What is this?
This is a telerobotic online Ouija board
that lets up to 20 people play together using a robot based at UC Berkeley.
`Talking boards' are the world's oldest telecommunications devices,
dating back at least 2000 years in China.
Although they run counter to all basic laws of science, it is
difficult to deny the beliefs of the millions who have tried them
in board rooms, laboratories, and slumber parties the world over.
Ouija boards were especially popular in the late 19th Century as the
radio and telephone revolutionized communication. At that time
nothing seemed impossible.
How come I can see the
planchette
moving in the video, but the question doesn't work?
You are probably at work and behind a firewall which is not
allowing our server to
send packets to your computer. To fix this, ask your systems administrator
to configure your
firewall to accept incoming packets on TCP port 1112. If you want to allow
the ports only for the ouija.berkeley.edu domain, open them for
128.32.42.157.
How come I can't ask questions in the chat window?
The chat window allows you to send text to other Ouija players. If you
want to submit a question for future use, please go
Here.
I'm on a Mac, and when I go to the Ouija page, I see
nothing, what's going on?
Ouija 2000 uses Java. To use our system make sure your browser supports Java.
If you are on a Mac, the latest version of Safari should do this.
How come the system periodically goes inactive and asks me
to reload?
If you don't move the planchette for a minute we assume you've
decided to stop playing. The planchette is like a shark; it has
to keep moving. Just press Exit and enter again.
