cyber-book

Central to cyberBOOK+ Systems’ overview concept and design is the utilization of the research theory called “the Flatland Hypothesis,” combined with the application of experimental results in the field of perceptual psychology. The Flatland Hypothesis suggests that perception and cognition are structured and function within analogous spatial hierarchies and also operate with related constraints. For example, it is known from experiment that the mind can simultaneously hold no more than eight items in visual memory at one time.

Embodying three modules — (1) The cyberBOOK+ Knowledge Portal; (2) The cyberBOOK+ (CB) module; and (3) The Cyberbook Hyper Visual Notepad — cyberBOOK+ exploits this research result, along with the literature on the optimal geometry of dashboards (commonly applied in automobile design, where dominate controls are lined up low, across the bottom of the visual field). Note that the cyberBOOK+ Systems applies this research by situating the abstract, clickable controls at the bottom of the visual field, and keeping separate functionality as close as possible to the limits of visual memory (8 items).The marketplace is filled with products, such as knowledge management systems, online courseware, ebooks, online streaming lectures, live chat rooms, threaded bulletin boards and online libraries, which organize and disseminate knowledge,. CyberBOOK+ Systems distinguishes itself as a new category of product whose invention as a whole is more than the sum of the aforementioned parts. Even as parts, the cyberBOOK+ Systems, such as our cyberbulletin board, operates beyond the product types listed above whose basic and characteristic functionalities are known.
Unique to cyberBOOK+ function and design is the combining of the individual’s personal storage space (a private cyberlocker) with universal authoring and communication tools that enables HTML text to become plastic, manipulable, personalized and social as well as linked to other members with or without the same tools, and linked to content within and outside the system (also includes storing and sending of images and streaming video).

The Flatland Hypothesis Theory, as applied in cyberBOOK+ Systems, treats transmitted light from the computer screen as a fundamental cue indicating 3D space to the brain. The computer screen surface therefore is not properly or effectively represented as a 2D surface, as is traditional computer functionality and design. Therefore, cyberBOOK+Systems exploits using the same scaling, part/whole nesting relationships experienced by the mind and body as it moves and manipulates objects in space. Importantly, 2D surfaces, such as a text page, are represented as situated within the context of resting within a 3D environment. The intended result is higher attention span, concentration and longer mental memory of data, psychological comfort and sense of ease.