The viewer can assign a color to any mailing list, thus highlighting various patterns in the community's structure. This profile is weighted, taking into account how many members of the chosen category are members of each of the other categories, as well as how exclusive are such memberships. Thus, when there are three anchors on the screen, each person has three virtual springs pulling them, with varying strengths, towards the three anchor points. LaserWho is an interactive, gesture-based visualization of the affiliations within a community. It combines the Sociable Media Group 's Visual Who project with the Responsive Environments Group 's Laser Wall .
Users place anchors, each representing a different topic relevant to that community, on the screen.
Although LaserWho uses data visualization algorithms and techniques, the feel of this installation is very different from the typical analytic application. The image is shown on a large, rear-projection screen. Each anchor has its own theme and the changing state of the system shapes and modulates the composition. LaserWho was first publicly exhibited in Venice, Italy in November 1999 as part of the Opera Totale 5 festival. This ensured that the names and relationships that appeared in the installation were familiar and meaningful to the viewers.