Six Digits of Decay

An interactive art piece that plays with the familiar interface of a password manager, transforming a TOTP (Time-based One-Time Password) display into an entropic animation.

Description

This piece begins as a standard password manager entry view, complete with stored username, password, and TOTP fields. In normal use, TOTP codes change every 30 seconds. This creates a race against time when copying them between applications. This piece exaggerates that temporal pressure by gradually accelerating the update frequency until the numbers blur away. Individual digits fall away, creating a cascade of numbers that dramatizes both the ephemeral nature of these codes and the anxiety of racing against their expiration.

The piece includes an interactive element that amplifies another common frustration with time-based codes: a copy button that playfully evades the cursor just as you reach for it, much like how a TOTP code might refresh right as you attempt to use it. It uses the password manager interface to comment on the disconnection between the relentless pace of human interfaces and the human experience of time.

The username field pays homage to the inventors of the TOTP algorithm (David M'Raihi, Johan Rydell, Mingliang Pei, and Salah Machani), randomly displaying variations of their names.

Oliver Steele, December 2024, Northern Pacific Ocean