The All Seeing Die, an AR Divination Game

Client > Adobe

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. One of the most ancient games is divination. Given the enormous 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.

The All-Seeing Die exhibited in the Adobe Aero AR gallery at Adobe MAX in 2022 and combines all of the above into a fortune-telling AR game. It’s a surrealistic/realistic twist on a magic eight-ball. You think of a “yes/no” question, roll the all-seeing die (with all the QR codes), and then scan the top one to receive your answer in AR. However, rather than giving absolute answers, the results are closer to my experience of “real” life, which is full of ambiguity and uncertainty.

[ View in XR ]

Art Direction

AR

3D

Illustration

Animation

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Behind the scenes:

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.

EPISODE 1   |   EPISODE 2   |   EPISODE 3   |   EPISODE 4   |   EPISODE 5   |   EPISODE 6

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.

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