Mirrored Culture

Mirrored Culture: Nomadic Spatial Media for Cross-Cultural Communication

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Have you ever wanted to travel without travelling?

In Kyrgyz culture, one of the most essential elements of life has always been the yurt – a portable dwelling and a symbol of harmony that connects people, traditions, and nature. In the Mirrored Culture interactive design project, the yurt becomes a portal into Kyrgyz heritage, inviting you to create your own cultural twin and immerse yourself in a variety of traditions and experiences by reflecting them alongside your own.

Mirrored Culture was initiated in 2023 as part of a master’s design project. Since then, it has continued to grow within the Embodied Media Lab at Keio University’s Graduate School of Media Design. Over the past years, Mirrored Culture has focused on developing interactive media that enables people to learn about different cultures through perspective-taking experiences. Its design emphasizes creating a space where participants can explore both the differences and similarities between cultures by generating their own “cultural twin” and reflecting themselves through the lens of Kyrgyz traditions.