Andreas Lund: Implementing SchemaSpace: some issues and concerns

The seminar will largely be an exposé of different paths I have explored during my work with the implementation of SchemaSpace. SchemaSpace is a desktop virtual reality environment for visualization of hierarchical collections of World Wide Web references. As with most exploration, some of the paths proved to be dead ends, while others proved to be more fruitful, yet filled with obstacles. The seminar will focus on two such obstacles: visual layout of hierarchies and landscape generation.

Initially – and naively – I considered visual layout of hierarchies as a relatively straightforward problem. As it turned out, this was not the case. During the seminar I will present two of the ways in which I addressed this problem: (1) force-directed layout by simulating a physical particle system and (2) self-adapting layout by means of a genetic algorithm.

Another obstacle of the SchemaSpace implementation concerned generation of a landscape that reflects the hierarchical structure of the web reference collection. Approaches I considered, but not necessarily exploited, include cloth draping, image manipulation and triangulation of point clouds.

Finally, I will present some subjective, introspective and retrospective reflections on creative problem solving of the kind I have been involved in during my work with SchemaSpace.

Välkommna!
Per-Olof Ågren