Why are we building Mosaic ?
Why are we building Mosaic ?
A large part of our professional and personal lives — work, school, finance, travel, shopping, entertainment and everything in between are mediated by web based services.
A large part of our professional and personal lives — work, school, finance, travel, shopping, entertainment and everything in between are mediated by web based services.
We access these services through browsers that were designed for a time when the average user was sending 7 hours a week online, not 7 hours a day online.
We access these services through browsers that were designed for a time when the average user was sending 7 hours a week online, not 7 hours a day online.
Our browsers are inadequate for the rich and dynamic nature of our lives.
Our browsers are inadequate for the rich and dynamic nature of our lives.
They overload us with more tabs than we can deal with and force us constantly switch between tabs fragmenting our attention.
They overload us with more tabs than we can deal with and force us constantly switch between tabs fragmenting our attention.
Low (2017 Remaster.
Low (2017 Remaster.
They force us to organize information in rigid and hierarchical folders called bookmarks that don't capture the fuzzy nature of how we actually categorize things.
They force us to organize information in rigid and hierarchical folders called bookmarks that don't capture the fuzzy nature of how we actually categorize things.
Semi Structured Information Environments
Haystack: A platform for authoring end user semantic web applications
Tabulator: Exploring and analyzing linked data on the semantic web
Using information fragments to answer the questions developers ask
Scatter/gather: A cluster-based approach to browsing large document collections
Semi Structured Information Environments ?
Semi Structured Information Environments
Haystack: A platform for authoring end user semantic web applications
Tabulator: Exploring and analyzing linked data on the semantic web
Using information fragments to answer the questions developers ask
Scatter/gather: A cluster-based approach to browsing large document collections
Semi Structured Information Environments ?
They make it hard for us to refind archived information by providing us with a long list of meaningless urls without providing any context of what we were actually doing when we visited a webpage.
They make it hard for us to refind archived information by providing us with a long list of meaningless urls without providing any context of what we were actually doing when we visited a webpage.
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View Article scholar.google.com
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David Karger - Google Scholar scholar.google.com
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Youtube www.youtube.com
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MyLifeBits: Digital Memories www.youtube.com
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Haijun Xia - Google Scholar scholar.google.com
Browsing History
3:30 PM
View Article scholar.google.com
3:30 PM
David Karger - Google Scholar scholar.google.com
3:29 PM
Youtube www.youtube.com
3:29 PM
MyLifeBits: Digital Memories www.youtube.com
3:26 PM
Haijun Xia - Google Scholar scholar.google.com
Browsing History
Countless tools have attempted to solve this problem but retain from the same conceptual constructs that cause this problem in the first place. They all require us to explicitly categorize and name things. This is a flawed approach.
Countless tools have attempted to solve this problem but retain from the same conceptual constructs that cause this problem in the first place. They all require us to explicitly categorize and name things. This is a flawed approach.
Information does not come in the form of neatly defined categories. It is fuzzy and often falls into many overlapping categories. Our naming constructs become inconsistent within a short period of time because of the evolving nature of our lives.
Information does not come in the form of neatly defined categories. It is fuzzy and often falls into many overlapping categories. Our naming constructs become inconsistent within a short period of time because of the evolving nature of our lives.
We can make progress only if we get rid of the file and folder centric approach to information organization. We need to build systems that organize information at the level of activities people are engaged in, and the contexts of these activities.
We can make progress only if we get rid of the file and folder centric approach to information organization. We need to build systems that organize information at the level of activities people are engaged in, and the contexts of these activities.
Information should be organized as needed and not at the time of creation.
And information should be allowed to reside in more than one place at the same time.
Information should be organized as needed and not at the time of creation.
And information should be allowed to reside in more than one place at the same time.
So what does Mosaic actually do ?
So what does Mosaic do ?
Mosaic works silently in the background capturing a time ordered stream of the webpages you visit and inferring the context and the activity in which the webpage was visited.
Mosaic works silently in the background capturing a time ordered stream of the webpages you visit and inferring the context and the activity in which the webpage was visited.
The stream adds historical context to everything it contains and like a diary, a stream documents the flow of your thoughts.
The stream adds historical context to everything it contains and like a diary, a stream documents the flow of your thoughts.
Information is organized on the fly when you search for something. Mosaics are constructed dynamically with all the webpages that are relevant to your search query.
Information is organized on the fly when you search for something. Mosaics are constructed dynamically with all the webpages that are relevant to your search query.
A mosaic is a temporary collection of webpages that are relevant to the current activity you are engaged in.
A mosaic is a temporary collection of webpages that are relevant to the current activity you are engaged in.
You don't need to group webpages into mosaics. You can if you want to but you don't need to.
You don't need to group webpages into mosaics. You can if you want to but you don't need to.
If you save a mosaic, it will continue to collect new webpages that match your search criteria and the activity context.
If you save a mosaic, it will continue to collect new webpages that match your search criteria and the activity context.
You can create a new mosaic, clone an existing one or merge existing mosaics. You can share these mosaics with other people involved in the activity.
You can create a new mosaic, clone an existing one or merge existing mosaics. You can share these mosaics with other people involved in the activity.
You can ask for a mosaic to be summarized or use the information contained in the mosaic as input for writing.
You can ask for a mosaic to be summarized or use the information contained in the mosaic as input for writing.
By extending the stream into the future, mosaics can be created, copied, or placed in the future and when their time rolls around, these mosaics come into being and serve as natural reminders.
By extending the stream into the future, mosaics can be created, copied, or placed in the future and when their time rolls around, these mosaics come into being and serve as natural reminders.
The system is currently in development and we will be launching publicly in the next few months.
The system is currently in development and we will be launching publicly in the next few months.