Project Description
Did the Gods Say That is an interactive project inspired by Jiaobei, a traditional Chinese divination practice in which people throw two crescent-shaped blocks to seek answers from the gods. The project began with my interest in rainmaking rituals and gradually developed into an exploration of how people interpret responses from a system they cannot fully understand.
I first recreated the basic logic of Jiaobei as a digital system, then added randomness, delays, subtle changes in language, and reactions to repeated questions. Although the system does not actually understand what the user is asking, these small forms of feedback can make it appear as if it is thinking, hesitating, or even becoming annoyed. Through this process, the project explores how easily people can assign intention and meaning to uncertain responses, especially when the mechanism behind them is not completely visible.
