Interactive Temple Explorer: How the Original Experience Was Designed
The original Bali Temple Explorer did not ask users to press play and watch a fixed documentary. It tried to reproduce one basic freedom of a real visit: deciding where to look next and how long to stay there.
A location explored through moving images
The project represented a Balinese temple through a network of interlinked HD video scenes. Instead of still panoramas, many scenes were designed as loops, so water, trees, people, light, and other details could continue moving while the user remained in one place.
Hotspots connected scenes to one another. Selecting a route moved the visitor to another viewpoint, creating a simple spatial logic similar to choosing a path through a real temple compound. Contemporary project descriptions refer to more than 150 interlinked HD videos, while a Museums and the Web presentation described the experience as having more than 200 video loops during its development.
The experience can be understood as five layers
1. Place
A visual representation of a real temple environment, filmed so that spaces could be experienced as connected locations rather than isolated clips.
2. Choice
Users controlled the route through clickable points instead of following a single sequence chosen by an editor.
3. Time
Looping footage allowed users to remain in a scene and observe it rather than being forced onward by a documentary timeline.
4. Interpretation
Commentary and interviews added context, including first-person voices connected with the temple and local community.
5. Museum connection
The digital experience was designed to complement an exhibition and could be used online or through a dedicated museum kiosk.
6. Alternative access
The project documentation also discussed text-and-image and linear-video versions so that the content was not dependent on a single interactive format.
Why not simply make a documentary?
The creators argued that a normal film inevitably directs attention. Editing decides when a shot ends, which direction the viewer looks, and which details are ignored. The interactive format tried to keep the sensory impact of film while returning some of those decisions to the user.
That idea remains relevant to cultural interpretation. A temple is spatial, layered, and full of simultaneous activity. A visitor might focus on a gate, listen to music from another courtyard, notice an offering, or stay still to watch people move through the space. Interactive media can support this kind of self-directed attention.
Why the original experience cannot simply be switched back on
UNIT9 lists Adobe Flash as the technology behind the original project. Flash was discontinued and is no longer supported by modern browsers, so an original Flash-based experience cannot function on today’s web without substantial rebuilding.
A modern reconstruction would therefore need to reproduce the concept rather than merely restore the old interface. HTML5 video, responsive layouts, accessible transcripts, captions, modern mapping, and mobile interaction would replace the technical foundation while preserving the original principle of user-directed exploration.
What a modern reconstruction could include
- A visual map of a temple compound with clearly marked visitor-accessible areas.
- Short looping or ambient video scenes connected through directional hotspots.
- Optional narration rather than compulsory autoplay commentary.
- Interviews and local voices presented with clear context and attribution.
- Transcripts, captions, keyboard navigation, and non-video alternatives for accessibility.
- Cultural notes explaining gates, courtyards, offerings, ceremonies, and areas that visitors should not enter.
- A clear distinction between virtual access and permission to enter restricted spaces in person.
The concept and this site today
BaliTempleExplorer.com currently focuses on written cultural travel guidance rather than recreating the original Flash experience. The interactive concept still offers a useful design principle for the site: let people explore at their own pace, but provide enough context to understand what they are seeing.
A digital temple experience should never suggest that a sacred site is simply a virtual attraction. The strongest interpretation combines spatial curiosity with clear cultural boundaries and respect for living religious practice.
Read the project history
- The Bali Temple Explorer Project — the historical background, museum context, creators, technology, and recognition of the 2011 project.
- Museums and the Web 2011 archive — the contemporary description of the interactive kiosk and web experience.
- UNIT9 project archive — production details and an overview of the interactive film concept.
The original project was technologically tied to its time, but its central question remains useful: how can digital media let people explore culture actively without stripping away the context that makes a place meaningful?