[MG] Visualization problems for crossforum theatre

[Michael Allan]

Ed Pastore wrote:
> This is really ambitious, Michael (in a good way). I have previously
> envisioned such a thing, but instantiating it seems enormously
> complex. Please post to the list at any point you run into obstacles
> in visualization. I would think this would be the sort of thing that
> could certainly benefit from additional minds giving input.

I'm running into obstacles here:
http://zelea.com/project/votorola/a/crossforum/axial/TriaxialPollMapV.svg
That's a map of polls (issues) on three axes: activity (x), consensus
(y) and turnout (z).  A partial implementation is currently running:
http://u.zelea.com:8080/v/crossforum/#c=DumT
http://u.zelea.com:8080/v/crossforum/#c=DumT&s=5678
But I can't finish coding it, because of visualization problems:

 1. It simulates the z-axis (turnout) by plotting circles of varying
    density.  But that isn't convincing enough.  We need a better
    visual for the z-axis.

 2. It uses decimal offsets to show zoom level and pan position.  This
    saves space, but it limits the zoom controls to factors of 10
    (10x, 100x, etc).  That's probably too coarse.  But if we allow
    finer zooms, then how do we visualize the zoom level and pan
    position?

 3. It's not immediately obvious what the map is showing.  Maybe we
    can make it interesting/attractive enough that the user is willing
    to explore a little further, and eventually discover what's being
    shown.  But how exactly?

We'll need other maps too, aside from that one - lots of them.  We'll
probably have to throw spaghetti on the wall to see what sticks.  At
the moment, we're short of visual ideas.  Can anyone do SVG drawings
in Inkscape?  If so:

 4. How would you go about visualizing the landscape of democracy?
    What's the most likely visual to succeed at the overview level?
    If you can draw it, we can probably code it.

-- 
Michael Allan

Toronto, +1 416-699-9528
http://zelea.com/

> On Dec 24, 2010, at 6:04 AM, Michael Allan wrote:
> 
> > See the theatrePlan.png for a paper napkin sketch.  I added links to
> > some previous discussion threads:
> > http://zelea.com/project/votorola/a/crossforum/
> >
> > I also added this to the blurb: Basically we're trying to develop
> > a viewport that can show all the people, places and actions of
> > e-democracy as they unfold.  This seems to require a temporal feed
> > (left) and a spatial map (right).  If we can make the stage
> > machinery general-purpose enough and float it at high enough a
> > level, then maybe we can bring the entire field into focus.
> > (Anyway, it's fun to think we might.)



Originally posted to the mailing list of the Metagovernment Project:
http://metagovernment.org/mailman/listinfo/start_metagovernment.org