2026-07-10 –, Forest Pavillion
Join a collaborative, outdoor game where we completely disconnect from software and digital devices to build the original decentralized networks! Using day-to-night elemental techniques—like mirrors, smoke signals, torches, and acoustic Morse code—groups will take turns transmitting and decoding secret messages across the camp.
While we spend so much time at camp discussing decentralized digital networks, this session offers a chance to completely disconnect from software, screens, and modern devices. We are going back to the "pre-physics" era to explore the primitive roots of decentralized communication: ancient visual, auditory, and elemental cryptography.
"The Ancient Signals Treasure Hunt" is a collaborative, outdoor game where participants learn to transmit and decode secret messages across the camp relying strictly on analog and environmental tools. This hands-on activity ties into offline survival tech, but flips it into a fun, low-stakes game.
To play, we will divide participants into specialized groups based on different analog techniques and tools. Within each method, one team will act as the transmitters, and the other as the receivers/decoders. Afterward, we will bring everyone together for a larger group discussion to share our experiences and strategies.
During the activity, participants will experiment with:
Optical Signaling (Day & Night): Using mirrors to reflect sunlight during the day, or utilizing flashlights, torches, and the glow of a fire to transmit light signals and cast shadows at night.
Acoustic Transmission: Using modified Morse code to generate different physical sounds (tapping, natural acoustics) to deliver messages across physical distances.
Analog Encryption: Crafting rudimentary cipher disks to encrypt the payloads of our primitive signals.
The vibe is part scavenger hunt, part craft workshop, and part hacker-history lesson. It is designed to get people out of their chairs, laughing, and working together to "hack" the physical environment around them.
Michael Suantak is the founder of ASORCOM (Alternative Solutions for Rural Communities) and eimiAI. Operating at the intersection of indigenous rights and decentralized technology, he engineers autonomous, offline-first communication networks in extreme conflict zones, specifically along the India-Myanmar border.
During state-sponsored internet blackouts and kinetic warfare, Michael’s work focuses on keeping community knowledge, medical coordination, and human agency alive. He is the architect of the "Digital Tarzan" philosophy, which advocates for frugal, rugged infrastructure built from the soil up. His field deployments combine 12V DC-native solar power, tactical LoRa mesh networks, HF radio, and localized edge AI to ensure marginalized communities retain cognitive and digital sovereignty when the centralized grid fails.
Michael believes that true autonomy is not given—it is engineered. His ongoing mission is to help rural populations transition from vulnerable digital consumers into resilient digital sovereigns.