier and more like a digital artist with a physics degree.

Want to see what it can do? You don’t need to be a tech wizard. Here are 10 awesome, simple, and fun experiments anyone can try right now to see the power of this new engine in action.

1. The "Inside-Out" Challenge (Exploded Views)

Old AI models used to hallucinate random gears when you asked for technical drawings. This one understands how things are mechanically constructed.

• The Test: See if it can take apart a complex object logically.

• Try this Prompt:

  "A highly detailed technical illustration in an isometric exploded view of a vintage, lever-style espresso machine. The copper boiler has a warm patina, the brass group head reveals internal gears, springs, and a piston, and the body casing is made of polished burled wood and cast iron. All components are floating and separated, with glowing blue-white technical lines, arrows, and call-out boxes labeling 'COPPER BOILER & HEATING ELEMENT', 'LEVER GROUP HEAD ASSEMBLY', and 'WOOD & CAST IRON BODY'. The background is an aged, sepia-toned blueprint with faint coffee stains, schematics, and technical annotations. Dramatic, cross-lighting creates long shadows and highlights the metallic textures. The overall style is a blend of Victorian engineering and modern technical art."

  

2. The Napkin-to-Product Prototype

Turn a terrible scribble into a shelf-ready masterpiece. This shows the model's ability to "reason" about 3D form and material from a 2D suggestion.

• The Test: Draw a squiggle on a piece of paper, take a photo, and upload it.

• Try this Prompt:

  "Turn this sketch into a high-end product photography shot. It is a luxury perfume bottle made of matte black glass with gold accents. The brand is "Octoscent" and it's made from real live octopus juice. Place it on a marble podium with dramatic rim lighting"

  Here is the image I gave it (yes...I really drew this on a napkin!)

  

  Here is the image it created:

  

3. The "Impossible Physics" Test

This was a viral challenge recently. It forces the AI to hold two conflicting logical constraints in its "mind" at once without blending them together.

• The Test: Can it keep liquid "still" while time moves "forward"?

• Try this Prompt:

  "A cinematic shot of a wine glass filled to the very brim with red wine, sitting next to an analog clock. The clock face clearly reads 11:15. The wine is settled, not spilling."

4. The Universal Translator

This is a massive flex of the model's text rendering and background in-painting capabilities. It reads, translates, and repaints simultaneously.

• The Test: Upload a photo of a street sign or a cereal box in English.

• Try this Prompt:

  "Translate the text on this sign into French. Keep the font style, color, and background exactly the same. Make it look like the original photo."

5. The "Infinite Cast" Party

Older models struggled to blend more than two distinct concepts. Nano Banana Pro can handle up to ~14 reference inputs!

• The Test: Upload 3-4 random photos (e.g., your dog, a stapler, a banana, and a shoe).

• Try this Prompt:

  "Create a scene of these four characters having a serious business meeting in a corporate boardroom. They are sitting around a mahogany table. Cinematic lighting."

6. The "Director's Cut" Storyboard

Take a single static image and ask the AI to imagine what happens next, effectively directing a scene.

• The Test: Upload a photo of someone opening a door.

• Try this Prompt:

  "Create a 4-panel movie storyboard based on this image. Panel 1: The door opening (original). Panel 2: Over-the-shoulder shot revealing a magical forest inside. Panel 3: Close up of the person's shocked eye. Panel 4: Wide shot of the person stepping through."

7. The Material Swap

Change what an object is made of without losing its shape or identity. The AI understands how light interacts differently with ice, wool, gold, or slime.

• The Test: Upload a selfie or a photo of a car.

• Try this Prompt:

  "Encase the subject in a transparent block of ice. Add subtle frost textures and light refractions. Preserve the pose and background exactly."

8. The Instant Infographic

Turn a picture of an object into a data-rich educational diagram. The AI identifies the object (World Knowledge) and retrieves factual information to generate relevant text.

• The Test: Upload a photo of a common houseplant.

Try this Prompt:

"Create a vertical infographic about this plant. Include sections for 'Watering Needs', 'Sunlight', and 'Origin'. Use a clean, modern pastel design style with readable text."

9. Create Location-Based Images from Coordinates

Type GPS coordinates and a time of day, and Nano Banana Pro will generate an accurate image of that location. It uses Google Search knowledge to visualize real places.

• Example: "Create an image of these coordinates [38.6246° N, 90.1850° W] at sunset"

10. The Real-Time Window

Since the model is connected to Google Search, it can visualize current data, not just old training data.

• The Test: Ask it to visualize something happening right now.

Try this Prompt:

"Visualize the current weather forecast for St Louis for the next 3 days as a sleek, glass-morphism style weather widget card. Use accurate icons for the actual forecast."

Have you tried Nano Banana Pro yet?

These tools are evolving so fast that what seemed like magic six months ago is now a standard feature. Give these prompts a try and see what kind of creative chaos you can come up with!