Context

Precedent

Auger and Loizeau’s Real Prediction Machines is a material speculation on the nature of prediction in the information era. We were heavily inspired by this narrative, which states that “Predicting the future is no longer about the mystical reading of natural and celestial phenomena. Today it is all about data.” But data is fallible, measured only once events have occurred– what then is prediction? Do we try to change it, or accept our fate? All ritualistic practices, to some extent, build on latent wants, fears, and desires. But if we claim that machine prediction is not true “foresight”, rooted in what has already happened, could devices instead acknowledge this tension? The Believe It Yourself series from Automato.farm addresses this by presenting devices which instead aim to reflect our inner beliefs. In particular, BIY Hear served as guiding inspiration for this project.

Procedural Inspiration

Based on our shared interest in tasseography and perceived opportunity in this metaphorical angle, we decided to attempt integrating this reference within the constraints of our assigned input and output. At the core, tasseography involves:

1. Some sort of ritualistic sequence and a
2. Substrate with fluid behaviors and form, 
3. Activated by an individual and 
4. Resulting in some ambiguous visual output to be interpreted. 

We gravitated towards tea-reading in part because the open-ended nature of the medium really requires creative interpretation, rather than providing the querent with established sets of discrete outcomes. We also found great meaning in the ritual of tasseography and the careful investment and intimacy fostered by the meditative act of making and drinking tea. To lend even more ambiguity and agency, we decided to leave room in this encounter for the actor to interpret the substrate themselves and ascribe meaning to that– rather than providing an interpretation, an objective reality they encounter and must respond to, only allowing the actor to discern meaning from that symbolism.

We sought to avoid a 1-1 replication of tasseography practices– it would have been straightforward to mimic, but did not align with our objectives. Instead, finding creative opportunities in constraints, we decided to explore ways to use sound as conduit for visual output, producing patterns and movement through resonant vibrations. Relevant precedents include phenomena demonstrated by Chladni plates. Tasseography thus serves as a reference point for the Wishwell ritual.

Symbolic and Cultural Inspiration

Informed by the central idea of machine predictions parroting versions of the past, we were heavily inspired by the familiar concept and related mythology of a Wishing Well or Echoing Cave. Tea-leaf reading can be conducted by a hired practitioner or oneself- in that regard, the role of the Medium is left open to greater interpretation. In reference to a mystical wishing well or echoing cave trope, this proposed artifact acts as the diviner and divination prop simultaneously.

Echoing Cave

In the Echoing Cave metaphor, you speak to spirits embodied by the cave and hear voices responding with a fortune, prediction, or omen. But in actuality, what is echoing back to you is simply what you just said, from the past, distorted or reflected in a variation. Here, machine prediction is the past hitting you back- but this new metaphor adds intentional fuzziness and noise, allowing one to embed their own interpretation in the distortion.

Wishing Well

Usually, predictive machine intelligences leave no room for negotiation or expansion of creativity- whether it attempts to finish your search query, or hastily corrects your spelling, the output is never truly “forecasting”. Rather than expecting this technology to tell us our futures, then, what if it helped us form our own good fate? Usually, wishing wells activate and manifest wishes in exchange for a small price, a coin or token. In this experience, your wish is from your past (the expression of intent). Many people believe that prediction is not only objective, but comes from outside–rather, we’re training these systems. In this manner, Wishwell reinforces that algorithms and predictive machine intelligences are simply operating from our past histories, while creating a different version of a familiar experience and tapping into a sense of inner intuition and belief in self.