Placemarks

Travelers record their presence and actions in natural places with footprints, trail signs and graffitti. In Placeholder, Voicemarks are the aural equivalent, and Voiceholders are the arrangeable containers for these bits of spoken narrative. Conceived as attentive rocks, Voiceholders reveal their current functional disposition through facial expressions: I'm listening to you, I have something to tell you, I'm speaking. What would be the minimum set of expressions, and how would you render their messages utterly unambiguous? Finding a pictorial style, inspired in part by Paleolithic art and in part by Darwin's The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals, that would be consistent with gestures developed for the Critters was a significant challenge and exploration that sparked much vigorous discussion.

Additional environmental signage proved necessary. For example, what is the trailmarker that would point to a non-contiguous location in virtual space? Where's the exit? The discussion and brainstorming around this issue lead to the design for the Portal.

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Some early studies of facial expressions for Voiceholders.

More studies of facial expressions for Voiceholders.

A different style of Voiceholders.

The final design of the Voiceholders.

The final Voiceholders, inverted, in the progression of "empty","listening", "full", and "speaking".

The "empty" Voiceholder.
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The "listening" Voiceholder.
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The "full" Voiceholder.
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The "speaking" Voiceholder.
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Some studies of the Portal.

The final design of the Portal.
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