The visible parts of the construction are a world sphere which consists of 8 slices which can be opened around hinges on the bottom, a central sculpture, and a circular base/table. Running within a central hollow shaft within the central sculpture are metal strings or ropes which leave the shaft on the upper end and are connected to the middle of the slices and by pulling the strings out of the bottom of the shaft by a motor the slices can be raised to close the sphere.
The slices are made of GFRP (glass-fiber reinforced plastic) and are painted with the continents of Earth. Following the theme of the project, Ingress mission days are marked by glass fiber bundles lighted with orange light. Additionally player submitted missions are correctly placed as lights on the sphere. The outlines of the continents are marked with LED strips which can change it’s color according to the faction currently owning the portal.
The upper end of the slices contain an illuminated smaller object which represents the state of a resonator each.
The central sculpture represents the mission aspect and probably somewhat resembles the graphics of the SpecOps medal, and is illuminated in the color of the faction owning the portal.
Opening and closing the sphere is controlled from different signals: When the portal is grey or it is attacked the slices close. When not attacked and fully resonated the slices open. Additionally visitors can force the sphere open or closed by interacting with the object using a light source (e.g. phone torch app).
(Optional) When the portal is attacked, we try to find out where the attacker is standing. One of several flashlights mounted on the object will “zap” the attacker in that direction.
Sound effects are played when
* Resonators are deployed
* The portal is attacked
* A visitor interacts with the object
An ambient music track plays all the time with themes depending on whether the object is closed or open.