USC RESEARCH · CONCEPT / IN PROGRESS
Time Machine
An encounter with a possible future self, designed through narrative, ritual, and a warm felt world.
A conversation with a possible future
Time Machine is an ongoing research concept about temporal self-continuity: the connection someone feels between their present and future selves. It proposes an AI-guided narrative encounter in which a player visits a possible future, asks questions, and returns with a different perspective on a decision. The design explores reflection and empathy. Emotional benefits remain research questions, not established treatment outcomes.
The letter that started the idea
The idea began with imagining a kind letter from an older self during a period of uncertainty. That experience suggested a design question: could an encounter with a possible future make self-encouragement more tangible? The concept turns that letter into a place, a character, and a conversation.
The proposed player journey
Players choose a future milestone, such as five or ten years ahead. The journey is deliberately slow and time-limited. Mechanical interaction, light, sound, and the future-self dialogue give reflection a playable structure.
Set the year
Manipulate the time machine’s gears and choose the moment to visit. A short transition establishes the ritual of departure.
Meet the future self
Explore a theme such as relationships, fear, purpose, or career through an AI-simulated persona. The persona represents a possibility, not a prediction.
Revisit a memory
The Reflection Chamber proposes rational, emotional, and instinctive responses to an event, opening alternative narrative paths.
Change perspective
Move between the present self, future self, and an observer to examine the same situation from different viewpoints.
Bring something back
A Future Journal records the encounter and gives the player a place to integrate their reflections.
A world that feels handmade
Felt textures, warm light, and rounded forms establish a gentle visual direction. The original concept uses generative AI to explore avatars and environments. These images describe the intended atmosphere rather than documenting a finished playable release.
Reflection through interaction
The concept connects future-self visualization with self-distancing and cognitive reappraisal as design inspirations. Dialogue asks questions instead of prescribing answers. Slow gestures, ambient sound, and small acts of making support an attentive pace.
Research direction
The current portfolio documents the concept, proposed mechanics, and visual development. Future work includes testing how people interpret the simulated future self and whether the experience supports reflection over time. Questions of emotional impact, self-efficacy, and persistence of any change require empirical evaluation.