Spatial knowledge and cyberworlds

Abstract

"Spatialization" refers to the creation of a graphic representation based on a spatial metaphor and the transformation that condenses large complex semantic domains into their essential components. Spatialization can be defined as the projection of elements of a high-dimensional information space into a low-dimensional, potentially experiential, interactive, representational space. Spatialization can involve a mathematical transformation that creates a logically defined coordinate system for rearranging a set of data items or documents based on their content and functional relationships. The transformation may be constructed semantically (on the basis of attributes), geometrically (on the basis of links or structural relationships between items), or by a combination of the two. This paper surveys this idea with respect to the problem of knowledge management. In doing so, it passes judgment on the prospects for cyberworlds in the knowledge management context and illustrates the cognitive principles for cyberworlds by examples encountered in the author's own work.