Real and Virtual Spaces: Mapping from Spatial Cognition to Hypertext

Parallels are frequently drawn between navigating through everyday spatial environments and information systems, hypertexts being a particular case in point. This paper examines the cognitive mapping theory often borrowed implicitly from spatial cognition research, which has a bearing on the appropriateness of using spatial imagery in hypertext. Conceptual differences between euclidean and virtual spaces are identified, and ways considered in which to make information spaces more coherent. A demonstration hypertext browser is described, incorporating some of the cognitive principles discussed.

[1]  A. Siegel,et al.  The development of spatial representations of large-scale environments. , 1975, Advances in child development and behavior.

[2]  Piet A. M. Kommers,et al.  Textvision: elicitation and acquisition of conceptual knowledge by graphic representation and multiwindowing , 1988 .

[3]  Graham Storrs,et al.  Characterizing user navigation through complex data structures , 1985 .

[4]  Kevin Lynch,et al.  The Image of the City , 1960 .

[5]  David D. Woods,et al.  Visual Momentum: A Concept to Improve the Cognitive Coupling of Person and Computer , 1984, Int. J. Man Mach. Stud..

[6]  Susan T. Dumais,et al.  The spatial metaphor for user interfaces: experimental tests of reference by location versus name , 1986, TOIS.

[7]  M. W. Lansdale,et al.  MEMOIRS: a personal multimedia information system , 1989 .

[8]  David Woods,et al.  Getting Lost: A Case Study in Interface Design , 1985 .

[9]  Lynda Hardman,et al.  Evaluating the Usability of the Glasgow Online Hypertext , 1989, Hypermedia.

[10]  Sara Jones,et al.  Graphical interfaces for knowledge engineering: an overview of relevant literature , 1988, The Knowledge Engineering Review.

[11]  Maria G. Wadlow.  The andrew system: The role of human interface guidelines in the design of multimedia applications , 1990 .

[12]  D. Canter.  The psychology of place , 1977 .

[13]  Thomas P. Moran,et al.  Mental models and problem solving in using a calculator , 1983, CHI '83.

[14]  Andrew F. Monk,et al.  The Personal Browser: A Tool for Directed Navigation in Hypertext Systems , 1989, Interact. Comput..

[15]  Michael L. Begeman,et al.  gIBIS: A tool for all reasons , 1989, JASIS.

[16]  Thomas W. Malone,et al.  How do people organize their desks?: Implications for the design of office information systems , 1983, TOIS.

[17]  George A. Miller.  Psychology and information , 1968 .

[18]  Austin Henderson,et al.  Rooms: the use of multiple virtual workspaces to reduce space contention in a window-based graphical user interface , 1986, TOGS.

[19]  B. Hayes-Roth,et al.  Performance Models for Spatial and Locational Cognition , 1980 .

[20]  Randall H. Trigg,et al.  Notecards in a nutshell , 1986, CHI '87.

[21]  Lynda Hardman,et al.  'Lost in Hyperspace': Cognitive Mapping and Navigation in a Hypertext Environment , 1999, UK Hypertext.

[22]  Robert M. Akscyn,et al.  KIVIS: A DISTRIBUTED HYPERMEDIA SYSTEM FOR MANAGING KNOWLEDGE IN ORGANIZATIONS Developers of hypermedia systems face many design issues. The design for KMS, a large-scale hypermedia system for collaborative work, seeks improzjed user productivity through simplicity of the conceptual data model. , 1988 .

[23]  Christopher F. Herot,et al.  A prototype Spatial Data Management System , 1980, SIGGRAPH '80.

[24]  Nicole Yankelovich.  Issues in Designing a Hypermedia Document System: The Intermedia Case Study. , 1986 .

[25]  George W. Furnas,et al.  Semnet: three-dimensional graphic representa-tions of large knowledge bases , 1990 .