Imaging Place is a user navigated, interactive computer program that combines panoramic photography, video, and three-dimensional digital technologies to investigate and document situations where the forces of globalization are impacting the lives of individuals in local communities. The goal of the project is to develop the technologies, the methodology and the content for truly immersive and navigable narrative, based in real places. The project has been under development since 1997 and includes work from around the world including Beijing China, Taipei Taiwan, São Paulo Brazil, Kamloops B.C. Canada, Warsaw Poland, the U.S./Mexico Border, New England, the Miami River, Kaliningrad Russia, Niagara, and Appalachia. The work is projected up to nine by twelve feet in a darkened space with a pedestal and a mouse placed in the center of the installation space, which allows the audience to interact with the project. Activated by the click of a mouse button, the interface leads the user from global satellite images to virtual reality scenes on the ground. The audience can then navigate an immersive virtual space. Rather than the linear structures of traditional documentary, “Imaging Place” allows the story to unfold through spatial exploration. In addition to the notion of experiencing the story of a place by navigating it, “Imaging Place” seeks to provide the means of excavating the story, allowing the user to uncover layers of history and meaning.
