WikiNect: image schemata as a basis of gestural writing for kinetic museum wikis

• Published in: Universal access in the information society Vol. 14; no. 3; pp. 333 - 349
• Main Authors: Mehler, Alexander, Lücking, Andy, Abrami, Giuseppe
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01-08-2015; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Assessments; Authoring; Categories; Computer Communication Networks; Computer Science; Computers and Society; Descriptions; Hypertext; Information Storage and Retrieval; Information systems; Information Systems Applications (incl.Internet); IT in Business; Kinetics; Long Paper; Museums; User Interfaces and Human Computer Interaction; Kinect; Deictic and iconic gestures; Gestural writing; Museum information system; Image schemata; Kinetic hypertext authoring
• ISSN: 1615-5289; 1615-5297
• DOI: 10.1007/s10209-014-0386-8

This paper provides a theoretical assessment of gestures in the context of authoring image-related hypertexts by example of the museum information system WikiNect. To this end, a first implementation of gestural writing based on image schemata is provided (Lakoff in Women, fire, and dangerous things: what categories reveal about the mind. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 
1987
). Gestural writing is defined as a sort of coding in which propositions are only expressed by means of gestures. In this respect, it is shown that image schemata allow for bridging between natural language predicates and gestural manifestations. Further, it is demonstrated that gestural writing primarily focuses on the perceptual level of image descriptions (Hollink et al. in Int J Hum Comput Stud 61(5):601–626, 
2004
). By exploring the metaphorical potential of image schemata, it is finally illustrated how to extend the expressiveness of gestural writing in order to reach the conceptual level of image descriptions. In this context, the paper paves the way for implementing museum information systems like WikiNect as systems of kinetic hypertext authoring based on full-fledged gestural writing.