Pythia appears as an old-fashioned touch-tone telephone. Instead of hearing a dial tone when the receiver is picked up, participants are immediately greeted with a voice menu system. The menus guide people through a series of audio experiences. In doing so, Pythia questions the role of automated voice services in our lives and revalues the time wasted on them. Pythia provides a model of how voice services could be used to create meaningful experiences for people by asking thought provoking reflective questions. Initially, these experiences will mimic that of navigating seemingly endless voice menus and being put on hold, as is familiar when calling any tech support line or large modern business. The interaction will begin with a familiar prompt:
"Thank you for calling the Pythia Consulting. Your call is very important to us. Für Deutsche presse eins, for English press two. This call may be recorded for quality and training purposes. Please hold while we connect your call."
Users can then select one of six paths to take through the artwork. They can play a storytelling game, consult a digital oracle, discuss their problems with a robotic psychologist, or fall in love with a machine.