For the Regrets project, six to ten booths will be located in and around Cambridge (UK) to collect anonymously submitted regrets from the public to comprise a database of contemporary remorse.
Each booth will be wirelessly connected to a database located on a remote server. Self-organising algorithms use keywords from the submitted text and other self-describing user input to define similarity and send instant feedback to the user based on other contributors’ similar concerns to “share the burden”. Random selections and groupings of the regrets will be made public across the city through existing signage and broadcast facilities.
By engaging users in revelations of a problematic but constructive nature, the authors of the project –Jane Mulfinger, Graham Budgett and Carl Magagnosc- aim to bring specificities of individual lives, in this case personal regrets, into the realm of public debate, shared learning, and community.
Far from retrograde, remorse promises change for the better.