3D information visualization
As a species, the human race is tremendously influenced by sensory perceptions. Visual metaphors are frequent and common in our language and culture. “A picture is worth a thousand words” is one such example. The appearance of the Internet in human culture just over ten years ago has produced the capacity to graphically and visually represent ideas, problems,challenges, solutions, and results, not as one-dimensional paradigms or presentations as in previous centuries, but in two- or more dimensions, allowing the human mind to radically and instantly perceive new ways of solving and representing information. In addition, the next generation has been preparing itself for a future in which virtual collaboration with others globally will be the norm instead of the exception, and the fields of secondary and higher education are well behind the curve in addressing the learning needs of the future.
The field of information visualization is very new. Since, its beginnings in the 1980s, when bandwidth and server storage necessitated high-end, computer workstations in order to play with advanced and real-time interactive graphics for space exploration, animation, and visual effects, 2D and 3D formats are now readily available to anyone with a standard PC platform and/or money to purchase one of the many animation and multi-player gaming systems. 3D information visualization is poised to enter the mainstream of Internet gaming and search engine retrieval; the market is only waiting for an affordable device or product that will capture the public's imagination and push the envelope in this area. Once that happens, the world will never be the same again. Interacting online in one dimension will become passé; users will want to be able to manipulate and search and present their content in multiple dimensions.
Information organizations must quickly begin experimenting and be ready to move forward offering their information visually in 2D and 3D. With Google and other information servers already controlling much of the user interaction and information patterns online, and with the research and development money to jump when necessary, traditional information organizations such as libraries and museums will be hard-pressed to compete and maintain market share in the coming information revolution.
This special issue of Library Hi Tech will present some interesting and fascinating ways in which libraries and librarians are currently exploring multidimensional ways of presenting information. These six articles explore current developments and applications in 2D and 3D information visualization,which will hopefully encourage other libraries and librarians to begin discussions and experiments in meeting the needs of our users, who are already well ahead of us in this arena.
Agnes Barat provides an introductory essay on how human perception and concept-building, as well as perception, are intertwined and are combined in human beings, and how important visual imagery is to knowledge organization. She provides some examples of some current applications that illustrate this viewpoint.
Dr Chaomei Chen, one of the foremost thinkers and leaders in the area of information visualization, examines how the current challenges in presenting and visualizing science data, along with the concept of evidence-based librarianship(EBL), can provide a holistic sense-making approach to the understanding and diffusion of science knowledge.
Bert Coenen discusses an innovative solution to a very practical problem in his library: providing a basic yet exciting interactive library floor plan for their users, which not only helps them locate their information objects, but links to the OPAC to assist them in the “virtual” browsing of their collection. All of this was done with minimal resources and money, and with current staffing expertise.
Linn Collins examines how information visualization can be useful in the design of interface tools for large-scale repositories, and illustrates how this is currently being accomplished with tools developed at the Los Alamos National Laboratory Research Library.
Fotis Liarokapis provides a fascinating study on how mobile navigation and wayfinding in urban environments has and can be assisted by 3D information visualization. He describes two prototype interfaces currently in development and experimentation that are moving forward in this direction.
Finally, Ray Uzwyshyn presents a case study for a large-scale digitization/digital project that incorporates multimedia and 3D aspects,walking the reader step-by-step through the decision-making and development process of user studies, accessibility issues, and technology challenges in the storage, retrieval, bandwidth, and presentation of large amounts of information with multimedia aspects.
In conclusion, information organizations are lagging far behind the curve when it comes to what our users are experiencing and using daily in regards to learning, recreation, and social activities. 2D and 3D environments have been in the marketplace now for over ten years, and the current generation has grown up interacting and collaborating with these technologies on a daily basis. When this generation walks into our one-dimensional text environments represented by our OPACs and books, they quickly become bored and frustrated with our “medieval”and “antiquated” ways to provide access to information. We need to step up, and become experimenters and innovators with our information resources,presenting them in new and exciting ways to our users. If we do not, we consign ourselves to the oblivion of becoming “museums of knowledge” that make little difference or use to the everyday human experience of life.
For more information in this area, see Brad Eden's 3D Visualization Techniques: 2D and 3D Information Visualization Resources, Applications, and Future (Library Technology Reports, Vol. 41, No. 1, January/February 2005, ALA TechSource).
Bradford Lee EdenAssociate University Librarian for Technical Services & Scholarly Communication, University of California, Santa Barbara, California, USA
