I Built a Haunted Little Tarot Robot
TAROTRON 2000 is a pocket-sized tarot machine I’ve been developing as an experiment in creative technology.
Built using Arduino and an M5StickS3, the prototype runs on a tiny computer with its own screen, speaker and controls. Give it a command and it randomly selects a Rider-Waite-Smith tarot card, displays the card and its meaning, and talks about what it has chosen.
It also has rather more personality than was strictly necessary.
The idea grew out of several strands of my work. I’ve spent more than thirty years working with tarot, built CardMeanings.com as a reference to the 78 Rider-Waite-Smith cards, and I really wanted a new gadget to bring to events. I had been searching on eBay for an 80s electronic tarot toy, only to realise I could make one myself.
The current prototype can select cards, display their meanings, speak, make noises, change its behaviour and occasionally say things it probably shouldn't via a special "Cursed Mode".
I’m now using TAROTRON 2000 to produce a short daily card draw while continuing to experiment with what else this peculiar little machine can do.
If you're curious, follow this silliness at
https://www.youtube.com/@TAROTRON2000
https://www.instagram.com/tarotron2000
https://www.tiktok.com/@tarotron2000
