The aim of “Quantum Entangoment” is to serve as a mirror through which we can play with the boundary between our sense of “self” vs “other”, through interaction with a Digital Twin that reflects our own body movement transposed dynamically over time. Quantum Entangoment is also intended to serve as a conceptual bridge to PORTICO, which is conceived as a mirror through which we can play with the boundary between ourselves and society, enabling alignment of narratives that motivate mutually beneficial collective action.

Quantum Entangoment presents a live video feed of your upper body through your computer webcam and screen, including your Digital Twin’s wireframe replicas of your arms. If your movement is erratic your Digital Twin will tend to follow you. If your movement is repetitive your Digital Twin will tend to lead you. In the middle of this range is a playful dynamic state where you can “dance” with your Digital Twin, and potentially enter a “flow state” in which your movements and the movements of your Digital Twin regularly diverge, yet repeatedly come back into contact within a larger complex flowing movement.

Through a “Glyph Window”, Quantum Entangoment offers symbolic representation of the types of movement that connect you and your Digital Twin. The 3 glyphs shown below represent the states of “Leading”, “Being Led” and “Dynamic Dance”. Similar symbols in PORTICO could help us orient “at a glance” towards healthy, mutually beneficial behavior within groups and society-at-large. Within PORTICO glyphs like these might represent how our personal narrative 1) is misaligned with our social context 2) is connected but lacks personal freedom and expression or 3) reflects our engagement and full expression within society.

Leading (Open Glyph). This glyph appears when your movement is unpredictable. Your Digital Twin is unable to anticipate your movements and will follow you. In PORTICO the equivalent scenario occurs when your personal narrative is misaligned with the narratives of others who participate in your social network. You and your community are not able to anticipate and reciprocate each others’ actions.

Being Led (Closed Simple Glyph). This glyph appears when your movement is repetitive and predictable. Your Digital Twin is able to anticipate your movements and will lead you. In PORTICO the equivalent scenario occurs when your personal narrative is aligned with other narratives that form your social context, but lacks a unique perspective within your social context. Your actions are predictable with narrow pathways to fixed outcomes, and there is a limited experience of personal freedom and expression.

Dynamic Dance (Closed Complex Glyph). This glyph appears when your movements and the movements of your Digital Twin regularly diverge, yet repeatedly come back into contact within a larger complex flowing movement. In PORTICO the equivalent scenario occurs when your personal narrative is aligned in a complex way with other narratives that form your social context, reflecting a unique perspective within your social context; a range of pathways leading towards a range of emergent potential futures; and an experience of personal freedom and expression that also serves a collective need.

Instructions to play: Click on the “Play Quantum Entangoment” button below and move back from your screen so that your full range of arm movements are visible on your screen. Ensure that you are well lit and that there is good contrast between your body/clothing and your background. Experiment with arm movements that occupy a large portion of your screen in order to engage your digital twin in initially following you; then leading you, and possibly dancing with you.

More about the Metaphor

PORTICO is inspired by the truth that we humans are each a point of perspective that is inseparable from the reality we share. The aim of PORTICO is to bring this truth into focus at the level of written and verbal narrative by demonstrating the ultimate interdependence of our personal narratives, which form the collective narrative of our society. Making this tapestry of interdependent narratives explicit and visible might give us the feedback cues to support the emergence of collective flow states within the domains of group work, collective decision making, and regional/global circular regenerative economies.

Quantum Entangoment is a playful experimental interaction with your Digital Twin through body movement. “Dancing with your Digital Twin” is intended to serve as a conceptual and experiential bridge to PORTICO - taking us from the medium of body movement, to the medium of written and spoken narrative that reflects our relationship with our community. The capacity of Quantum Entangoment to reflect a range of engagement with your Digital Twin is analogous to the capacity of PORTICO to reflect - and to facilitate - your ability to engage the collaborative capacity of your community. This collective potential might awaken through “collective flow states” in which each person expresses themselves fully through actions that are needed, anticipated, and received by their community. In this state, collective intelligence and collective engagement can be the foundation of a regenerative human culture in a dynamically changing world.

Within a quantum-entangled system the observer and the object-of-observation are non-separate. This is the “universal dance” underpinning our shared physical reality. Quantum Entangoment and PORTICO aim to provide a gateway to “social quantum entanglement” wherein the division between “self and other” blurs and the illusion of time - our shared history and imagined futures - collapse into the space of movement connecting us in the present moment.