Origami Text
Fold & Unfold Knowledge
Origami Text are Free & Open Source applications (MIT License) for reading and interacting with EPUB (in the Origami Text style) for macOS, iOS and visionOS.
The work is based on the premise that since knowledge is to a large extent about connections, our media and the substrate upon which we entrust our knowledge, should be built around supporting rich connections and interactions. These applications are the practical implementations of this approach, both as proof of concept and as usable and useful systems.
The document format and the applications are Future Text Lab project, feel free to join the dialogue.
visionOS
Below you can see basic interactions in the Apple Vision Pro’s ‘Origami Text’ app, an experimental and fanciful implementation of what this approach enables. This is just the start, watch this ‘space’ for updates:
visionOS User Guide
You will start with the EPUB documents you have gathered in Origami for macOS and you will be presented with option to view individual articles or view full journals/proceedings. For the work at hand we suggest you choose a proceedings, such as the ACM Hypertext ‘26 Proceedings being demonstrated at this year’s conference. Once you have done so you will have all the papers in front of you in a large wall like layout. Here you can interact in several ways:
Make a fist to ‘grab’ the full set of papers and move them around. Note that this is a ‘hallway’ layout so if you want to rotate them you should long press the physical right button on the Vision Pro headset.
Tap a paper to select it, which will result in all its citations appear behind it, on a virtual timeline going into the distance. This will also reveal more information about the paper. You can also interact with the cited papers, including choosing to ‘Add to Aquire’ which means they will be on your ‘To Aquire’ list in Origami macOS when you get back to your computer.]
A selected paper has buttons under it to allow you to Pin it, Set it Aside (it disappears but is available on macOS when you return, should you change your mind).
Several selected papers have buttons for layout under them.
You will notice that you have floating ‘Chits’ above your arms for controls. Just look at one and pinch your fingers like a click and it will activate. Of note are the options for Documents, Settings and Introduction under your right arm (by default, this can be toggled to be left arm) and on top of your right arm you have ‘D’ to de-select anything you have selected, ‘Select’ to choose what to select, ‘A’ to show all and ‘Show’ to choose what to show.
Double-Tap a paper to open it and it will open into a horizontal view, with each heading being given a column, where you can scroll.
Top left in the open paper has two options: Arrow down to change the orientation from vertical to a drafting table 45° view and again to horizontal, which will align the paper to a physical table if nearby. A document icon to toggle into the chosen mode (default is light mode) to read the paper looking much more like a traditional PDF or paper, as well as hide everything else, giving you a more minimalist reading view. You can pinch to open citations and more, similar to what you can do on macOS.
The changed layout is reflected back to your macOS and iOS devices where you use Origami Text, as well as your options as to what to Pin and what to Set Aside. Because this is powered by the Origami Text EPUB approach, not only are these interactions possible, they also allow for the data to flow easily, using JSON sidecar files for such settings.
Support
If you would like to join the community who is building this, join us any given Monday at https://futuretextlab.info and if you have questions or comments, email us any time, directly to the designer of the system, Frode Hegland, at frode@hegland.com