Infoscape: pilot project (2002)
3D data visualisation for arts & disability activity in the East Midlands
What is Infoscape?
An experimental overview visualisation for large amounts of information, using simple web-delivered 3D. This 2002 proof of concept project demonstrated that the system was usable for data about arts- and disability-related organisations in the East Midlands, U.K. and received Arts Council England funding from 2003-4.
As well as quantitative data (location, finance, connections with related organisations, etc.), contextual qualitative data was added from extensive face-to-face interviews gathered personal accounts from participants to board members. This gave a realistic human perspective to each organisation.
The idea was to provide a single interface for users to see at a glance the connectivity of each organisation, and (by clicking on an organisation’s sphere) read text from the interviews in a separate window. The data behind the system can be updated, and viewed in other ways.
The coloured shapes represent each disability arts organisation, with connecting lines representing their relationships to each other. The smaller shapes represent work done with external organisations. Extra information is carried by the shapes and colours of each object. The pilot project took 2 years to develop from the original proposal, and ended in Autumn 2003 with a brief report (Word format).
There are two maps, each with a key to colour and shape:
a geographical map (described above) with a colour/shape key
a 3D financial graph with financial key and preset data views.
2020 update: convert to X3D:
NOTE: the VRML to X3D conversion is incomplete, so nothing usable is showing yet
(see this question on StackOverflow)
a geographical map (described above) with a colour/shape key
a 3D financial graph with financial key and preset data views.
About the data
You can view all data and comments gathered during interviews (only some of this appears in the pop-ups) in two long pages:
Unique qualities of each organisation
Disability-led, disability arts or art & disability?
To view InfoScape
Update in progress: awaiting fixes after converting to X3D
The information below about browser plug-ins is outdated. For now, see three still shots.
See VRML Plug-in table for older systems…
You will need a VRML plug-in - choose the recommended one from the table below, then spend some time learning the navigation controls by experiment.
Each plug-in has various controls of its own, available from within the browser window. Use the Study (default) or Fly mode at first (rather than Walk) - you'll find it more controllable. If you get lost, use Restore to return to the original view, or choose a pre-set view from the View control.
(If you want to know more about browser plug-ins, see this X3D/VRML plug-in test page. WARNING: Cortona for Mac OSX may not display the image on the test page, but will work with Infoscape.)
| Mac OSX: | Cortona (Mac OS X) |
| Windows PC: | Blaxxun Contact |
| Mac OS8-9 (Netscape 4x): | Cosmo (alternative download) |
| Mac OS8-9 (Explorer): | Cortona (older Mac systems) |
NOTE: the above choices are from research on VRML plug-ins by Greg Turner. Backward support for the now-discontinued VRML is included in the newer X3D standard, which some Plug-ins support.
It was developed by Dave Everitt, the late Ben Daglish, and Laura Guthrie