May, 2009

Shiftspace is another project worth looking at if you’re into the concept of Hyperlayers. ShiftSpace is an open source browser plug-in for collaboratively annotating, editing and shifting the web. Through a set of tools, users can annotate, modify, and shift the content of a page. Shifts can be shared and can be mapped into Trails (contextual information maps).

You can try Shiftspace by visiting http://www.shiftspace.org/

I tried the Metaplace Beta recently and thought it was well done. It’s a nice approach to creating a virtual world & Sims hybrid. The avatars could use improvement, but the environment was enticing and well crafted. It’s like Habbo 2.0, where instead of creating a simple room, you have a lot more tools and options. The world itself is visually rich and has lots of potential. You can check it out at http://www.metaplace.com/

Today, most people experience the Web as a flat space. Except for a handful of early adopters who are experimenting with new browser plug-ins, users tend to experience the same sites in the same way. The pages are one-dimensional in nature and provide cookie-cutter functionality most of the time. In the near future, however, I see a very different Web, where instead of surfing websites, a growing number of users will be layer surfing.

When I say “layer,” I’m talking about a parallel space that is either directly or indirectly associated with a URL. This space can contain applications, data, users, hyperlinks and media. It can be placed directly over a website or displayed separately. As long as the layer knows what URL the user is on, it can provide a parallel view of the Web.

In a layered universe, instead of websites being exclusively controlled by whomever owns the domain name, every domain will be open to everyone who wants to access or alter it. Over each domain will exist independent layers, where users can interact with one another in a variety of ways, according to the functionality each layer offers. Users will be able to easily transition from one layer to another, which will give them more control over how they experience the site and who they interact with.

Since the creators of layers are not necessarily beholden to the website owners, each layer will present a different view of the information associated with a particular domain or URL. A layer could offer users additional features that aren’t available on the underlying site, or could allow users to post their thoughts right on top of the website for everyone to see. A layer could even take data related to the webpages and display them in different formats, providing an entirely new way of viewing the same data found on the underlying URL.

Each layer will also provide its own user interface for manipulating that information and interacting with other users who have access to that layer. Users will even be able to combine layers, one on top of another, creating meta-layers that are customized to their tastes and needs. The Amazon.com of the future might be only 20% Amazon and 80% layers. Hence, your view of a popular website, like Google or CNN.com, will be entirely different from mine, depending on what layer you happen to be on when you visit the site.

As layers begin to multiply, the Web will become a dynamically immersive experience. Browsing will no longer be defined by the owners of the websites and the activities they sanction. Instead, users will be able to access content created by third parties wherever they go online. Each layer will provide the user with a new structure and an additional degree of freedom. Users will not only be able to browse horizontally between websites, but vertically too, from layer to layer. In essence, layers will create alternate versions of the Web, which users can browse freely, redefining what it means to be on the Web.

Where it gets exciting is how users combine layered applications to reshape their experience of browsing. Imagine going to NYTimes.com and looking at it through a user-generated media layer, where users comment on the news, upload their own videos on top of the headline stories, and offer up links to alternative news sources. At this point, the NY Times no longer has control over how it presents the news. The base site is merely an anchor point.

Today, if you go to Google.com, you’ll see the nice little search box, but with layers, some inventive person can transform Google into a new type of search engine. For example, search results could go one step further. When the search results come up, not only might a user see the information Google provides, but additional information about each site, like its Digg rating, trustworthiness, demographics, etc.

As layers proliferate, the entire dynamic of the Web will change. The virtual geography will still be defined by domains and URLs, but over these locations will exist parallel spaces that may not be controlled by the owner of the domain or, for that matter, anyone. As a result, not only is content set free, but entire sites are set free, and users are empowered to do whatever they want wherever they want.

So when you arrive at a site, you might never actually view it the way the website owner intended. Your view may always be through the lens of a particular layer or group of layers that provide additional functionality or information to the site.

What enables and drives this new web experience are layers.  Layers add a z-axis to your browser, enabling seamless layer surfing. In other words, layers create a new dimension to web browsing, allowing users to surf the z-axis (layered spaces) at the same time they’re surfing the Web.

If we analyze the existing Web, we see that what matters most is the relationship between sites and the flow of traffic across the virtual terrain. Once you add layers to this equation, what ends up mattering is not just the sites but also the lens (or rather, the layer) through which they are viewed.

I can imagine the browser of the future having a layer slider, that seamlessly shifts users from one layer to another. In this way, the websites that are being built today are just the foundation of the Web to come. Upon these pieces of real estate will emerge entire communities and pools of information that are both completely divorced and deeply related to the landscape we know today.

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