Themed Discussion moderated by Frode Hegland after a brief Introduction.
While still largely conforming to academic practices of formatting, how might we be able to make text more visually parseable?
In a time where richly expressive visuals in videos and games are prevalent which text has to compete with, columns of ‘grey’ text literally does not ‘stand out’.
Text in XR is not in itself a solution but an expansion where improvements can make even more of a difference and constraints can constrain even further.
Visually parseable can include types of highlighting and layout, as well as interactivity for the user to choose what to see when authoring and when reading. These visuals can be controlled by the author or reader, as well as hinted at, or made available by the author for the reader, on a common substrate.
Approaches can include choice of font weight and type (bold or italic), color, as well as highlighting, marking and fading text, defending text for glossaries, expanding and contracting sections and folding and unfolding based on headings or other criteria.