The Exploratorium is a prototype designed and under development here at Tools For Creativity, within the EMMA project. It is an interactive virtual environment intended to offer a space within which immersants can explore their own feelings. The "narrative" it implements is structural/architectural rather than linear/story telling. What happens there depends on what the immersants do in terms of navigation; if they don't do anything, nothing will happen. The space is arranged in such a way that it relates metaphorically to mood or emotional state. The idea is that immersants can navigate between three different zones within the Exploratorium and encounter surroundings that suggest, and perhaps even provoke, particular emotional states. Upward movement suggests improving or lightening mood, whereas downward movement corresponds to deteriorating or darkening mood. This rather obvious linking can be theoretically supported by, for example, the Experiential Realism of Lakoff and Johnson (e.g. 1980, 1999). The user navigates the Exploratorium using only breath and balance, made possible by the “body joystick”. The user can move between zones to experience different states, and using the body joystick should emphasize or amplify the changes as well as the sense of control over those changes. The Exploratorium is conceived as an environment in which to learn about oneself and one's body.

The model
The Exploratorium prototype is a virtual world composed of three levels: the Heavenly Space, conceived as open, tranquil, drifting, relaxing, with not much happening, and featuring sky and clouds; the Neutral space - Purgatory, with buildings, a park, some green areas, not too busy: and the Hellish Space, a closed area giving a sense of being boxed in, noisy, threatening, with fog, wind and gloomy dark areas. There are obvious correspondences with Dante's Divine Comedy (Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso), and other myths and allegories.
The immersant is able to move between the different zones in the Exploratorium. In some areas the immersant can fall down to zones below and in others fly up to higher zones.

The Body Joystick
It is possible to navigate in the Exploratorium using a variety of devices, such as joysticks, wands, and so on, but the design is more specifically intended for use with the Body Joystick. The Body Joystick concept uses a vest, worn by the immersant, which includes sensors for both body orientation and chest expansion in breathing, inspired by the immersive artwork by Char Davies (Davies, 1998).
Breathing in and holding the breath will result in the immersant moving up in the virtual space of the Exploratorium. Breathing out and holding will cause the immersant to move down. Normal breathing will maintain the immersant at a steady vertical position. Movement on the horizontal plane is controlled by balance. If the immersant leans forward she will move forward in virtual space; leaning backwards results in backward movement. The immersant can turn right by leaning to the right, and left by leaning to the left.
The intention is that the Body Joystick should be simple and intuitive to use to navigate around the Exploratorium. Using balance for movement and turning feels natural, like riding a bike, flying, or skating. Using breath control maps naturally onto vertical navigation, as in diving and snorkeling. It also creates a reinforcing effect on the experience of the "mood zones", since holding the breath for periods leads to "high" feelings (due to heightened oxygen uptake), whereas breathing out and holding leads to "low" feelings (due to reduced oxygen uptake).