a panoramic VR view of justice

When the Net, and particularly the Web, first entered public consciousness, its pioneers envisioned open global discourse and accompanying social and political change. The revolution will be computerized. But then the carpetbaggers smelled opportunity, money poured from the heavens and commerce overshadowed utopia.

Not everyone joined the money culture, though. Alison Cornyn and Sue Johnson, who met at New York University's famed Interactive Telecommunications Program, founded Picture Projects in 1995 to "create an online space for voices traditionally overlooked by mainstream media." The interactive documentarians' latest project is 360degrees.org, billed as the first interactive Web site to explore the criminal justice system and its prison population.

The 360degrees site grew out of a concern: that there are over two million Americans in prison today -- four times the prison population just 20 years ago. Cornyn and Johnson believe the social policies that put them there are based on fear and a lack of understanding, so they took to the Web to spur dialogue and challenge perceptions of the system.

Activism isn't easy, but 360degrees is giving it the old NYU college try, using Web applications such as QuickTime Virtual Reality (QTVR), Flash, streaming audio and databases as well as good old-fashioned journalism to make it as accessible, compelling and interactive as possible.

The stories section, the heart of the site, presents poignant accounts of life behind bars and of the lives touched by the system -- parents, judges, lawyers, victims -- to challenge cultural misconceptions and stereotypes. The stories were developed in tandem with National Public Radio series "Prison Diaries" through interviews and tape-recorded diaries. Each story is centered on a specific case, in the perspective of those involved, and includes streaming audio interviews, photos and -- this is where the 360degrees comes into play -- panoramic QTVR views of each speaker's personal space.

"We wanted to put viewers in someone else's shoes, whether in the cell or the judge's chambers or a family member's living room. And also to get people thinking of the hard-core surveillance of the panopticon, the traditional layout of a prison," explains Cornyn, who serves as designer for the site. She further explains that "360degrees also refers to the multiple perspectives within the stories, and the Web is a great venue to tell these nonlinear stories."

Johnson worked as a documentary photographer before meeting Cornyn. Her work has examined the impact of economics on rituals within different cultures: quinciñera ceremonies, pilgrimages, marriages and debutante balls, for instance. For 360degrees, she used her skills to create an intimate experience. "Even in a stark prison cell, there are small touches of humanity that stand out in stark relief to the cement and metal spaces -- jackets hung a certain way, birthday cards perfectly lined up, photographs pinned to a locker," she says.

"We are shooting high-speed color film and trying to capture the fluorescent lighting, the muted paint, the old carpet and the details of each space in all their glory," Johnson continues. "We set up the tripod in the place normally occupied by the speaker. We see what the inmate, judge, lawyer, victim or family member sees."

But 360degrees is more than personal stories. The site also boasts an impressive amount of interactivity and data and resources -- for which Picture Projects relied upon a vast team of experts for research and advice -- to further highlight different perspectives on crime and punishment.

Design plays a key role in the presentation of the stories and data. Clean, engaging and accessible in both Flash and HTML versions, design serves as metaphor, as ubiquitous circles represent not only 360 degrees but also the interconnectedness surrounding the justice system. The Flash design of the Timeline section represents the fluidity of theories and policies. Although the goal was not design awards, 360degrees has received its fair share of acknowledgments, including the short list in the Flashforward 2001 NYC festival.

The response to the site? Although it's hard to measure exactly how much of a difference a Web site can make on such a complex, controversial issue, the seeds of change have shown some signs of growing. According to Cornyn, the site is drawing an average 10,000 hits a day-in less than a year. "Professors of social justice have come calling, and it's become a resource for students," she says. That's a good sign since universities are often where the theories that drive policies are hatched. Changing public perception is a long, arduous process, but to paraphrase a wise Chinese philosopher, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single story.