Author & Reader : Millard

Presentation by Frode Hegland to Professor David Millard, of Hegland’s software Author and Reader, as well as discussions into XR/VR.

Frode Hegland presented two software systems: Author (writing system) and Reader (reading system). Both share features like fullscreen mode (accessed via Escape key) and context menus (accessed via control-click or double tap on trackpad). He demonstrated:

In Author:

Context menu for headings and text formatting
Marking text (Command-‘) which appears in outline view
Fading text (Command-Shift-“) to condense lists
AI integration (“Spark”) with customizable prompts
Journal feature (Command-Option-J) for notes
Document linking (Command-Shift-D)
Map feature showing relationships between concepts

In Reader:

PDF library management with automatic metadata extraction
Focus view for reformatted reading
AI overview with key terms, people, and timeline extraction
Highlighting with semantic meanings (important, agree, disagree)
Annotation for bibliography creation

The presentation covered how these features support academic writing, citation management, and knowledge organization.

Participants

Frode Hegland is the creator of Author and Reader software, and Dave Millard was his PhD supervisor and is now a professor with expertise in hypertext.

AI: Summary

This meeting transcript documents a detailed presentation and discussion between Frode Hegland and his former PhD supervisor Professor Dave Millard about Frode’s software systems Author (writing) and Reader (reading). Frode demonstrated various features including context menus, text marking and fading, AI integration, document linking, mapping concepts, PDF management, and annotation capabilities. The conversation expanded into philosophical discussions about knowledge representation, interaction design in XR environments, and the challenges of creating meaningful interfaces for knowledge work. They explored the “cube” metaphor for XR authoring spaces and discussed the balance between structured and flexible annotation systems. The meeting highlighted how these tools aim to help users think and organize information while maintaining compatibility with academic publishing requirements.

AI: Speaker Summary

Frode Hegland: Frode presented his software systems Author and Reader, emphasizing user experience features like context menus, keyboard shortcuts, and visualization tools. He showed how text can be marked or faded for different purposes, demonstrated AI integration for text analysis, and presented his mapping system for visualizing relationships between concepts. Frode was particularly excited about his WebXR project with the Sloan Foundation, where they’re exploring how to translate 2D concepts into 3D spaces using a “cube” metaphor for organizing information. He emphasized the importance of pleasure in user interaction, believing that when something is more pleasurable, users invest more in it. Frode was keen to get Dave’s intellectual input on both his current software and future directions, especially regarding knowledge organization in spatial environments.

Dave Millard: Dave provided thoughtful feedback throughout the presentation, asking clarifying questions about design decisions and offering conceptual frameworks to help think about the challenges. He was particularly interested in the semantic approach to annotations versus purely formatting-based approaches, and how this represents a trade-off between guiding users and offering flexibility. Dave noted the evolution of Frode’s work from intra-document to inter-document systems, and how this creates new challenges and opportunities. He contributed significant insights about managing complexity in XR environments, suggesting that depth could be achieved not by adding more mechanics but by ensuring that existing elements interact meaningfully with each other. Dave also discussed the challenge of “lost in hypertext” and how proper visualization and categorization are essential to making complex information spaces navigable.

AI: Topics Discussed

WebXR

Frode discussed his WebXR project funded by the Sloan Foundation, with co-PI Dene Grigar. They’re focusing on creating an annotated bibliography authoring experience in spatial environments. Frode explained their “cube” metaphor for organizing information in XR, where different sides could represent different aspects of information (authors, timeline, etc.). Dave and Frode discussed challenges of indicating user intention in XR and how to handle connections between objects. They explored how the cube could be a distinct working space separate from the larger environment, similar to how applications function on desktops. Frode mentioned their Monday meetings discussing XR authoring and expressed interest in having Dave join future discussions about the cube concept.

Gestures

Frode showed a slide illustrating various interface options for XR including hand menus, gestures, wrist taps, and more. He explained that tapping the left wrist would access world functions while tapping the right wrist would make the cube appear or hide. They discussed how physical gestures could indicate user intention in XR environments – reaching into a space versus pointing at it from outside might indicate different modes of interaction, similar to Dave’s “fume cabinet” metaphor.

Visual-Meta

Frode referred to Visual-Meta when discussing how documents should know what they are. He cited a concept from the game Crysis, where developers emphasized that environment objects needed to know their properties (can you see through it, is it heavy, will it burn, etc.). Frode related this to his Visual-Meta concept, where “every single document can communicate to the world” about what it is.

Timelines

Frode demonstrated how the AI integration in Reader extracts timeline information from academic papers. When reviewing a paper, the AI overview provides a chronology of key dates mentioned. Dave found this particularly valuable, noting that academic papers typically organize information conceptually rather than chronologically, so having an automatically extracted timeline provides an alternative perspective on the content. Frode also mentioned that in the map view, they could organize concepts in a timeline format.

AI: Interesting anecdotes

Frode shared an anecdote about an interview with a developer from the game Crysis in Edge magazine, who said “the AI is not the difficult part. The key is to make the environment know what it is.” This became a foundational concept for Frode’s Visual-Meta approach.
Dave shared an insight about teaching game design students about complexity versus depth – instead of adding more mechanics to create depth, it’s more effective to ensure that each new mechanic interacts meaningfully with existing ones.
Frode shared an observation about his visit to Fabienne’s home in Brussels, where he noticed how Fabienne had arranged magazines on a table. This led to his realization that “order is a decision” – people decide what level of organization is worth their energy to maintain.
Frode mentioned that Wendy Hall, who introduced him to his PhD program, said “she doesn’t have time for writing anymore. She just wants to be able to put things together, like tweet and stuff.” This influenced his thinking about knowledge objects.

AI: Concepts Introduced

Cube Metaphor (by Frode): A conceptual working space in XR that users can summon by tapping their right wrist. Different sides of the cube can represent different aspects of information (authors, timeline, etc.). The cube can be scaled so users can work inside it, and completed cubes can become knowledge objects in a larger space.

Order is a decision (by Frode): The realization that maintaining organization requires energy, and people consciously decide what level of order is worth maintaining in different contexts. (Edit by Frode: The main point was actually that a person needs to decide what order is, in a specific situation, and therefore order requires a decision).

Rational ignorance (by Dave): A psychological concept where people decide the cost of learning about something is greater than the reward of knowing about it, so they never learn it. Used to explain why preset semantic annotations might be preferable to completely flexible systems for most users.

Complexity vs. Depth (by Dave): In game design, adding more mechanics increases complexity (which can be overwhelming), while making existing mechanics interact meaningfully creates depth without adding complexity. This concept could be applied to XR interface design.

Application scope in XR (by Dave): The challenge of defining separate working domains in XR, similar to how desktop applications have distinct windows and behaviors. Suggested using metaphors like “chambers” where different interaction rules apply based on where user attention is focused.

AI: People Mentioned

Fabienne – mentioned by Frode as the main coder for the WebXR project, based in Brussels, described as a “brilliant guy” with a family including Emily and Edgar, Frode visited his home.

Wendy Hall – mentioned by Frode as the person who introduced him to the PhD program, gave him a scholarship, and said she “doesn’t have time for writing anymore, she just wants to be able to put things together, like tweet and stuff.”

Dene Grigar – mentioned by Frode as his co-PI on the Sloan Foundation WebXR project.

Mark Anderson – mentioned by Frode as “our good friend” who is “quite an AI skeptic” but proposed the idea of using AI to compare document definitions against a user’s personal glossary.

Vint Cerf – mentioned by Frode as being “very supportive” but “provocative with XR, VR” saying it’s “basically more screens.”

Samuel Pepys – mentioned by Frode when showing a sample text in Author (using Pepys’ diary instead of his own work).

Ken Perlin – mentioned by Frode in context of their Monday meetings and searchable transcripts, as someone who said something about “Java.”

Ted Nelson – mentioned by Frode twice: once regarding “transclusion” which Frode is trying to reinvent, and later regarding “zigzag” visualization that could be applied to cube arrangements in XR.

AI: Product or Company Names Mentioned

Author – mentioned by Frode as his writing system software that he was demonstrating to Dave.

Reader – mentioned by Frode as his reading system software for PDFs, with library management and AI analysis features.

Sloan Foundation – mentioned by Frode as the funder for their WebXR project with Dene Grigar.

ChatGPT – mentioned by Frode as the AI system that Reader uses for text analysis.

Crisis – mentioned by Frode as a video game whose developers inspired his approach to Visual-Meta through their focus on making environment objects “know what they are.”

Edge magazine – mentioned by Frode as the publication where he read an interview with a Crisis developer.

BibTeX – mentioned by Frode as the citation format used for annotations, noting that the “annotate” field is part of BibTeX according to Mark.

Crossref – mentioned by Frode as the service that Reader uses to look up DOI metadata for PDF documents.

ACM – mentioned by Frode when demonstrating how to add a PDF from ACM to the Reader library.

Visual-Meta – mentioned by Frode as his concept that “every single document can communicate to the world.”

AI: Other

The conversation revealed a deep philosophical dimension to Frode’s work. Beyond creating functional tools, he’s exploring fundamental questions about how we interact with knowledge. The evolution from 2D to XR environments isn’t just a technological shift but represents an opportunity to rethink our relationship with information.

Both participants showed a sophisticated understanding of the balance between structure and flexibility in tools for thought. They recognized that different contexts and different users require different approaches, and that creating systems that can serve both novices and experts is a significant challenge.

The meeting demonstrated how academic collaborations can continue long after formal relationships end. Dave’s mentorship as a PhD supervisor has clearly evolved into a collegial relationship where both parties contribute valuable insights to each other’s thinking.