Message #3260

From: andreyastrelin@yahoo.com
Subject: Re: [MC4D] Re: Visualizing Hyperobjects
Date: Mon, 30 Nov 2015 21:51:37 -0800

I’m not very sure that universe should have any number of "dimensions" at all. Our universe looks like 3D+1D manifold (at least at large scale, from femtometers and up), but why any universe should be like this? Mimosa vacuum from Egan’s "Schild’s Ladder" shows how life can look in the regular graph. 5D world in "Diaspora" is nice attempt to describe physics, chemistry and life in the universe without planets…
As for 4D visualization, it’s much more easy to imagine 4D scene as it is, without visual details and extract features that you need now. My favorite example of 4D scene is a house surrounded by spherical hedge, with hexagonal gates, with small doghouse and 6-legged dog (that needs spherical collar because ring is easily slips from the neck), house is near the highway (and I know details of driving lanes and exit/entry structure). And I have a design of the car too…
Door is the middle of the cubic wall? No problem. Garage in the corner, diagonally from the door? Okay. I see the entrance from the outside and I know what part of 3D floor plan of the house is occupied by the garage. Some problem is with the roof (it’s {3,4} duoprism - not the best object to imagine).

Main thing that you have to understand when work with 4D views - is that "forward" direction is not from the closest side of view area (as you see in 3D) to the far side, but from the bottom to the center. When you go forward you see scene expanding from the center (and disappearing at the boundary). When you follow the road, you see it going from the bottom of your view area, it goes up to the center if it is straight or somewhere to side (may be even to "front side" of view) if there is a turn.
Actually it is very easy. But you have to spend some time with these scenes to understand them.