Docuworld - a 3-d user interface to the semantic desktop

Abstract. With the aim of replacing the 20-year-old 2-D desktop metaphor with a more natural, intuitive to use, and immersive 3-D interface, we de-veloped a prototype application that allows the dynamic exploration of document collections. Document metadata and relations between doc-uments are visualized with the help of information visualization tech-niques. The general visualization and navigation metaphor called Thought Wizard Metaphor allows user- and context-sensitive adaption of visual-ization modes and visualization environments. The automatic document organization modes provide different insights in document semantics and search results. These possibilities are supplemented by the possibility to store documents at user-defined, hierarchically organized locations, which allows quick relocation using spacial memory.