How the sphere works

Full transcript

1. [A single horizontal line divides the screen, labeled LEFT and RIGHT.] For too long, politics has been defined by a line. Left versus right.
2. [The labels become US and THEM.] Liberal versus conservative. Us versus Them.
3. [Faces and positions crowd onto the one line.] A mismatch: a one-dimensional model for multidimensional people.
4. [The line fractures.] No wonder we’re divided — the model itself is flawed.
5. [The fragments begin to rise.] You were never that simple.
6. [They curve into a wireframe globe.] Your convictions deserve a world of their own.
7. [The globe resolves and slowly turns.] Imagine a model that captures every position and nuance.
8. [It brightens.] So let us build it.
9. [Four meridians illuminate, labeled For, Against, Undecided, No opinion.] Four meridians anchor the stances: for, against, undecided, no opinion. Between them, the ways you may lean.
10. [A band glows at the equator.] Latitude carries priority — the nearer the equator, the more an issue matters.
11. [The northern and southern hemispheres tint in turn.] Hemispheres carry disposition, not stance: what you embrace rises north; what you resist settles south.
12. [A single marker appears on the surface between two meridians.] Here is your marker. Longitude is your stance — between meridians, you’re leaning.
13. [The marker glides toward the equator.] Its latitude is priority: it climbs toward the equator as an issue matters more.
14. [The marker descends beneath the surface toward the center.] Its depth is how core an issue is — the closer to the center, the more essential.
15. [The marker cycles from cool to warm color.] Color is passion — how deeply you care.
16. [The marker grows and settles.] Size is mass — the knowledge behind your view.
17. [The marker morphs: circle, triangle, square, hexagon, star.] Shape shows who should act: individual, local, state, federal, international.
18. [The marker’s fill drains and refills; then a dashed outline.] And fill is spending — how much you would commit — or dashed, for no position on spending.
19. [The marker rests complete.] Eight signals. One marker. Your complete position.
20. [Thousands of markers stream onto the surface and into the depths.] Now watch thousands take their place — on the surface and within. Patterns appear no poll could show.
21. [The viewer’s marker glows among neighbors.] You’ll see where you truly stand, and who stands near you.
22. [The full sphere turns; the wordmark resolves.] This is Votesphere. Command your place on the sphere.