Gallery: This Is What the Infinite Monkey Theorem Looks Like in Real Life
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Inside an aluminum structure the size of a narrow body airplane 512 vintage split-flap mechanisms controlled by a hidden computer randomly create words. *Photo: Lab\[au\]*
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The installation is based on the *[Infinite Monkey Theorem](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infinite_monkey_theorem)* which states that a monkey tapping keys on a typewriter for an infinite period of time will produce the complete works of Shakespeare. *Photo: Lab\[au\]*
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The computer freezes adjacent nodes that form a word while the others continue to cascade, revealing a hidden signal among the noise. *Photo: Lab\[au\]*
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"The circular installation invites the visitor to plunge into an audio-visual composition right in the center of a calculation process of an auto-poetic machine," says Lab\[au\] principle Manuel Abendroth. *Photo: Lab\[au\]*
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Longer words appear regularly, but so far none of the Bard's sonnets have appeared fully formed, or even a line from a killer haiku. *Photo: Lab\[au\]*
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*Signal-to-noise* is an impressive feat from a technical and financial perspective; split-flap modules costs about $160—or $22,000 for a single tweet. *Photo: Lab\[au\]*
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Custom circuit boards were required to provide the intelligence behind the wordplay. *Photo: Lab\[au\]*
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