Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
Visual appeal of the design products (Liu,
2003b) is an important factor in business and
marketing. The users' first visual impressions
are made immediately and persistent. They are
instantaneous, affective, precede cognitive pro-
cess, and are long lasting; users give more weight
to negative visual attributes than to positive ones.
Aesthetic beauty of design influences consumers'
perception of product features. Liu (2012b) offers a
framework of visual systems design (VSD), where
the visual design discipline utilizes information
systems and systems development. The visual
design discipline is part of the aesthetic paradigm
and the IS discipline is contained in the positiv-
ist paradigm. Liu proposes a reference discipline
for visual designers with access to IS knowledge
systems and resources.
Web Science
: A study of the web as a vast
information network of people and communities
has transformed into a domain of the Web Sci-
ence, which involves analysis and design of web
architecture and applications, as well as studies of
the people, organizations, and policies that shape
and are shaped by the Web. “An understanding
of human behavior and social interaction can
contribute to our understanding of the Web, and
data obtained from the Web can contribute to
our understanding of human behavior and social
interaction” (Web Science, 2012). Web Science
integrates computer and information sciences,
communication, linguistics, sociology, psychol-
ogy, economics, law, political science, and other
disciplines.
Social hierarchies that are common in animal
societies control access to resources according
to the fitness of the individual. Conversational
expressions such as 'pecking order,' 'leader of the
pack,' and 'alpha male' describe such societies or
groups of individuals. This concept serves in de-
veloping the three different models of an adaptive
social hierarchy among nodes in a homogeneous
wireless network, in terms of their energy and
connectivity (Markham, 2011).
Chen (2004) discerns general multi-user
virtual environments, distributed virtual en-
vironments, and collaborative virtual envi-
ronments with built-in facilities for various
social activities. Virtual reality-based multi-
user environments include Online Community
(derived from blaxxun interactive, originally
named “Black Sun Interactive,” a company
that developed a 3D community platform for
the Internet environment), Community Place
(Sony), and Active Worlds (The Circle of Fire
Studio). Collaborative virtual environments,
for example DIVE (which distributed interac-
tive virtual environments) or MASSIVE, have
applications such as distance learning, digital
libraries, and online communities. The MAS-
SIVE (Multiple Agent Simulation System in
Virtual Environment) software is an example
SOCIAL NETWORKING AND
COLLABORATIVE VIRTUAL
ENVIRONMENTS
There is an interplay and convergence between in-
formation visualization and virtual environments.
Media spaces involve hybrid spaces combining
real and virtual worlds. According to Chen (2004),
virtual environment not necessarily need to have
the presence of 2D or 3D spatial model; it may be
text-based but a spatial-visual interface makes a
lot of difference. Information visualization plays
an important role in construction of a virtual,
collaborative environment when people interact
with visualized information in such environments
(Chen, 2004, p. 211). As stated by Chen (2004,
p. 216), “An important insight from the social
navigation trends is that like-minded people may
form a group or even a crowd as they are attracted
by the content of a web page. In social naviga-
tion, people gather together because they are all
interested in a particular topic. This distinguishes
the concept from traditional chat rooms where a
considerable number of people come, just for the
sake of talking to someone.”
