DAVIDA@coyote.cfr.washington.edu (05/25/91)
If anyone has some insight about the questions below or knows
of relevant source material please let me know.
One of the largest classes of computer applications is database
management systems. As a database manager I'm interested in what
can virtual reality bring to database management and how will
virtual reality change how we conceptualize data.
One big question is what does a database look like? Would a
VR database be in the standard tabular format? A corrollary
question would be what types of data are better represented in
a VR interface?
In representing the data a conceptual model is needed. Right
now this is the relational model. Is the relational model
appropriate in a VR setting or should something like the object
oriented approach be taken?
In a VR database how would data be entered and manipulated?
David Anderson University of Washington
dja@milton.u.washington.edu
-- esz001@cck.coventry.ac.uk (Will Overington) (05/30/91)
With reference to Subject: Databases and VR: Questions Message-Id: <1991May28.053207.14012@milton.u.washington.edu> I was interested to see the questions about VR and Databases raised by David Anderson. Here are my comments: > If anyone has some insight about the questions below or knows > of relevant source material please let me know. > One of the largest classes of computer applications is database > management systems. As a database manager I'm interested in what > can virtual reality bring to database management and how will > virtual reality change how we conceptualize data. > One big question is what does a database look like? Would a > VR database be in the standard tabular format? A corrollary > question would be what types of data are better represented in > a VR interface? > In representing the data a conceptual model is needed. Right > now this is the relational model. Is the relational model > appropriate in a VR setting or should something like the object > oriented approach be taken? > In a VR database how would data be entered and manipulated? I am just beginning to do some research work on the restructuring of knowledge bases and am hoping to use a sort of virtual reality user interface. In my case I am not intending to use a helmet, but am more likely to use perspective views of an apparent three dimensional scene. I claim no great knowledge of databases as yet, but thought that you might possibly like to know of an idea of mine. I am now looking at producing a help system for PC users using such an approach, but the technique may be more general. In my research projects on the restructuring of knowledge bases I have devised a system whereby software and data can be entwined together by using a language based on a language (alcor) that I designed a few years ago, which was itself based on forth. The method is that each software word starts with a triple letter, for example zzzif zzzthen zzzelseif and so on. The zzz words are fixed in the language, but fff words are user defined for fields within a relational database structure, for example fffquantity. This means that field lengths do not need to be fixed. Now, when one is explaining something to someone one often wishes to say something like "This is not the whole story, but please just accept it for now, because the special cases are complicated and you need to understand the main thrust at this stage; just be aware that there are special cases of which you are not yet aware". I envisage using a command such as zzzfoldstart to "start a fold" and zzzfoldend to "end a fold". The special case information would then be placed in the fold. A piece of software analyzing the text would then detect the zzzfoldstart and skip over everything up to and including the zzzfoldend word, if such skipping were desired. I have it in mind that in a virtual reality type user interface, the presence of folds containing information could be signalled by small jewels. That is, the layout of the database information would be represented by solid objects, of various colours, with the text for one or more records being shown on a field of the same colour, located at the bottom of the screen. The presence of a fold could be shown in the perspective view by a small jewel on or near the object. The jewels could be colour coded for different types of information within a fold, such as additional information, special case considerations, and so on. Just a thought, I have not yet developed the idea fully. Will Overington
cdshaw@cs.ualberta.ca (Chris Shaw) (06/02/91)
In article <CardRobertsonMackinlay> David Anderson writes: > One of the largest classes of computer applications is database > management systems. As a database manager I'm interested in what > can virtual reality bring to database management and how will > virtual reality change how we conceptualize data. > > David Anderson University of Washington Once again.. Take a look at CHI 91 proceedings, and the accompanying videotape. Mackinlay Robertson and Card have 3 articles in a row (with a cyclic permutation on authors for each paper), pages 173-194. These papers describe their Information Visualizer system, including various interaction techniques for viewing largeish databases. An example is an organizational structure browser. Search is done in a database of facts about each person (eg, title or office location) and a database of autobiographies. Users can search for other people with biographies similar to a selected person's biography. One organizational chart contained the top 650 Xerox Corp executives. Since this requires 80 pages on paper, this is the first time the organization chard could be seen in one visualization. Some of the techniques are also described in the January 1991 Byte. -- Chris Shaw University of Alberta cdshaw@cs.UAlberta.ca Now with new, minty Internet flavour! CatchPhrase: Bogus as HELL !