ChronoEcho: The AR Sentiment Orrery

Inspired by Asimov's 'Foundation', Nolan's 'Memento', and the practicality of data scraping, ChronoEcho is a tool for the 'digital psychohistorian.' It transforms chaotic online discussions into a tangible, explorable AR experience.

Concept:
The project's premise is that online forums (like Reddit, Hacker News, or specialized stock forums) represent a collective consciousness, a real-time 'psychohistory' of niche cultures. ChronoEcho allows a user to step into this stream of data. The experience is framed not as viewing a dashboard, but as reconstructing a memory. Like the protagonist of 'Memento', the user must connect disparate pieces of information—posts, comments, sentiment shifts—to build a coherent narrative of how a trend, idea, or event evolved over time.

How It Works:
1. Data Source (The Scraper): A lightweight backend script (e.g., Python on a low-cost server) periodically scrapes public data from a targeted forum API (e.g., a specific subreddit). It performs basic sentiment analysis (positive, negative, neutral) and topic extraction on each new post and comment, then stores this structured data.

2. AR Visualization (The Orrery): The user opens the AR app on their smartphone or AR glasses. After selecting a topic to track, the app renders a 'Sentiment Orrery' in their physical space.
- At the center floats the core topic or keyword.
- Individual posts and comments appear around it as floating nodes or fragments. Their color indicates sentiment (e.g., green for positive, red for negative, blue for neutral), their size indicates engagement (upvotes/replies), and their distance from the center represents recency.
- Lines connect replies to their parent comments, creating constellations of conversation.

3. Interaction (The Memento Method): The user physically walks around and through this data structure. They can tap on a fragment to read the full text. The key interaction, inspired by 'Memento', is the ability to 'pin' or 'tattoo' key fragments in space. This allows the user to build their own curated narrative, connecting the dots and identifying critical turning points in the discussion. A timeline slider lets the user scrub through time, watching the orrery dynamically form and dissolve, revealing the birth and death of ideas.

Monetization & Niche:
This project targets a niche of prosumers: financial traders, market researchers, brand managers, and journalists who need to understand online sentiment intuitively.
- Low Cost: Built with standard tools like Unity with ARKit/ARCore, using simple geometric primitives for visuals and an inexpensive cloud function for the backend.
- Earning Potential: A freemium model. The free version offers access to one or two general forums with a data delay. A monthly subscription unlocks real-time data, tracking of multiple/niche forums, advanced alerts (e.g., 'Notify me of a 20% sentiment shift for Topic X'), and the ability to save/export their curated 'narrative' snapshots.