Week 2

Alt Game

Enric Llagostera - Cook Your Way

Cook Your Way discusses racism and social injustice through a game which reveals the harsh reality in high approachability and exceedingly comprehensive form. Daily challenges and struggles immigrants encounter are sometimes hard to relate. As we have been aware of the educational characteristics in games, elevating empathy through gaming experience then becomes sensible. Cook Your Way merges sustainable topics, aesthetically satisfying interfaces, and creates an unique interactive behavior into an eccentric game.

For more details: https://enric.llagostera.com.br/cookyourway/

Project Concept

Make a Wish

The world we are living in is in a constant shaking stage, under the gloom of the extreme vulnerability, the glimpse of hope may serve a moment of ease.

Despites the temples live by various gods in Taiwan, one way to communicate with gods, or the deceased which is used in every place of worship, in other words, a common language, is the Throwing Poe. The process is very simple, one asks a closed question (yes gods are very busy so keep your questions short and sweet), then throw the Poe. Poe divination results in three answering positions. If the poe has one flat side up, and the other one curved side down (sheng jiao), it means you have reached a first step of agreement with deity or the deceased ones, to complete the negotiation, you must receive three sheng jiao in a roll. If the poe is positioned both flat side up(xiao jiao), it represents you have amused them with your requests or questions. And if the poe has both curved sides facing down(yin jiao), it means they, deity or the deceased one disagree and decline.

In the concept, instead of making the communication, it will be a simple game which allows you to type in your wish after you reach agreement with the machine by throwing the poe. The wireless light sensors will be placed on the surfaces of the poe(s), one on the flat side and the other on the curved side. The percentage of reaching the agreement will drastically drop which reflects the reality of wish is not for granted. To make the light sensors work accurately, the ideal space will be dark, or deemed, whilst a light source from the ceiling creates a spot light for the poe and serves as an indication of where the poe should be placed after use. The installation method also perpetuates the holy experience for the users.

Last step of the game is to print out your wish. However, in fact, no matter what the users type in, the print out will be restricted to two phases; No War, Peace. The concept is the interactive element of an installation, the proposal of the installation will be presented in the Computational Art and Design final project.

Chinese Temple culture: 擲筊 Divination