A TextArc is a visual represention of a textthe entire text (twice!) on a single page. A funny combination of an index, concordance, and summary; it uses the viewer's eye to help uncover meaning. Here are more detailed overviews of the interactive work and the prints.









TextArc Poster Released



We've released the first edition of a TextArc poster. This print is an inexpensive but extremely high quality poster, closer in feeling to a lithograph than an offset print. Please take a look at it on our sister site, textarc.com. (A poster purchase is also one of the best ways to support our efforts.)





Sound Added

December 15, 2002



We added sound to help differentiate the words displayed in TextArc. The eye's ability to pick out differences in gray (where brightness means how often a word is repeated) was a limiting factor, so we also mapped it to the pitch of a sound that's triggered when you roll over the word. It seem to help disambiguate words, especially when we assign exactly the same brightness to the top 10% or 15% of words. And it's slightly entertaining...





NYSCA Grant Received

September, 2002



W. Bradford Paley received an Individual Artist's grant from the New York State Council for the Arts. The proposal is for a large-scale plasma panel touch screen version of TextArc, tuned to support conversations and group interaction. It will first be installed at the New York Public Library, in one of the most beautiful reading rooms in the main branch at 42nd street. ASCI, the Art & Science Collaborations group, suggested and sponsored this proposal. (Thanks!)





Whitney Museum of American Art Commission

September 16, 2002



Curator Christiane Paul commissioned W. Bradford Paley to participate in CODeDOC, an exhibition on their on-line ARTPORT gallery. The project was to write code that "moves three points in space," but the focus was on the process: the source code itself would be visible to viewers, and artists were invited to comment on one another's work. The show opened on September 16. More details are available on the Appearances page.





Changes to TextArc Software

September 7, 2002



A significant new release of TextArc software was installed on this site. The changes and enhancements include: Word Associations: TextArc now looks for repeated use of word pairs. Click the "Word Associations" box in the program to see them.

Opening in a Window: It's now possible to open TextArc in a window, not covering the whole screen.

Word Stemming: in English, and (poorly) in French and German, TextArc will group words that have a common word stem. Clicking the triangle in the Concordance window will expose/hide grouped words.

Unlikely Files Marked: TextArc Library (available in the Thousands of Texts section of this site) now puts a question mark by files that are too large or otherwise unsuitable for viewing in TextArc.

Minor Changes: bugs found & fixed, button/menu things moved

Interactive Posters accepted at IEEE InfoVis 2002

September 6, 2002



Two "interactive posters," short write-ups of contributions to the information visualization field, were accepted at the upcoming conference InfoVis 02. The posters discussed TextArc itself, and the "Illuminated Diagrams" approach of using print for its incredible information density, and using a projector as a "smart spotlight" to direct peoples' attention and add interaction.





Let us know your thoughts, improvement suggestions, and bug reports.





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