Games are as old as human history. Not only are they fun and instructive (our brains are built to learn through play), but they also offer a master class in human behavior, the best and the worst. Games give us a window into the world, one another, and ourselves. And, one of the most ancient games is divination. Given the enormous amount of ambiguity involved in existence, it makes sense that we have always desired a flashlight into the future. Despite its religious origins, in modern times divination has become a tool for self-reflection. It’s a way of discovering what you think.
My latest AR artwork (which exhibited in the Adobe Aero AR gallery at Adobe MAX), the All-Seeing Die, combines all of the above into a fortune-telling AR game. It’s a surrealistic/realistic twist on a magic 8 ball. You think of a “yes/no” question, then roll the all-seeing die (with all the QR codes), and then scan the top one to receive your answer in AR. But rather than giving absolute answers, the results are closer to my experience of “real” life, meaning full of ambiguity and uncertainty.
I documented the entire creation process in a series of videos. If you'd like a detailed overview of the physical and digital build process, start with Episode 1.
This is Episode 5, which details how I made the digital elements (VR sculpting in Adobe Medium, 3D modeling and materials in Blender, 2D animations in Adobe After Effects) and created the AR scene using Adobe Aero.
BIG thanks to the whole Adobe Aero team for all their support. Check out the inspiring, growing community of AR artists on the Adobe Aero Instagram account.
