Conclusion

Navigation through large document spaces, and abstract spaces in general, can be made easier by employing a set of interrelated tools. Based on the assumption that a document space contains both objects and relations, a set of interrelated tools that are currently being tested and refined using the CASCADE testbed. Currently four tools -- Docuverse, Webview, Landmarks, and Preview -- are being used. It appears that each tool will play a role at different times in the navigation process. The tools have been linked such that appropriate actions in one tool invoke the other tools allowing the user to zoom in and out, gather detailed data as needed.

As indicated, this work is still in a formative stage of development. Plans for future work include:

• Finding an optimal spatial representation for the Docuverse, exploring the use of time lapse representations of the Docuverse, and implementing a lens feature that will allow identification of explicit files of interest.

• Looking at perspective representations of 2D and 3D trees to depict more information in the Webview and exploring the limits of data overloading in the Webview for expert and novice users.

• Using Landmarks to render other types of implicit structure and explicit structure.

• Exploring alternative forms of preview that provide more compact and preattentive displays of destination node metadata.