ZHONGAO XUAN

Skip to Content

ZHONGAO XUAN

ZHONGAO XUAN

MAKE TO BREAK
MAKE TO BREAK ( NECKLACE VERSION)
MORE
PLACE TO PLACE
OVERLAP
PUZZLE
SHADE
TEAR
TEAR (RING VERSION)
CRADLE
CUBE
SERIES
IMPERFECTION
Inner View
Be the Bee
PRISM SECTION
MODIFY
VEIN
MONOLITH
WHAT IS BURGER
VEINSIGHT

In collaboration with American Museum of Natural History, Hidden Gem is specifically designed for the Hall of Gem and Minerals. It is an interactive installation that invites participants to experience the process of cutting raw stone and uncovering the gem inside. A physical saw blade replica is used to trigger a virtual saw blade on the screen, allowing users to slice the stone open to see and learn what is hidden inside. After cutting the stone, participants can choose to polish and fabricate the stone into specific jewelry and artifacts that are currently exhibiting in Hall of Gem and Minerals of AMNH.

This digital experience is built with Unity Game Engine, and the physical parts are hand fabricated from plywood, acrylic, arcade button, joystick, rotary encoder, chain and gears, and PLA 3D printed parts.

Concept Rendering

Asset Creation

All digital asset are created with Blender and Generative AI, and all physical asset are created with Rhino8.

Hidden Gem

ZHONGAO XUAN

© Zhongao Xuan 2026

zhongaoxuan@gmail.com