Imagine you are working on a research project in which you have cited dozens, if not hundred, of sources. Typically you would create a long, alphabetical list of citations that gave no specific detail as to how heavily each source contributed to your work.
What if instead of the list, your sources were part of a 3-D world you created. Every story you referenced, every article you read, would find its place around your project. The position and color of each source would show its relationship to your work. No longer a flat list of names and words no one will read, now your information comes to life in 3-D visualization.
Until now, this type of complex network of ideas only existed in our minds. Enter Carnegie Mellon Qatar professor Andreas Karatsolis, Ph.D. Always interested in citation practices, Karatsolis created a 3-D environment where he can visualize the world of citation in academic work.
“Our world is not 2-D. We are always looking for depth. We understand 3-D, it allows us to see more angles and dig deeper,” says Karatsolis. “With all of the new technology we are better able to visualize and organize information in three dimensions. We can add a sense of depth to citation so you know where everything fits around your project. As your project changes, your world changes.”
Citations in 2-D can be messy. For example, one researcher can site work by 50 other researchers. Each of those 50 can site another 30, creating a huge network that is nearly impossible to figure out. And those flat lists also don’t show which sources were the most influential and which are the closest to your argument.
Karatsolis conceived of this project as a way for researchers to better make use of other people’s work in their own work. He and information systems student Zaid Haque created a 3-D world and entered the Visualization Development Competition that Texas A&M University in Qatar held in its Immersive Visualization Facility.
The IVF, or “cave” as it is called, consists of a 120° curved screen that envelops the viewer’s peripheral vision, giving the feeling of being immersed in the visualization. The three projectors in the IVF are capable of stereo projection that enables human eyes to distinguish near objects from far ones.
Karatsolis’ project was the only one entered that was not a straightforward visualization of the physical world such as cleaning up an oil spill or riding a roller coaster. His was the only idea attempting to create a tangible world from one that existed only in his mind.
“This has great potential for education and many other areas where constructing a 3-D world will help better organize information,” says Karatsolis. These include everything from inspecting oil wells to surgical preparation. The project earned a small cash award, and Karatsolis is continuing to work on the project and may apply for funding from Qatar National Research Funding later this year.
3-D visualization might seem a bit like science fiction, but it’s proving to be the next big wave in technology. Movies and television are now in 3-D, and numerous fields are finding it to be an indispensable tool moving forward. Why not have our thoughts in 3-D as well.
Consider this, it was only about 65 years ago that computer pioneer Vanevvar Bush dreamed of having a machine that contained all of the networked information in the world. At that time, his idea was thought impossible. Today we can’t live without such a network, and most of us carry it around in our pocket. We call it the World Wide Web.
