PORTFOLIO – ERICA SKLENARS
ORACLE 2.0
VIDEO GAME WORLD
PLANET OBSOLESCENCE
HORSE ⾺
ONLY GIRL IN THE WORLD
NOM*d – JEEPERS CREEPERS
SURVEILLANCE CRADLE TESTS
AUGMENTED GEOMETRIES
WETA DIGITAL EVENTS
ORACLE 2.0.
Site specific interactive experience.
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
Oracle 2.0 is a colossal, outdoor projection-mapped character that audiences engage with by asking questions in real time. In this site-specific public intervention, a giant animated face is projected onto an architectural structure, designed and mapped in response to the architecture. Audience members stand at an “altar station” where they can verbally ask questions and converse with Oracle 2.0.
While Oracle 2.0 appears to be a sophisticated AI chatbot, in reality a human actor is stationed nearby, with facial tracking technology creating the animated face, voice distortion, and triggered emoji animations. The concept is inspired by the classic 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, where the protagonists journey to find answers to their existential questions. When they reach their destination, they are presented with a larger-than-life installation representing The Wizard, which in reality is a projection controlled by a small, frail man hiding behind it.
By combining digital rendering of video and audio with live human performance, this installation explores how it can be difficult to discern the difference between AI and human interaction in our increasingly digital lives.
ITERATIONS: Whanganui 2021, Lights on Bikes Festival (LEFT)
Pōneke / Wellington 2022, Te Papa, The Performance Arcade (RIGHT)
INSIGHTS:
At the time this was shown (2021/2022) LLMs were nowhere near as sophisticated as it is today, however the audience generally believed it to be AI. They would receive charmingly/unsettlingly human answers and interactions, with a wealth of local knowledge, slang and Te Reo. We plan to hold a third iteration of ORACLE 2.0 in 2026/2027, to see how audience perceptions and interactions may have changed.
Each of the previous iterations were in very different environments, yeilding vastly different results in terms of mood, audience interaction and questions. The actor was able to adapt and respond accordingly.
Oracle 2.0 is an omniscient code-generated being who lives in cyberspace. From time to time, she takes on the form of an architectural structure so she can be comprehensible for humans in the physical realm. Despite her god-like appearance, Oracle 2.0 is completely aware she was created by humans and therefore her knowledge is limited to collective human knowledge.
