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Launch ready Session 3 · Video Interactive

Temporal Telephone

Pass a drawing through a sequence and compare previous-frame drift to anchored reference. The tool makes temporal coherence tangible — you can see exactly how small changes accumulate into drift when there is no stable reference point.

tools/temporal-telephone/

Live preview · launch for the interactive version

§ A · What it makes visible

what the screen literally shows
Fig. 01

Drift across frames

Without a stable anchor, small changes accumulate. Identity, proportion, and setting shift without any single frame being obviously wrong — the problem is the sequence, not any one image.

Fig. 02

Anchoring effect

When a reference frame stays visible, coherence increases. The direct comparison shows exactly what the anchor preserves — and what it can’t hold across many frames.

Fig. 03

Accumulation without intention

Drift is a property of the sequence, not any one frame. Temporal Telephone makes that accumulation inspectable by slowing it down so you can name where and why it begins.

§ B · How to investigate it

run it like an experiment, not a toy

Run both modes with the same subject. Name what drifts and what holds — precisely, not generally.

01 · Predict

Before playing back

Write down what you expect to change: identity, proportion, setting, or style. Then watch the sequence and check your prediction.

prompt: “a person at work”
02 · Compare modes

Previous-frame vs. anchor

Run the same basic subject in previous-frame-only mode, then with an anchor. Note exactly what changes — not generally, but in terms of specific named properties.

identity drift · proportion shift · style change
03 · Name each failure

Not “it got different”

Use specific categories: identity drift, physics break, style drift, camera jump, or temporal inconsistency. At which frame does each begin?

frame 4 → identity drift · frame 7 → style shift
04 · Name the missing constraint

What would prevent this?

For the specific failure you named: what constraint would prevent it? Name the constraint precisely, not just the wish for coherence.

“consistent subject height and angle, specified per frame”

§ C · Debrief questions

after the investigation
What changed first: identity, proportion, background, or style?
Did the anchor prevent drift, or only slow it?
Which failure mode would matter most in your teaching or creative context?
What would you need to trust generated video as evidence of something?