The Information Landscapes demo from The Visible Language Workshop initially confused me, as the necessity to display information in a three-dimensional plane has not caught on entirely. 3D modelling is incredibly useful for diagrams and demonstrations, but to display text and keywords on multiple planes reminded me of a simple Google search and made me think about how abstruse a learning curve it would be to acclimate users to. The idea of perceiving digital information in three dimensions is present through AR and VR technologies, but I can’t imagine studying an article in AR to be anything more than distracting. From my perspective, the added dimension doesn’t really enrich the material, but we can see that other softwares of today that use those technologies have found a way to successfully and meaningfully do so. Snapchat, for example, uses augmented reality to create fun filters for the user to interact with and take pictures with, and it generally doesn’t involve a lot of intensive reading. Images and graphics would be the most effective uses in an educational setting, as 3D models can be extremely helpful in the demonstration of a concept.
In relation to Christopher Alexander’s architecture patterns, both use the concept of space to convey ideas and create experiences for those who interact with them. Alexander focused on the patterns in human behavior leading to their perfect living environments while The Visual Language Workshop designed interactions that used space to process information. From other patterns stemming from how we behave, plausible uses for 3D technology can definitely be found. This demo was truly ahead of its time and it is undeniable how novel and challenging an idea this must have been in 1994.
