Some of the ideas explored in designing the user interactions and interface
for 
speak to
at least four of the goals outlined in the Design Objectives:
- allow the user to navigate quickly and intuitively to selected information
- represent accurate visualization of information
- represent contextual visualization in all levels of granularity
- make navigation of data intrinsic to the subject
User Interaction (Use your browser reload button to replay)
Initial State Shuffle/Creation of Overview
The opening screen might show all the records (genomes) in a given database
(maybe several databases, maybe all databases), in no particular order
(or maybe some default order) in the work frame
(the topmost and largest area). When the user selects an area of exploration,
the genomes shuffle so that all related genomes are clustered for easier
zooming in. Meanwhile, an overview window (lower left) is created, recording
the initial state and indicating the user’s location within it (correlative
markers).
Zoom in on Shuffle/Overview Update
This portion of the animation suggests that by selecting an area of interest, the information not only zooms in for more detail, but the genomes reshuffle to facilitate viewing a more detailed comparative analysis (green genomes). The overview window is updated.
Overview Thumbnail Created
Further magnification in the work frame results in finer levels of granularity (marquee and zoom around two green genomes). When the order of magnitude necessitates a new overview, the previous overview becomes a thumbnail (far lower left corner), thereby still making it possible for the user to maintain context within the big picture. Another order of magnitude might necessitate an additional thumbnail overview that would fit next to or above the current thumbnail, thereby always allowing the user to maintain context within the original full database.
What technologies will be integrated?
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