What we do
We are interested in the surreal, the beautiful and the genuinely engaging: things that briefly defy reality. Most of that work is physical. A screen can show you anything, but a cabinet standing in a room, that notices you and speaks first, is a different order of experience — and it is the one we build.
The durable part of what we make is not the cabinet. It is the character, the writing and the sense that the machine is paying attention. Cabinets are how it reaches people; they are expected to change. That is why the company is named for the method rather than the first machine.
The first product
The Oracle
The Oracle is an interactive entertainment machine. A character notices you as you approach, speaks to you, and prints a souvenir card you take away. It is built for bars, cinemas, arcades and events.
It has no camera and collects no personal data. It senses only distance and presence — enough to know that someone is standing there, and nothing that could identify them. That was a design commitment from the first sketch, not a concession made later.
It sees you coming
A ranged sensor tracks the space in front of the cabinet. The character looks up, finds you, and speaks first.
Four lit buttons
Four subjects, one each. Whichever is pressed decides what the character performs, and no two performances are assembled the same way.
A card, not a receipt
What it says is printed as something worth putting in a pocket. People photograph them, which is most of the marketing.
Customers pay NZ$3.50 per use by contactless card or phone. There is no cash slot and nothing to carry change for.
For venues
The cabinet is self-contained: it needs a power point, a wifi connection and about half a square metre of floor. There is no float to manage and no cash to bank — every transaction is contactless and settles directly.
It is designed to work a room on its own. It draws people over, handles the whole transaction, and asks nothing of your team beyond the occasional roll of paper. Machines are placed in licensed venues with staff present during trading hours.
Refunds and support
If a machine takes payment and fails to deliver — no card printed, or the performance interrupted — the payment is refunded in full. Get in touch with the date, the venue and roughly the time, and we will find the transaction and return it.
There is no refund on what the machine chose to say, which is written fiction and assembled at random. Every card carries a number, which is the fastest way for us to locate a specific transaction.
Who runs it
FutureMagic is a New Zealand sole trader based in Wellington. Enquiries from venues, event organisers and suppliers are all welcome — the quickest route is the enquiry form, and the details below are for anyone who needs them on file.