cyberForest (2003)

cyberForest demonstrates a virtual three-dimensional environment built from a dynamic information source in real-time. The forest is built branch by branch as it receives strings of text for every hit recorded by an external website's log file. Therefore each branch represents a unique page from that particular site, generated at the moment the page is first viewed and positioned hierarchically, according to the site structure. cyberForest is as much about a website cartography as it is about tracking live user data. Leaves represent each user present on a page and as such fall and grow around the forest. The small spheres or fruit signify a unique media file embedded in a page.

As an application, cyberForest can potentially read any website's log file, either from a live stream or a static log. As such, a website's usage can either be monitored live or played back for any period.

The ...

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cyberForest demonstrates a virtual three-dimensional environment built from a dynamic information source in real-time. The forest is built branch by branch as it receives strings of text for every hit recorded by an external website's log file. Therefore each branch represents a unique page from that particular site, generated at the moment the page is first viewed and positioned hierarchically, according to the site structure. cyberForest is as much about a website cartography as it is about tracking live user data. Leaves represent each user present on a page and as such fall and grow around the forest. The small spheres or fruit signify a unique media file embedded in a page.

As an application, cyberForest can potentially read any website's log file, either from a live stream or a static log. As such, a website's usage can either be monitored live or played back for any period.

The use of a forest as metaphor is an important one. The tree view is intended to highlight the hierarchical structure of most web sites, and the web in general. Because of the nature of hyper-linking, pages within a website are intrinsically linked to one and other in a tiered structure; allowing the user to navigate through many different paths. cyberForest visualizes and demystifies this otherwise unseen form of navigation, as it happens; thereby exposing the many ways in which the site is used, navigated and set up. cyberForest will provide a qualitative overview of the site, allowing the reader to quickly identify which paths are most frequented by the user, which sections of the site are most content rich, and which sections of the site the user spends most of their time.

cyberForest is however, not just a tool for the Webmaster but a work that intends to stand as a metaphor for the web as a whole. Through its systems of randomness and adaptivity, cyberForest will always appear different to the viewer each time it is accessed and will continually respond to a live or static feed, thereby taking on its own lifelike characteristics.

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