The Oracles are a series of digital, conversational portals designed to help people feel more connected to the area in which they live by drawing attention to human and non-human phenomena. The project starts from the premise that as modern city-dwellers, we often feel the need to travel in order to see the world. The Oracles are here to remind you that you do not need to travel - you just need to stand still and re-learn how to see. The Oracles combine scientific information, weather data and folklore to create a sense of slow travel - creating a space where their audience can re-familiarise themselves with their surroundings & offering information about what you can see if you choose to pay attention.

1. The Portal- A screen based piece that unfolds slowly across the year and talks to you, reacting to live weather data, in person observations of plants and flight data for Forest Hill. The sound design combines observed sound blended with live field recordings of birds and people in the Horniman Museum Gardens. The Portal is presented as three screens which run concurrently.

2. The Doorway - An augmented reality portal that appears as you step out at the station. The Doorway repurposes Forest Hill’s train station signage to reveal nature that you will see that week, including information on the properties and folklore of different plants

3. The Chatbot -  A conversational chatbot that reads you poetry about local nature, using a combination of hand written rhymes and Chat GPT 3.5 integration. The Chatbot explores how traditional style oral histories including storytelling and rhyme can be delivered within a modern digital format.

   Click here to speak to the chatbot.