Research

=**Please find more screenshots and upload them so that you can tie your research findings together....otherwise research with no images holds no purpose as this is a visualization class**=

Hey guys, Post all your research findings here so that we have them all together. It's easier to combine the information this way.

Visualization Techniques:
 * Gestalt Principles (continuity, closure, proximity, similarity)

Visualization Designs: > - object size, line convergence, texture gradient
 * Depth Cues:
 * Occlusion

Desire path:

A  visual discontinued between the make shift path and prescribed path. Often times a path is created for use and if it's not successful, then a desired path is created by human use over time.

Daljit:
> - The method we use to navigate in the virtual world is based on our cognitive map of the real world. This limits our choices because in a sense the paths we follow in the virtual world are already laid out for us with the intent that we follow that specific path > - also bring our real world experiences and that is how we can recognize sensory representations
 * The objects that stand out in the virtual world are used as reference points
 * WOW uses landmarks as reference points so that the user, especially if they are a beginner can easily navigate themselves around
 * You apply real world navigation techniques (the ability to direct oneself North, East, South, West) to WOW
 * WOW uses the visualization technique of a clear point of entry/exit
 * When completing a quest WOW highlights where the quest giver is by the exclamation point
 * The small map at the top of the screen (on the right) points you in the direction you need to go. In the real world we do not have the same map pointing us in the right direction.
 * Cognitive map- 'long term stored informaiton about the relative location of objects and phenomena in the everyday physical environment' (cerebral cities article)
 * WOW uses clear visualization techniques to provide a better understanding of the content for the player. This also limits navigation because the techniques are used to make the player play in a certain way. For example, the paths in the game point towards a certain building usually where some important element of the game is located.
 * Wayfinding in the virtual world is limited because we cannot experience the sensory aspects of navigating in the virtual world.
 * "When we enter the artificial noosphere, we bring our physical bodies with us" (from wayfinding article)

Juhi:
> **Sensory**- provide understanding without training, sensory have an "epistemological resistance" - no matter what we know about the image we still see it differently. i.e. the example of two lines > > Sensory can also refer to: > - cross cultural references > - A MRI Scan > - A DNA Stem > > According to Ware there are 3 advantages to Sensory Representations > > **Sensory Representation** > - the universal symbols that are known by "everyone" > - understanding it w/o training > - processed immediately > - cross-cultural validity > ( the arbitrary representation is able to be understood by us in different languages and has no resemblance between symbol and referent )
 * Differences between how objects are used (**Affordances**) or the implication of the use in the virtual world and the real world. eg: if there is a lake/pond the character can swim across it in WoW but in reality an individual would automatically go around it. Or if there are stairs or a bridge leading in the direction of teh quest the player automatically goes up the stairs or across the bridge. This is because the game subtley manipulates the user to make certain choices without really giving them an option.
 * The graphics and **visualizations** are not that great.
 * **Landmarks** in the game involuntarily create **cognitive maps** for the player that make navigating possible in only certain ways in the game.
 * In reality it is possible for the individual to take any path they desire but in the game there is a limited choice. The game automatically flashes a red signal overhead when you are headed in the wrong direction or have traveled too far away from your assigned quest. (ref. **desire path**)
 * __**Ware:** The Science of information Visualization__- Ware is not looking at visualizations as in the mind, but rather as external visualizations- Ware thought there could be a science of information visualization, proven principles, that it is not just about aesthetics- he wanted to create a design model for human cognition.
 * Make large amounts of data immediately available
 * Facilitating both micro and macro level features and patterns
 * Encourage analytic thinking
 * **Gestalts Principles:**

Law of Proximity
Elements that are closer together will be perceived as a coherent object.

Law of Similarity
Elements that look similar will be perceived as part of the same form.

Law of Good Continuation
Humans tend to continue contours whenever the elements of the pattern establish an implied direction.

Law of Closure
Humans tend to enclose a space by completing a contour and ignoring gaps in the figure.