Textexture: The Non-Linear Reading Machine | Nodus Labs

Submitted by michael on Thu, 02/12/2015 - 16:32
Excerpt

Project: Textexture.Com
Objective: Provide an easy-to-use online tool for text network visualization, fast
non-linear reading, and comparative analysis of textual data. Additional Info: Created by
Nodus Labs, using the open-source free Gephi software and Sigma.Js toolkit.

When we read a text, we normally follow it in quite a linear fashion: from left to
right, from top to bottom. Even when we skim articles quickly online, the trajectory is
still the same. However, this is not the most efficient method of reading: in the age of
hypertext we tend to create our own narratives using the bits and pieces from different
sources. As a response to this challenge we at Nodus Labs developed a new free online
software tool Textexture.Com, which visualizes any text as a network and enables the user to
use this interactive visualization to read through the text in a non-linear fashion.