The 'Randonauts' are bringing adventure – and mystery – to your neighbourhood

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This was published 3 years ago

The 'Randonauts' are bringing adventure – and mystery – to your neighbourhood

By Sophie Aubrey

Adventures are hard to come by when you’re stuck loafing about in lockdown. So when Harrison Jack started seeing videos of people calling themselves “Randonauts” and embarking on sometimes spooky escapades in their local area, he was intrigued.

The 21-year-old actor, from Melbourne, became one of millions to download Randonautica, an app that calls itself a “choose your own adventure” reality game.

Nadia Pietrzak and Harrison Jack downloaded Randonautica when bored during the pandemic.

Nadia Pietrzak and Harrison Jack downloaded Randonautica when bored during the pandemic. Credit: Joe Armao

Its beta launch in late February could not have been better timed, just as much of the world was heading into lockdown.

The app’s US founders say it's had 13 million downloads, with about 500,000 in Australia, and most users are aged 18-35.

It’s part orienteering, part astrology, part science. Put simply, the app produces nearby map coordinates for users to visit. Except the creators claim this can be influenced by “intention”. Once an app user logs their current location, they are asked to think about what they want to achieve while a quantum random number generator works to conjure a spot to journey to.

This interplay between real-world adventure and the mystery of the mind helped turn the app into a viral sensation, with people sharing their experiences on social media platforms such as Reddit and, of course, TikTok, where the hashtag #randonautica has almost a collective 600 million views.

Mostly, users tend to wind up at parks, bushland or neighbourhood streets they might never have been before.

But it’s the eerie tales that are propelling the app into the mainstream. One group of Seattle teenagers made headlines when they found a suitcase containing human remains. That video has 29.4 million views. Others claim to have stumbled upon abandoned buildings, locked boxes, lost animals and strange or nostalgic signs.

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“I thought ‘this is interesting, I’ll download it’,” Jack says. “People are attracted to the mystery behind it.”

Jack went “randonauting” three times with girlfriend Nadia Pietrzak, each within five kilometres from home. But the closest their journey came to matching their intention was when they wanted to find “something new” and they simply saw new parts of their suburb.

Harrison Jack says they didn't have any strange experiences, but it was a fun way to explore.

Harrison Jack says they didn't have any strange experiences, but it was a fun way to explore.Credit: Joe Armao

Underwhelmed, he posted a parody video on TikTok that has had 207,000 views.

“Initially the reason we did it is because we hadn’t left the house in a while. We weren’t expecting anything to happen, and it didn’t,” says Jack, adding he thinks the app can be a good way to spend the permitted hour of daily exercise during Melbourne’s lockdown.

Raiyn Aspinall shared her Randonautica experience on TikTok.

Raiyn Aspinall shared her Randonautica experience on TikTok.

“It was definitely a bit of fun and we explored a part of the neighbourhood we hadn’t before.”

Perth-based university student Raiyn Aspinall, 20, recalls spending a few hours scrolling through the hashtag on TikTok, fascinated by people’s experiences.

Aspinall downloaded the app and focused her intention to “money” before receiving coordinates for a location a 15-minute walk away.

“It led me down an odd path I hadn’t spotted before and was like ‘where am I going?’, then I looked to the left and saw I was right next to a country club. I remember pausing, thinking about it and laughing. What else represents money than affluent people?” Aspinall laughs.

“You don’t type in your intention, you only think it … so in that sense my realisation was maybe there is something behind this.”

Aspinall – who made a video attracting 13,000 views – says she enjoyed the experience amid COVID-19 restrictions.

“It got me out of the house for the first time in a couple of months,” she says.

One part of Randonautica that confuses a lot of new users is the language it uses.

“I think we looked up what every word meant individually and still didn’t understand,” Jack says.

The app likes terms such as “entropy” and “attractor” and “void”, and the creators discuss the “mind-matter interaction” theory suggesting human thought can influence quantum random numbers.

Coincidentally, Randonautica’s preferred quantum random number generator is by the Australian National University, developed in 2012. Professor Ping Koy Lam, a physicist from the Department of Quantum, says he’s amused to see the service used for adventuring.

You don’t type in your intention, you only think it … so in that sense my realisation was maybe there is something behind this.

Raiyn Aspinall

“It’s really gratifying to know this is useful not just for research purposes but also for people enjoying apps,” Lam says.

But he stresses that while scientists are exploring the idea under Princeton’s Global Consciousness Project, there is no conclusive evidence that the mind can influence quantum random numbers.

Randonautica's creators argue their project “does not claim to meet academic standards” and that they sit somewhere between a game, science and art.

Dr Steven Conway, a Swinburne University game researcher and lecturer, says he is troubled by the app.

“It rubs me all the wrong ways as a game designer. There should always be a clear separation between games and real life,” Conway says.

“I see the merit of the app. I just wish they wouldn’t dress it up in pseudoscientific language that leads people to believe it’s more than a game.”

Conway fears young people could end up in dangerous situations or be encouraged to make up wild experiences for the sake of going viral.

“The app is a meme generator,” he says.

Randonautica chief executive Joshua Lengfelder is aware that some people are using the app “for likes and views”.

I just wish they wouldn’t dress it up in pseudoscientific language that leads people to believe it’s more than a game.

Dr Steven Conway, Swinburne University researcher

“We’ve even seen several horror-esque videos that are clearly fake. It’s been a learning curve to help people understand that this isn’t about going out at night or looking for danger,” he says.

Lengfelder likens Randonautica to Geocaching and Pokemon GO, which also take users into the real world, and urges people to practise situational awareness: don’t trespass, don’t break any laws (including COVID-19 restrictions), and try to journey during daylight with another person.

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Lengfelder sees the activity as a “unique way to go out and journey into your immediate world around you.”

He says he’s been hearing of more families taking part.

“Recently there was a mum of three who took her children on a 'randonaut' trip with an intention of love, only to end up running into her father,” he says.

“The most important thing to remember when 'randonauting' is to have an open mind and a positive mindset.”

So will it last? Conway believes that like Tiger King and Zoom parties, Randonautica is just a pandemic fad. But he applauds the app for giving people a sense of purpose and connection during COVID-19.

“As long as you keep in mind first and foremost it’s a game… It’s simply a bit of fun.”

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