The Elemental Garden is a reflective spatial environment where visitors engage in a dialogue with an AI spirit inspired by Japanese Zen gardens.

Developed on the HTC VIVERSE platform, the project explores how environmental motion, spatial sound, and conversational AI can shape emotionally responsive spatial experiences.

The experience is designed to create a sense of calm presence, allowing interaction to emerge naturally through movement, observation, and conversation rather than explicit interface elements.




Visitors move through three elemental spaces—Earth, Water, and Air—each designed to evoke a distinct emotional atmosphere through environmental motion, lighting, and spatial sound. Wind moves through foliage, birds pass overhead, and water flows through koi ponds, creating a calm but living environment that responds subtly to the visitor’s presence.

Together these elements create a space designed for slower exploration and quiet reflection.

The experience is structured as a spatial emotional journey, guiding users through shifting atmosphere and interaction.

Each garden emphasizes a different sensory quality: the grounded stillness of Earth, the fluid movement of Water, and the openness and lightness of Air..

Lighting, motion, sound, and environmental composition were carefully balanced to encourage a contemplative pace, allowing visitors to observe subtle changes in the environment as they move through the space.

Movement through the gardens shapes the emotional arc of the experience.

As visitors transition between environments, the music and spatial soundscape gradually evolve while environmental motion—wind, foliage, birds, and flowing water—creates a sense of natural presence.

Rather than presenting explicit objectives, the world encourages reflection through atmosphere and spatial progression.

At the center of the experience is the Kami, a gentle spirit who listens to the visitor and reflects their impressions back as poetry.

The Kami is powered by real-time conversational AI and responds contextually based on both what the visitor says and where they are in the environment. Spatial triggers and a narrative interaction flow allow the character to guide visitors through the gardens in a calm, reflective manner.

Drawing on my experience designing prompt frameworks for HTC’s Eagle AI wearable, I developed the Kami’s personality, speech style, and behavioral guidelines to maintain a consistent poetic voice throughout the experience.

The interaction culminates in a personalized Haiku, generated from the visitor’s reflections across the three elemental spaces.