Experiences and Directions in Spatial Hypertext

Frank Shipman

Department of Computer Science & Center for the Study of Digital Libraries

Texas A&M University

What is Spatial Hypertext?

Hypertext but spatial … so what is hypertext?

Hypertext (or hypermedia) is:1. systems that present the same text

(media) in multiple contexts

2. systems that enable the communication of relationships between documents

Early Timeline of Hypertext

1945 – Vannevar Bush describes the Memex in “As We May Think”

1960s – Douglas Engelbart creates Augment

1960s – Ted Nelson uses the term “hypertext” to describe interconnected body of literature

1980s – Many hypertext systems– KMS, Document Examiner, HyperTies, Guide,

NoteCards, Storyspace, Thoth, HAM, VNS, …– Growing use of the map to provide context

Page-Based Hypertext

Frank Shipman

Dr. Shipman has been researching hypertext, computer-supported cooperative work, and intelligent user interfaces since 1987 at Baylor College of Medicine, University of Colorado, Xerox PARC, and now Texas A&M University.

The field of hypertext includes computer scientists, literary theorists, and writers. The first ACM Hypertext Conference took place in 1987 …

Texas A&M University, located in College Station, has 43,000 students …

Map-Based Hypertext

Observations of Xerox NoteCards activities found heavy use of maps.

Aquanet designed to make the map the primary interface (instead of browser)

Late 80s – map-based hypertext– gIBIS, Aquanet, Sepia– Argumentation and knowledge building– Schemas as map legends

Map-Based Hypertext

First ACM Hypertext

ConferenceCollege Station

Texas A&M University

Xerox PARC

University of Colorado

Baylor College of Medicine

Frank Shipman

hypertext

computer-supported cooperative work

intelligent user interfaces

Spatial Hypertext

Observations of Aquanet activities showed links implied rather than explicitly expressed.

VIKI designed to support building and manipulating implicit spatial relations

1993 – first spatial hypertext– VIKI: a visual and kinesthetic analysis tool

Emerged into research area:– HyperMap, CAOS, Manufactur, VKB, Tinderbox,

ART, …

Spatial Hypertext

First ACM Hypertext

ConferenceCollege Station

Texas A&M University

Xerox PARC

University of Colorado

Baylor College of Medicine

Frank Shipman

hypertext

computer-supported cooperative work

intelligent user interfaces

Frank Shipman

hypertext

Texas A&M University

Visual Knowledge Builder

Frank Shipman, Haowei Hsieh,J. Michael Moore, Anna Zacchi, Robert Airhart,

Raghu Akkapeddi, Preetam Maloor, Divya Shah, Kevin Gupton

Center for the Study of Digital Libraries & Department of Computer Science

Texas A&M University1997-present

Navigable History

Problem: inconsistent use of visual cues, interpreting ambiguous layouts

Solution: return to context of interpretationEdit history with multiple navigation

methods:– VCR, slider (relative), timestamp

(absolute), per object/event navigation

“Constructive” notion of information space

Links through Space and Time

Why add links?– Links within information space release author from

strict hierarchy– Links to other spaces aid scale / distribution

Navigational issue: – Navigation in space is more complicated than

navigation on page– How to backtrack? What to keep?

Addition: Links can point into history of space

Personal Collection Creation and Use

Getting content in VKB– Embedded Search for NSDL and Google– Drag-and-drop file system folders– Metadata peeling for files, jpg, mp3, search

results

Comprehension and modification of content– Metadata visualization of NSDL search results– Metadata extraction and applicators– Mouse-based browsing of content (including

mp3 collections)

Metadata Extraction and ApplicationGoal: to allow easy and consistent metadata authoring.

Select objects as source for extracting metadata attributes and values

Menubar of applicators is updated to allow attaching same metadata to other objects.

Experiences

Note-taking, individual authoring tasksOrganizational tasks

– Project management– Conference organization

Group authoring tasks– Poetry, scripts, dual-voice essays

“Real”-world use– Students, researchers, writers, poets

Wide-Area Distributed Spatial Hypertext

VKB FinaleVKB includes features to enable the creation

and use of personal collections.– Embedded search, drag-and-drop folders, and

metadata peeling to get information into the system

– Metadata visualization, metadata extraction and applicators, and mouse-based browsing of contents for comprehension and use

– Study indicates people see value in spatial hypertext for collecting and organizing information resources

Spatial Hypertext Systems: Current Directions

WARP: Web-based Multi-model Adaptive Spatial Hypertext

Luis Francisco-Revilla

VITE: Visualization & ParsingHaowei Hsieh

Hyper-HitchcockFrank Shipman, Andreas Girgensohn, Lynn Wilcox

Workspace used for authoring hypervideo

Explicit links for navigational structure

Spatial layout for ordering of clips into linear video sequences

Summary (Spatial Hypertext)

Spatial hypertext enables emergent expression– Evolving visual languages– Collection, analysis and organization tasks

Features of spatial hypertexts– Multitasking via collections or non-linear views– Implicit structure recognition– Navigable history, links through space and time

Spatial hypertext supports presentation & distribution as well– Publication-oriented spatial hypertexts

Resources on Spatial Hypertext

Workshops on Spatial Hypertext– www.csdl.tamu.edu/~shipman/SpatialHypertext

VKB available at:– www.csdl.tamu.edu/VKB/