Kaleidoscope

Leon's Kaleidoscope is a 3D interactive body device that allows the person wearing it to make a striking visual statement. The piece consists of a frontal movable structure and a holder that stay static on the person’s shoulders. The movable part is a variation of Hoberman mechanism, which turns linear motion into radial motion. Inspired by animals such as frilled lizard and peacock that have a functional part of body for startle display or courtship, I colored the pattern with playful palettes to create a mesmerizing effect as the structure opens and closes. After completing the first design (orange and yellow), I built another piece with different pattern and color palette (green and purple) to demonstrate how two creatures can communicate using this device. In an imaginary scenario that the two people (could also be two aliens from different galaxies) can only see but not hear (e.g. in vacuum) or understand the language of the other, the device helps them send visual signals to exchange information.