Looks like some sort of Cyberdyne Systems human feeder used by Skynet.
It's actually an early concept proof of the Chime Generator for the 10,000 Year Clock. It can generate unique chime sequences every day for 10,000 years, and there are over 3.5 million possibilities. Brian Eno even used the same algorithm for his album "January 07003 – Bell Studies for the Clock of the Long Now."
The brainchild of Computer Scientist, Danny Hillis, The Clock of the Long Now is designed to operate with minimum human intervention (winding, easy maintenance), and is constructed of largely valueless materials to limit looting by future civilizations.
The first prototype began working on December 31st 1999—in time to chime twice for the new millennium—and is now on display in London. The two more recent prototypes are in San Francisco.
Pics below:
- First working prototype of Orrey—or planetary display—for the 10,000 year clock
- Prototype of a Solar Synchronizer to maintain the clock's accuracy using the sun.