We present basic ideas and a prototypical implementation of a graphical user interface intended for the architectural design process. The interface integrates CAD-like object manipulation and navigation through large data sets. Navigation and working area are not separated as done in prior work. Geometric transformations produce a deformed but controllable display of the data in the border area of the working window while normal working is possible in the untransformed center. The arrangement allows the user to shift directly from construction tasks to navigation tasks. Data reduction techniques have been implemented in order to reduce the cost of transformation and display. Therefore the designer should have maximum visual control over the processes taking place within the design continuum. Further questions arise about navigation, associative information access, programming and communication within very large data sets. Permission to copy without fee all or part of this material is granted provided that the copies are not made or distributed for direct commercial advantage, the ACM copyright notice and the title of the publication and its date appear, and notice is given that copying is by permission of ACM. To copy otherwise, or to republish, requires a fee and/or specific permission. First we look for a mapping of the design continuum onto a limited working area, e. g. a computer screen. We seek to maximize the amount of information visible to and manageable by the user. In addition to known methods like the use of scrollbars or overall views the literature contains diverse proposals of display techniques ([1, 4, 2]). We are concerned not only in the transformation of possibly unconstrained data in order to achieve better navigation and control, but also in the full integration of a working area into the transformed data display and thereby a continuous transition from design to navigation. Transformation of the data in the object plane is accomplished by central projection onto a so-called base corpus and, in a second step, by parallel projection back onto the object plane,
Hovestadt REF presented a prototypical implementation of a graphical UI intended for the architectural design process.
Hyperbolic user interfaces for computer aided architectural design
CHI '95
Computer Science