ORIGINAL STUDY 01 / INTERACTIVE TYPOGRAPHY
Portents: an I Ching text field shaped by motion.
Original passages from the I Ching and its commentaries hang as a field of vertical text. Each column remains readable at rest, then bends locally when the pointer or keyboard field approaches. The result is neither a page transition nor a decorative loop: it is a small responsive instrument made from language, tension, and time.
- TEXT
- Original Chinese passages from the I Ching and its commentaries
- INPUT
- Pointer position, direction, speed, and keyboard movement
- RESPONSE
- Local pull, fixed-length curves, inertia, and slow settling
01
Readable text before moving texture
The Chinese source text is not translated or reduced to ornamental glyphs. At rest, the columns keep enough contrast and spacing to be read as language. Depth comes from controlled ivory and copper tones, while a restrained dark edge prevents rear layers from competing with the nearest characters.
This creates the central constraint of the study: motion may intensify the field, but it cannot erase the text's meaning. The visual system has to preserve both legibility and atmosphere.
02
Tension travels through the chain
Each text column hangs from a fixed anchor and maintains its full length. Input acts locally near the point of contact, then the displacement travels toward the final glyphs. A sudden change of direction does not reset the column; momentum continues through the chain before friction draws it back toward stillness.
Slow movement reveals the structure clearly. Faster movement produces a lighter, more selective deformation because the field samples a continuously changing path instead of forcing every glyph to react on every frame.
03
A browser experiment with real access paths
The visible field responds to a fine pointer, touch, and keyboard input. A semantic text equivalent preserves the original passages for assistive technology, and reduced-motion behavior keeps the work understandable without continuous animation.