A quiet room made of water and reflections. Beyond its glass thresholds, a large flower hangs over turquoise water, striped white hills rise above red earth, and a dark valley holds sculptural plants. A painted mark can become something held, shaped and made your own.
An image-led, interactive presentation of the concept — not a working XR application.
The night courtyard keeps its still water, mirror walls and glass doors. The shell catches the waterfall. A blue Taihu scholar’s rock and pink blossoms stand on the water to its right; the pale forked tree rises on the left.
Each world is shown separately and uncropped below. Click a painting to inspect its full composition.
A large orange-red flower hangs in the spacious turquoise sky. Layered mountain silhouettes become folded sea planes, with the same broad colour relationships and restrained cloud shapes.
The sea is designed as painted form, not a realistic breaking surf. The flower retains its irregular petal structure rather than becoming a generic sun symbol.
Striped and dotted white hills, green terraces, broad white clouds, red earth and small sheep retain the reference landscape’s distinctive structure.
The large foreground white tree is removed from this world and a small ochre chair takes its place. The tree’s form is brought into the water courtyard instead.
A broad charcoal slope, layered ochre cliffs, a blue sky and a floating mauve cloud preserve the reference composition. Dark oval leaves and fine branches gather at the lower edge.
This remains a sparse, sculptural valley rather than a generic lush garden. In C, a softly painted person becomes visible at this threshold.
Shape before texture: large planes, deliberate contours and areas of quiet colour guide this edition. The blue stone, pink blossoms and pale tree stay distinct, while reflections connect them to the surrounding water.
C is shown first so its human presence can be inspected directly. Switch between all three concept conditions. They share a visual world, but differ in what the participant can do and what they see.
A clearly visible human presence stands at the right valley threshold. The head, shoulders and torso remain legible, while facial features stay softly suggested and the lower body merges with the planting. This fictional placeholder offers no dialogue or simulated response.
Concept illustrations, not controlled experimental stimuli. Camera, lighting, body display and exposure time would need to be matched in a working prototype.
The material comes from the world itself. A turquoise wave, a green hillside or a pale leaf can offer a substantial coloured stroke. Each piece keeps its pigment ridges as it is reshaped and combined.
Pinch a piece of painted colour from the wave. It becomes solid, graspable material rather than flowing water.
Bend, compress and stretch the piece. Thumb marks and broad pigment ridges preserve the sense of touch.
Join different colours and volumes. Arches, openings and rounded masses suggest human and natural forms.
Pause with the result, continue shaping, undo a change or return the material. There is no required final sculpture.
The sculptural direction draws on Henry Moore’s biomorphic language: body-like masses, natural curves and meaningful empty spaces. The illustrated form is one possibility, not a model the participant must reproduce.
This bilingual presentation lets you switch A / B / C and enlarge eight visual studies. The paintings establish the environment, material language and interaction intent. Hand tracking, clay deformation, world navigation and animated water are not implemented here.
A first XR build could support selecting, grabbing, bending, scaling, joining, undoing and resetting a limited set of deformable pieces. Unrestricted free sculpting would require additional development.
A allows active shaping. B presents symbolic forms through passive viewing, using a predetermined or paired sequence in the proposed XR build. C presents a softly suggested human presence at the plant-valley threshold, without conversation or simulated responses.
The C illustration uses a fictional figure, not a real deceased person. Any personally relevant likeness would require separate authorisation. The softened face is an artistic choice; recognition and personal relevance would need to be assessed rather than assumed.
| Comparison | Design question | Interpretation limit |
|---|---|---|
| A ↔ B | Active shaping versus viewing symbolic forms | Movement, agency and content creation vary together; this is not a single-mechanism test. |
| B ↔ C | Symbolic form versus human presence | Visual complexity, recognisability and personal relevance must be considered. |
| A ↔ C | Two complete experience approaches | Any difference would concern the overall experience, not interactivity alone. |
Participants may pause or end at any time. Objects are not assigned fixed emotional meanings, and no particular interpretation or “farewell” outcome is required.