Oren Kramek
The Karma Machine
The Karma Machine is a web app that explores the concept of choice, and how choices affect not only an individual’s life but also society. To do so, a method similar to a “choose your own adventure” book is employed. The Karma Machine offers a player a seemingly mundane scenario with two options that shape his or her future with somewhat surprising importance. A simple choice of what clothes to wear determines the socio-economic structure of a society, or whether one walks or drives influences not only the roads or walkways, but also contributes to the health of the population, the layout of the land, and the stores that populate the landscape.
There are a total of nine choices each focusing on an aspect of social structure: Gender Roles, Economics, Sexual Orientation, Health, Morality, Transportation, Reproduction, Consumption and Urban and Suburbanization. Each time a player makes a selection, that choice will be saved and allow for new choices to be made. A total of 18 different scenarios were created, two for each choice, which results in over 500 different possible “futures.” The end result is a depiction of the future created entirely by the player’s choices.
