Amazing Interactive Memory Machine

The Amazing Interactive Memory Machine (AIMM) is a site-specific vending machine that dispenses memories. Designed for Coney Island, visitors are invited to choose a memory by pressing a button. With each press, listeners have a new opportunity to hear stories from other New Yorkers, stories about things that have changed or that persist despite change. At the conclusion of each story, a souvenir receipt prints out. Listeners can contribute to the machine by calling and leaving their memories on a voicemail system. AIMM offers a personal perspective of an historical place and an opportunity for unexpected experiences.

The Amazing Interactive Memory Machine was developed as my ITP thesis project. I repurposed a soda vending machine, rewiring it to an Arduino to trigger audio stories managed by Processing. I collected the initial audio content through interviews using a Zoom recorder and edited it into short narratives using Audition. You can hear a sample of the audio content on SoundCloud.

You can read more about the process here: http://thesis.itp.io/students/nat295