The machine takes advantage of the fact that patents often refer to other (or earlier) patents to connect the words that it got from the book. I’m not 100% sure but I think this is how it works: if for example the first two words that the machine got from a book are “fox” and then “dog”, the machine will first look for a patent with a drawing of a fox. But before looking for a drawing of a dog, it looks for a third patent drawing that will connect the fox-patent to the dog-patent. Then it draws the fox, then the connection between the fox and the dog – a patent for a foxdog? – and then the dog.

In essence, it turns a text-based story into a technological history of sorts. Here’s the Perpetual Storytelling Apparatus in action:

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Honestly I found it to be a bit boring. Maybe if I knew exactly which “recent best-selling book” it started from I could appreciate the drawings more. Or maybe I should see it live. As it is, I don’t have context, and the drawings make little to no sense to me. Definitely weird though.

[via likecool]

Using a modified Magna Doodle as the basis for their display, the Clock-a-Doodle-Doo is the brainchild of a recent UCLA mechanical engineering class.

The clock uses a XY plotter-like mechanism to “draw” the current time by neatly arranging the magnetic particles with a mechanical pen. When it’s ready to change time, another mechanism pulls the “eraser” mechanism to release the particles and clear the magnetophoretic display. Each minute, it does the whole thing all over again. Lather, rinse, repeat.

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Ever wonder how a Magna Doodle really works? HowStuffWorks has deconstructed the gory innards of the mysterious magnetic device for your personal enrichment.