A system for panoptic visualization of one or more elements of a complex system, the system comprising: a localization module configured to receive and process range measurements and odometry data relative to a physical instance of a complex system to calculate an unknown, particular location within a coordinate system of the complex system; a search engine coupled to the localization module and configured to identify a document component of a panoptic visualization document collection having a plurality of document components at least some of which depict elements of the complex system and have associated metadata that, for each of at least some of the depicted elements, includes information reflecting a three-dimensional geometry of the respective element within the coordinate system of the complex system, the identified document component depicting an element of the complex system at the particular location, within a volume about the particular location or within a volume in part defined by the particular location; a layout engine coupled to the search engine and configured to generate a layout of panoptically-arranged document components including the identified document component and one or more other document components identified according to the associated metadata for the identified document component, the respective metadata further including information identifying a link between the identified document component and respective one or more other document components, wherein at least some of the document components of the layout include two-dimensional images depicting one or more elements of the complex system, and are produced from a digital 3D model of the complex system, wherein the metadata associated with the at least some of the document components is produced from the digital 3D model when the at least some of the document components are produced from the digital 3D model; wherein the layout engine is configured to communicate the layout to a GUI in which the layout may be displayed, or a printer for generating a printout including the layout. a localization module configured to receive and process range measurements and odometry data relative to a physical instance of a complex system to calculate an unknown, particular location within a coordinate system of the complex system; a search engine coupled to the localization module and configured to identify a document component of a panoptic visualization document collection having a plurality of document components at least some of which depict elements of the complex system and have associated metadata that, for each of at least some of the depicted elements, includes information reflecting a three-dimensional geometry of the respective element within the coordinate system of the complex system, the identified document component depicting an element of the complex system at the particular location, within a volume about the particular location or within a volume in part defined by the particular location; a layout engine coupled to the search engine and configured to generate a layout of panoptically-arranged document components including the identified document component and one or more other document components identified according to the associated metadata for the identified document component, the respective metadata further including information identifying a link between the identified document component and respective one or more other document components, wherein at least some of the document components of the layout include two-dimensional images depicting one or more elements of the complex system, and are produced from a digital 3D model of the complex system, wherein the metadata associated with the at least some of the document components is produced from the digital 3D model when the at least some of the document components are produced from the digital 3D model; wherein the layout engine is configured to communicate the layout to a GUI in which the layout may be displayed, or a printer for generating a printout including the layout.