The Space of Cognitive Technology: The Design Medium and Cognitive Properties of Virtual Space

By its name, cyberspace is a spatial medium. Metaphorically, all information is presented as locations in an abstract representation space. As in pictures and television, cyberspace inherits the properties of pictorial and screen space. But with 3D interactive media such as immersive virtual reality, augmented reality, and room computing, cyberspace adds dramatically new ways to use space to represent information around the body of the user, around the virtual environment, and as distributed representations around the physical environment. One of the more visible ways in which spatial properties of virtual and augmented reality systems are used is in the area of scientific visualizations. But this is only one among a set of emerging applications that emphasize spatial representation and make use of spatial abilities.