// Projects>>> DOLBY
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Date: 2005 Keywords: visualisation, tagging, information mapping, programming Technology: Flash, XML, PHP Task: The task was to develop interactive applications (extensions) for our Internet-based communication platform INCOM of the Interface Design Department of Potsdam's University of Applied Sciences. >>> launch DOLBY |
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My Solution: While exploring the different information layers of INCOM, I found myself intrigued with keywords and their relation to contributions on our platform. Although our System allows the user to associate his/her contributions with keywords similar to Systems like del.icio.us or flickr.com, the procedure how they are utilised is not transparent to the user. So I started to experiment with different visualisation to make the connections between contributions and keywords visible. My main focus was not to just show these interconnections, but also to enable the user to explore our platform from a different angle. As a result, I developed DOLBY, an interactive tool that visualizes both qualitative and quantitative relationships between contributions and keywords on our platform. |
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How it works: DOLBY maps INCOM's existing key words on a clockwise radial structure, organized alphabetically by small circles. In addition all contributions are represented by rectangles shown in an encircled radius, organized by creation date. One can easily rollover a keyword to see which articles relate to it, or mouse over an article and discover the array of associated keywords, as well as its title and author. The keywords, as well as the contributions have further attributes. For example, the contributions are colour-coded reflecting the course of studies in which they were created (interface design, communication design, product design). The size of the circles and rectangles provides information about the quantity of connections. |
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If an article or specific keyword is clicked, the selection centres itself being immediately surrounded by its related articles/keywords in an ever-morphing constellation. You can reset Dolby by clicking the reset button in the bottom right corner. Here you'll also find a drop-down menu, showing all keywords sorted alphabetically and a legend explaining the various icons. <<< back to projects overview |