The issue of how users can navigate their way through large information spaces is one that is crucial to the ever expanding and interlinking of computer systems. There are many ways of dealing with the issue of navigation. The use of appropriate metaphors is one, virtual reality and 3D interfaces another. A third is to provide adaptive interfaces based on individual differences in users navigational ability. This paper takes a critical look at the alternatives for assisting users to navigate information spaces and concludes by outlining a research agenda for navigation support.

This work analyzes the central role of interpretation in non-routine design. Based on this analysis, a theory of computer support for interpretation in cooperative design is constructed. The theory is grounded in studies of design and interpretation. It is illustrated by mechanisms provided by a software substrate for computer-based design environments, applied to a sample task of lunar habitat design. Computer support of

er than use more formalised information artefacts. When navigating cities people tend to ask other people for advice rather than study maps (Streeter and Vitello, 1985), when trying to find information about pharmaceuticals medical doctors tend to ask other doctors for advice (Tiimpka and Hallberg, 1996), if your child has red spots you might phone your mother or talk to a friend for an opinion. Even when we are not directly looking for information we use a wide range of cues, both from features of the environment and from the behaviour of other people, to manage our activities. Alan Munro observed how people followed crowds or simply sat around at a venue when deciding which shows and street events to attend at the Edinburgh Arts Festival (Munro, 1998). We might be influenced to pick up a book because it appears well thumbed, we walk into a sunny courtyard because it looks attractive or we might decide to see a film because our friends enjoyed it. Not only do we find our ways through

The effects of software (code) on the spatial formation of everyday life are best understood through a theoretical framework that utilizes the concepts of technicity (the productive power of technology to make things happen) and transduction (the constant making anew of a domain in reiterative and transformative practices). Examples from the lives of three Londoners illustrate that code makes a difference to everyday life because its technicity alternatively modulates space through processes of transduction. Space needs to be theorized as ontogenetic, that is, understood as continually being brought into existence through transductive practices (practices that change the conditions under which space is (re)made). The nature of space transduced by code is detailed and illustrated with respect to domestic living, work, communication, transport, and consumption. Key Words: everyday life, code, ontogenesis, transduction, technicity, space. [S]pace is neither absolute, relative or relational in itself, but it can become one or all simultaneously depending on the circumstances. The problem of the proper conceptualization of space is resolved through human practice with respect to it. —(Harvey 1973, 13, italics original, our underline).

Abstract—Numerous systems have been developed to display large collections of data for urban contexts; however, most have focused on layering of single dimensions of data and manual calculations to understand relationships within the urban environment. Furthermore, these systems often limit the user’s perspectives on the data, thereby diminishing the user’s spatial understanding of the viewing region. In this paper, we introduce a highly interactive urban visualization tool that provides intuitive understanding of the urban data. Our system utilizes an aggregation method that combines buildings and city blocks into legible clusters, thus providing continuous levels of abstraction while preserving the user’s mental model of the city. In conjunction with a 3D view of the urban model, a separate but integrated information visualization view displays multiple disparate dimensions of the urban data, allowing the user to understand the urban environment both spatially and cognitively in one glance. For our evaluation, expert users from various backgrounds viewed a real city model with census data and confirmed that our system allowed them to gain more intuitive and deeper understanding of the urban model from different perspectives and levels of abstraction than existing commercial urban visualization systems. Index Terms—Urban models, information visualization, multi-resolution. 1

For extracting the characteristics a specific geographic entity, and notably a place, we propose to use dynamic Extreme Tagging Systems in combination with the classic approach of static KR models like ontologies, thesauri and gazetteers. Indeed, we argue that in local search, the what that is queried is implicitly about places. However existing knowledge representation (KR) models, such as ontologies based on logical theories, conceptual spaces, affordance or other, cannot capture in isolation all aspects of the meaning of a place. Therefore we propose to use a combination of them based on the underlying notion of differences, linked elements of meaning without commitment to any KR model. Mapping to elements of different KR models can be made later to follow the requirements of a given task, supported by a KR representation of the elements that support this task. We show the usefulness of the approach for local search by applying it to the notion of place defined as a location that supports a homogeneous affordance field, i.e. the spatial area which allows me the do a particular thing, while allowing the homogeneity of movement, meaning that the previous field is not interrupted by any boundaries.

A child-directed site collects personal information, such as a child’s full name, postal address, e-mail address, gender, and age. The site also asks a child whether he or she has received gifts in the form of stocks, cash, saving bonds, mutual funds, or certificates of deposit; who has given these gifts; whether

This work analyzes the central role of interpretation in non-routine design. Based on this analysis, a theory of computer support for interpretation in cooperative design is constructed. The theory is grounded in studies of design and interpretation. It is illustrated by mechanisms provided by a software substrate for computer-based design environments, applied to a sample task of lunar habitat design.

Abstract—Delivering course material via a virtual environment is beneficial to today’s students because it offers the interactivity, real-time interaction and social presence that students of all ages have come to accept in our gaming rich community. It is essential that the Net Generation also known as Generation Why, have exposure to learning communities that encompass interactivity to form social and educational connections. As student and professor become interconnected through collaboration and interaction in a virtual learning space, relationships develop and students begin to take on an individual identity. With this in mind the research project was developed to investigate the use of virtual environments on student satisfaction and the effectiveness of course delivery. Furthermore, the project was designed to integrate both interactive (real-time) classes conducted in the Virtual Reality (VR) environment while also creating archived VR sessions for student use in retaining and reviewing course content.

Researchers and designers are increasingly making use of geographic location in designing context-aware computer systems. However, there has been little conceptual work on how geography interacts with technology. In this paper, we use the concepts of "place and space" to explore how technologies are used geographically and how they impact on, and are used in, the physical environment. Fieldwork with tourists using maps and guide books shows how technology brings space and place together in activity. This discussion is used to look at how technologies might better span place and space.