Prism, a block of clear glass, separates one ray of light to many different colors. Similarly, the interactive installation ‘The Prism’ accepts a keyword and then beams it in various colors of cultures. Users can search for answers and from which receive a glimpse through the lens of different cultures and points in time. ‘The Prism’ is a kind of global storyteller.
‘The Prism’ has two parts of installation objects. One is a globe-projected U.I. (user interface) object placed in the center of the installation. The other is three screens surround the U.I. object to project Third-dimensional virtual environment.
These three screens make the installation shape a triangle. It represents the three faces of prism shape. When audiences get into the installation of ‘The Prism’, they enter the world similar to the world they have lived in but feel like a different dimensional world, just like entering the Bermuda Triangle. Then audiences see the main U.I. object that looks like a globe in the center of the installation. The main U.I. object allows user to interact with ‘The Prism’ such as typing keywords in, choosing countries, and zooming in/out the projected 3D virtual environment. The U.I. object includes a laser virtual keyboard, a large water bowl with fog generator, a micro projector to project a globe on the fog, and two cameras to detect the 3D positions (X, Y, Z) of user’s hands above the fog. When an audience types in keywords using the keyboard on the U.I. object and then chooses a county by controlling the projected globe on the fog, ‘The Prism’ starts to bring search results of images using the search engine from the country chosen by the audience. After the system finishes the searching, the search results will be appeared on the three screens set around the U.I. object. The results projected on the screens are shown as a third dimensional virtual space. The picture of the 3D virtual world is the universe including the orbits of the Sun and the Moon as a surrounded space round the physical U.I. globe that is placed in the center of the installation. The point of view of the picture is the view from the earth to universe. The search results of images appear on the Sun and the Moon. The audience is allowed to control the 3D virtual space – bringing the Sun and the Moon closer to the screen or pushing them further from the screen either to see the search result closer or further. The audience can select as many countries as he or she wants to once the audience typed in any keywords. Therefore, the audience can see the differences among the search results from the selected countries for the same keywords. When the audience adds another country the previews of search results on the Sun and the Moon will be renewed to new search results from the newly chosen country.