In this interactive installation, visitors can directly experience the significance of the complex interplay of randomness and stochastics in current mathematical and physical research. 27 transparent boxes, floating in space, continuously generate random numbers by using the wellknown medium of dice. The process of random number generation is influenced by the complexity of nature and its structures, using a variety of natural materials such as cinnamon, moss, cotton, and cork that have special haptic properties like being soft, rough, hard-edged, or fluffy. Each roll of the dice thus takes on completely different characteristics. Visitors have the opportunity to control one of the boxes by accessing a web application and therefore become an active part of the installation with their self-generated random number. The ensemble of all generated random numbers forms the basis for a real-time calculation and generative graphics. With this project the artists want to demonstrate the importance of random numbers in various fields of research, such as artificial intelligence, physics, computer simulations, and machine learning.

"The Transparency Of Randomness" received a Honorary Mention at the Prix Ars Electronica 2021.

Credit: Ars Electronica - Robert Bauernhansl