Finding Your (Other) Self With The Quantum Parallelograph

By Chris Hatherill and Abigail Schlageter

Design graduate Patrick Stevenson-Keating's 'Quantum Parallelograph' is a sleek little table-top machine that uses the power of the Internet to give you a split-second glimpse into your life in a possible parallel universe. By randomly selecting from a database of online sources, it picks out another you based on your name, what you do and how you're feeling.

Eager to show that the multiverse theory is no longer confined to the realms of science fiction, the Quantum Parallelograph draws on genuine cutting edge physics, in particular the research of David Deutsch at Oxford University. Motherboard caught up with Patrick at the recent Young Designers event in London to chat about the other the other us out there.

Motherboard: So what is the Quantum Parallelograph?

Patrick: It's really designed to get people thinking about physics and quantum physics in a different way and communicate some of the more abstract research that is going on in the field at the moment. It's all based around the research of Professor David Deutsch at Oxford University—his work looks at the possibility of parallel universes. For most people it's something that's been confined to science fiction but it has gained much more scientific validity in the last few years, so [to me] it's the perfect example of current research that could capture the public's imagination and really show that physics is a bit more than equations in some dusty old textbook somewhere. The product itself simulates the experience of being able to glimpse into one of your own parallel lives—you just have to fill in your details on the computer, then hit submit.

So what's this tube for?

One of the most basic experiments in physics is Young's Double Slit experiment. It's taught at a very young age in school, but its implications aren't fully dealt with. David uses it as an example to show how the effects of a parallel universe might be observed in our own world. So on one side of the machine there is a laser at the end of the glass tube and inside it, a glass disc with two parallel slits etched on it. When you press the search button–you can see the laser fires through the double slits–you see the interference pattern on the translucent screen and underneath you get a short print out about your life in another universe.

Do you remember doing the Double Slit experiment?

I remember doing it at school, and I always thought it was amazing, but new life was breathed into it when I read about the implications of the effect in the quantum world. The idea that if you fire a single photon of light at two slits, it appears that it goes through both at the same time–well, David Deutsch's explanation for this is— it interacts with its parallel versions across universes and it's at that point that there's almost a connection between these universes. That's what gave me the idea for this project. What if at that split second you could retrieve a tiny bit of information from one of these other universes?

What about the dial?

The dial lets you select how far from your current reality you want to view, so at the bottom end of the scale your parallel life might be quite similar to your own – just a few subtle differences, but if you're feeling a bit more adventurous you can put it up to the top of the scale and the differences become a lot more pronounced; the worlds you view get a bit stranger.

How does it work in terms of connecting to the Internet?

When you enter your details into the computer, it sends all your info to a database online. It uses the information you've entered to filter the results and then pulls one of them via Wi-Fi–there's a connection inside the Parallelograph–and prints out the results.

What sparked your initial interest in physics?

I've always had a soft spot for physics, I think if my math had been a bit better in school I would have gone on to study it. I guess the reason I enjoy physics so much is the same reason that I love product design—it really gets you looking at the world around you in a completely different way and it can turn even the most mundane thing into something really quite fantastic. You think that you know about the world around you but, especially with quantum physics, as soon as you start skimming the surface of it, you find that you don't know as much as you thought you did.

Read more on Motherboard about the Multiverse and recent advances in proving it exists, and check out Prof David Deutsch's work and Patrick Stevenson-Keating's other projects.

Chris and Abby are part of super/collider – read their other Motherboard posts here