Fated Time: Recreation of Antikythera Mechanism

01. Conceptual Design

01-1.1 Secondary Research
We began by conducting secondary research through books and online databases, including resources from the international research group. Several key points intrigued us:

• The technical intricacy of the Antikythera Mechanism
• The multiple calendars embedded within the mechanism, which reflected the social and cultural norms of the time
• The large-scale, long-term collaboration across regions that made the creation of such a complex mechanism possible

01-1.2 Astrology Research
Our research revealed that astrological readings from thousands of years ago follow a structure strikingly similar to modern readings. We were particularly intrigued by the detailed ways of interpreting life events, especially the various forms of death described by ancient astrologers.

01-1.3 Design Research
One of our main challenges was determining how to invite users to interact with the installation and ignite their curiosity. Initially, we considered following the typical museum approach—presenting information upfront and then allowing interaction. However, we observed that people were naturally drawn to playing with our prototype first and tended to ask questions afterward. This led us to the decision to avoid front-loading information. Instead, we chose to guide users directly into the interactive experience by providing an astrological reading based on their birthday, a detail many people find personally engaging. This approach allowed individuals to explore human history, technology, and cultural beliefs through a personal lens.

Group photo (left to right): Una Zhang, Joyce Zheng, Jenny Lee, Dr. Alexander Jones, Alfonssette Medina

1. Calendar Design: We highlighted the unique use of spiral shapes on the mechanism's calendar face. Research suggests that this spiral design was likely employed to fit over 200 values on a single face. By emphasizing this, we challenge the common assumption that calendars must be circular, encouraging users to think about different ways of conceptualizing time.
2. Mechanical Intricacies: Although we acknowledged the mechanism’s technical complexity, we chose not to prioritize this area since it has been extensively covered in other popular resources.
3. Astrological Connection: The interaction concludes with a printout of an astrological reading from Vettius Valens, compiled in the 2nd century CE. We used the original Greek spelling of astrological signs to evoke a sense of authenticity and invited users to explore more about their sign through an AR experience, further bridging the gap between ancient cultural practices and modern interactive technology.

• We humans have always been curious of predicting time and exploring the cosmos.
• This desire has been a driving force in the sharing of knowledge and the development of technology since the beginning of civilizations.

Horoscope

The horoscope will be a vertical installation piece - equivalent to a person’s height. Users need to use 
an analog, physical control to interact with a digital simulation showing how the celestial bodies are positioned during the time of your birth, and then they will get an output from the thermal printer with your fortune
Goals:

• learn about the history of astrology and AM by hands-on experience
• Show the interconnectedness of human experience across space and time 

RPG (Role-Playing Game)

RPG looks like an arcade, and users will be able to interact with ancient greek people through different stories and plots to learn using AM to calculate time and many different cultural and astrological phenomena.

Goals:

• Participants get a hands-on feeling of “operating” the Antikythera Mechanism
• They learn how Greeks perceive and use astrological events and prediction

Indiana Jones

Users will assemble the AM through different pieces to learn about the structure and different functions of it. When they successfully assemble it, they’ll get a print-out talking about the AM.

Goals:

• Experience a simulated archaeological excavation
• Learn about the ancient analog computer and its functions
• Feel the satisfaction of collaborating and unlocking a puzzle

02. Ideation

We received a lot of feedbacks from Dr. Jones and peers after presenting the three ideas.
- People would be more into the physical input, mimicing the original mechanism
- People love horoscope! Humans have always been interesetd in their futures.
- Think about different layers of audience. When one user operates, what are others doing?
- Consider the cost, from time, material to human labor.

The physical dial we refer to

After settling down on the user flow, we started to plan out the implementation, which including the real-size of the project, physical design choices (material, paint, physical computing components) and virtuals (font type, graphics, interactions). More experiments will be elaborated in the next section.

Overview sketch

System Diagram

Budget Planning Spreadsheet

03. Development

Prototype

Fabrication

Connected Circuit

Screenshot - light section

Screenshot - thermal printer section

Screenshot - python program

All the ancient greeks is stored as target in Vuforia, which would trigger related star sign information when users scan them.  

In-unity target testing

Final design

04. Future Opportunities

• material: the boards we are using are very heavy & over 1cm thick, which makes it very difficult to get the whole cabinet to fit together.
• hardware: a lot of physical computing hardware components are easy to burnt/be damaged. More than that, the rotary encoders we use to get the value from the audience isn’t accurate all the time due to the hardware precision. We are still looking for a better solution.
• inclusivity: in the middle stage of the experience, we invite the audience to crouch down to look through small holes at the gears inside the box. This action is not friendly enough for many people, so it is best that we provide small holes/aids in different positions to ensure the accessibility of the experience
• project-planning: we stayed up so many nights... a better planning would definitely help everything.