Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
CHAPTER 9
The recombinant history apparatus
presents Terminal Time
Steffi Domike, Michael Mateas, and Paul Vanouse
Chatham College, Pittsburgh; Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh,
PA; SUNY Buffalo, Buffalo, NY
Introduction
Te rmi na l Time
is a history “engine:” a machine which combines historical
events, ideological rhetoric, familiar forms of TV documentary, consumer polls
and artificial intelligence algorithms to create hybrid cinematic experiences for
mass audiences that are different every time. Through an audience response
measuring device connected to a computer, viewing audiences respond to pe-
riodic questions reminiscent of marketing polls. Their answers to these ques-
tions allow the computer program to create historical narratives that attempt
to mirror and often exaggerate their biases and desires. The engine uses the
past 1,000 years of world history as “fuel” for creating these custom-made his-
torical documentaries. By creating histories that clearly and instantly respond
to changes in audience make-up, the project is intended to raise fundamental
questions about the relationship of points of view to constructions of history
particularly at the dawn of a new Millennium.
The audience interaction in relationship to the viewing experience is de-
picted in Figure 1. In the first question period, an initial ideological theme
(from the set of gender, race, technology, class, religion) and a narrative arc
(e.g. progress or decline narrative) are established. The second set of questions
refines the ideological theme chosen in the first set, and possibly introduces
a sub-theme (e.g. combining race and class, or technology and religion). The
third set of questions further refines the theme(s) and introduces the possibility
for a reversal (e.g. a decline narrative becoming a progress narrative).
