Forgotten in the debate about avatars and identity is the idea of 3D space as an intuitive way to conceptualize information. Papervision is increasingly being used to organize concepts, as seen in the now famous White Void application - sure, it’s just a spinny looking file folder system, but there’s something that just feels right about it - concepts nested in concepts, 3D space, hierarchy of data.

Others are pushing the limits as well. Tag Galaxy takes tags from Flickr and maps them as a galaxy of terms. Each planet is a tag - and if you click each planet it becomes a new mini solar system.

All that’s missing is the ability to click through to the photos themselves, but it demonstrates a sort of intuitive mapping of information from a massive stream of information.

Combine something like this with the stunning Photosynth and you start to get the idea of where this is headed.

Now, if only it would give me an avatar and let me fly.