Lorelei Koss

This piece integrates a classic cellular automaton synchronization problem with a watch mechanism engineered to enhance military coordination. In 1957, John Myhill introduced the firing squad synchronization problem, a seminal problem in cellular automata theory. Informally, a cellular automaton is a row of cells that update their states at regular intervals. At each discrete time step, every cell examines its own state and the states of its immediate neighbors, then applies a rule to determine its next state. The goal of the firing squad synchronization problem is for a single cell (the "general") to start a process that eventually triggers all other cells (the "soldiers") to simultaneously enter a "fire" state. Each side of the watchband is a solution to the problem with eleven soldiers and six states given by Clergue, Verel, and Formenti. The action starts with the general as the single white bead in a row of black beads and terminates with a row of red beads representing all soldiers firing. Two visually distinct solutions were chosen, and bead colors were selected to evoke camouflage colors from World War II. The watch face is a reproduction of the iconic A-11, distributed to United States military units in World War II. Its hacking feature stops the second hand when the crown is pulled out, allowing multiple watches to be precisely synchronized. This technology enabled pilots and navigators to coordinate their movements and execute strikes with pinpoint accuracy, a critical advantage in large-scale operations where communication was limited or prohibited.