Structuring Two-Dimensional Space

This chapter discusses the dimensions of space to show why image plane patterns are so special. It also discusses how patterns are formed from the low-level features. Patterns are formed where ideas meet the evidence of the world. Top-down attentional processes cause patterns to be constructed from the retinal image that has been decomposed, like an impressionist painting, into a myriad of features in V1. Patterns are formed in a middle ground of fluid dynamic visual processing that both pulls meaningful patterns from features and imposes order. Patterns are also the building blocks of objects, which themselves can be thought of as more complex patterns. Understanding how patterns are constructed and reconstructed can tell us a lot about the design problems of organizing space, either in ways that are unambiguous and clear or in ways that are subject to multiple interpretations. Pattern-processing resources in the brain are mostly devoted to information in the image plane, as opposed to depth. These two-dimensional patterns are fundamentally important for two reasons. First, they are the precursors of objects. Second, a pattern can also be a relationship between objects. Although pattern finding is something that everyone can do because it is a fundamental part of the process of seeing, designers must have an additional skill. They must see critically. The map designer must critically analyze which combinations of patterns will provide the best support for the set of cognitive tasks a map supports.