Building a modern I Ching experience
After finishing the main release of ItinerSense, I wanted to explore a more creative project. I've always been fascinated by the I Ching, and combining it with AI felt like a perfect match. Today I sketched out the core user flow: ask a question, cast coins, get a poetic answer. The working name is "DeepSeer" – a nod to the DeepSeek API that will power the interpretations.
Defined the hexagram generation. Three coins tossed six times, each line being 6, 7, 8, or 9. Old lines (6 and 9) are "changing" and produce a secondary hexagram. I wrote the mapping from binary lines to the King Wen sequence number. For now, I'm using placeholder values (0/1) instead of graphics, so I can test the engine.
Settled on an immersive ritual: smoke animation, a wise man guide, focus timer, then coin flipping. The user types or selects a question, focuses for 5 seconds, then taps six times. Each tap flips three coins and draws a line. After all six, a hexagram view appears with options to confirm or recast.
The result screen will have a fixed header with the question and hexagram, a scrollable AI interpretation, and buttons for share and save to history.
Reused the API pattern from ItinerSense to call DeepSeek's chat endpoint. I crafted a system prompt that includes the question, date, time, location (if available), and the hexagram data. I also added language detection so the response matches the user's system language (English or Chinese).
Decided on a freemium model: 20 free readings, then purchase packs of 5, 10, or 20 at a discount. StoreKit handles the purchases. The hamburger menu will show remaining readings and a "Buy More" button. I also added the usual items: About, Rate App, Share, Privacy, Terms, Restore.
The core flow is working. I'm now replacing placeholders with nicer visuals (hexagram lines, coin animations) and adding haptics/sounds. Need to finalize the AI prompt for quality and test language switching. Still a way to go, but the concept is solid.
DeepSeer — Ancient wisdom, modern AI.