matrix (ma-triks or mat-triks) n. the womb; the cavity in which anything is formed; a mold, esp. for casting printer's type; rock where minerals are embedded; in dying, the five basic colours, black, white, red, blue and yellow from which all other colours are made. -- pl. mat'trices, mat'rixes. (L. matrix, the womb)

Collins English Dictionary

As its dictionary definition suggests, the matrix is a container, an absence to be filled by that which it brings into being. And it is this sense in which it creates its contents at the moment that it displays them, that the matrix finds its essential form in the modern map -- a series of features deemed noteworthy enough to acknowledge and place in relation to other such noteworthy features.

The matrix is essentially a grid -- generally in two-dimensions but which can extend to three. The power of arranging 'things' on such a grid is that it allows a number of correspondences (or differences) to be quickly recognised.

Values assigned to the 'X' and 'Y' coordinates allow users to quickly grasp the basis of comparison. This is extensively used in displaying information ordered by time and other values.

Gradual transformations or variations can be easily represented across the X and Y (and Z) axis

Using the coordinate system allows users to quickly find information or to locate themselves -- as per maps, for example.

'hidden' matrix

The matrix does not have to be explicitly represented -- it may be the underlying structure and exist more or less invisibly; for example, when a viewer navigates one screen at a time over a represented space or when an object is depicted from all angles with image changes responding to cursor movement and position.

'mystery meat' matrices

Unfortunately the matrix, by virtue of its very adaptability, lends it self to producing obscure 'mystery meat' interface, as easily as it does to producing self-disclosing interfaces.

Bill Keith (Concrete Poet)

 

The Smithsonian Institute's 'HistoryWired: A few of our favorite things' is an experimental program through which you can take a virtual tour of selected objects from the vast collections of the National Museum of American History. The 450 items are clustered into groups such as home, clothing, business, computers,... and linked to attributes such as politics, medicine, and science. Users can click to get more details, search by attributes or filter by time period. This novel web site invites users to record their level of interest for items, which grow in size as they get higher scores.

At first glance the interface is a bland congery of nested boxes with a few key words -- arts, entertainment, science -- emblazoned across them. Rolling over the boxes generates pop-up titles and connections to other boxes indicated by connecting lines or colour changes.

 

grids

The grid has been described as the archetypal instrument for the extraction of information from reality. Theorists have used the grid as a powerful metaphor to illuminate the production of information. Talking about a person's ability to carve the world into the individual things (to 'individuate' them) that constitutes the objects of knowledge, Keith Devlin asks us to:

The Periodic Table is one of the most well-known examples of the use of a matrix to display complex information. The periodic table lays out the chemical elements in order of their atomic weights over an 11 by 10 grid, with the weights running in a hierarchy from the lightest at the top left corner to the heaviest at the bottom right. The Periodic Table is an extraordinary example of the extent that the appropriate organisation can draw attention to hitherto unnoticed relationships. During the 1860s, Dmitri Mendeleev experimented with several configurations of the properties of the known elements. It wasn't until he had laid them out in their now familiar order that he realised, if read from top to bottom, the elements were also grouped by their chemical properties. Such relationships seemed too useful to be serendipitous, and they triggered much productive research into the structure of atoms. The gaps in the original table also triggered a search for the 'missing elements'. Mendeleev was able to use the matrix of elements to predict that, in Group IV between titanium and zirconium, there should be an element with an atomic weight of about 72 and particular physical properties -- 15 years later, germanium, a metal with the atomic weight of 72.60 and the predicted qualities, was discovered.

History Matrix primarily uses the matrix format to display information from prehistory to the present day about a range of diverse topics from gardens to communications technologies, and from around the world. The sheer volume of information included and the overlap between subject areas posed serious challenges. Topic information is differentiated by colour and topic-specific chronologies can be accessed by a parallel navigation bar at the top of the window.

see History Matrix >>

Timeline Matrices

Complex chronologies often make use of a matrix display. It allows the user to quickly compare temporal occurrence of related information. Typically, one axis will display chronological information whilst the other may display geographical, subject or any other criteria.

 

A simple but highly effective example of historical information displayed on a matrix is Seven Years of 3D Graphics, a chart which compares the announcement and development of various graphics accelerator cards by leading PC chip-manufacturers.

See Seven Years of 3D Graphics >>

 

3D matrices and mapping complex information over time

Projects undertaken at MIT's Visible Language Workshop under the supervision of Muriel Cooper have suggested the utility of three-dimensional matrices for navigating and gaining a conceptual overview or mental model of complex data sets. Whilst many of these projects require top-end technology to run, Cooper's students have also explored simpler three-dimensional timeline presentations.

Visible Language Workshop Personal Milestones Timeline >> and Quicktimes 1 >> 2 >>

Another ex-MIT student, Robin Kullberg, has completed both a thesis and demonstration investigating three-dimensional matrix interfaces in presenting in-depth information about the history of photography.

<< Robin L. Kullberg 'Dynamic Timelines Visualizing Historical Information in Three Dimensions'

More external sites

HyGrid
This collaborative art project has been evolving since December 1995. HyGrid is a complex maze of interlocking squares signifying the contributions of hundreds of artists and web authors.