When encountering the creature, the participant is invited to interact by a sign on the ground displaying two footsteps (Image 4). By stepping into the spotlight, the creature is triggered to judge you, visibly and audibly. When the participant enters the dot, it triggers the creature’s behavior. It makes a random decision on how to judge you, based on the seven sins: gluttony, sloth, lust, pride, wrath, envy, and greed. The gaze and the sound are designed to resemble judgement to these sins, for instance a gagging sound for gluttony, and a sigh for sloth. The creature is built from items that reference to being observed: a tripod, a speaker as a head, and laser pointers mounted on top to resemble eyes (Image 3 and 5). 

In our design process, we wanted to create something that causes slight insecurity while still being humorous. The visitor interactions with our creatures confirmed our artistic intent was successful, as people responded with a telling mixture of unease and amusement. The humor comes from how the project sometimes reacts with obvious disgust or arrogance. In real life, judgments are rarely spoken out loud but show up in subtle, excluding behavior. Both disgust and shame result in avoidance and social withdrawal and are involved in the maintenance of social norms (Terrizzi et al., 2023). The feedback through sounds rather than words feels somewhat teenage-like, similar to private gossip. By exaggerating these implicit social dynamics and making them visible and tangible, our creature creates a space for reflection. Overall the audience seems to enjoy this experience. On many occasions,  participants want to try again and again, to see if they could get the one out of seven positive reaction. Hence the title, Hot or Not, Mostly Not.