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Tranquility



I posted earlier about the similarities of gzz to an Amiga game called Continuum. I just discovered a game for the Mac or Windows called Tranquility that I found at download.com. It has a 3D space containing floating platforms that you can bounce off of to gain height. You float around in low gravity and aim for one to land on.

Perhaps a similar approach could be taken to one of the views for gzz. It would be better for navigating an information space if the viewer would always hit the platform unless there was a deliberate effort to miss it in order to move to a different trail of information. Since gzz is infinite dimensional, that would open up endless possibilities to change what is being displayed to view various aspects of a subject and all it's linkages.

Instead of rectangular cells containing text, streams of text could be used with links being represented by off-shooting streams of text (with their own links, etc.), floating windows containing video, images, charts, diagrams, or even playing sound. These sort of views could be used for everything from music video composition to relaxing ear and eye candy to representing the human genome or design of an airliner or structure and user interaction of software. It might also make an intuitive way to teach geometry or topology.

Jack Seay

(*.*)
"The things that will destroy us are: politics without principle; pleasure without conscience; wealth without work; knowledge without character; business without morality; science without humanity; and worship without sacrifice." - Mahatma Gandhi