Weaving as programming

For thousands of years, humans have used weaving to make functional objects, tell stories, and bring people together. As the technology of mechanical looms advanced, weaving set the stage for modern computer programming. In fact, the punchcards that Charles Babbage used to program early computers were derived from the cards used to program jacquard looms.

Inspired by this history, we set out to create a tribute to weaving whose underlying mechanics are powered by the same math and logic used to “program” a loom.

Warp, weft, and matrix multiplication

The logic of a multi-shaft loom is built on concepts familiar to developers: binary and matrix multiplication. When the three primary inputs of a loom — threading, treadling, and tie-up — are expressed as matrices of binary values and then multiplied, they create the pattern that the loom then weaves. When paired with the color of the vertical and horizontal threads — the warp and weft — these inputs create an endless variety of outputs.

In these familiar concepts we saw an opportunity to design a series of puzzles whose interface is like a digital loom where the player is the weaver. The puzzles’ solutions inform binary matrices that ultimately come together to create a bespoke I/O weaving.

Puzzling inputs

The centerpiece of the experience is a dashboard that provides access to the puzzles and our generative weaving which displays an individual player’s progress as well as the community progress.

Weaving the output

When the puzzles are completed and arranged properly, the final I/O tapestry is revealed to the player. To ensure players work together to reveal the date, a global progress bar tracks the number of total solves for each puzzle. Only once a certain number of solves are achieved is the collective weaving completed and the event date revealed.