Kinemage

The kinemage: A tool for scientific communication

David C. Richardson 1 *, Jane S. Richardson 2

1Little River Institute, 5820 Old Stony Way, Durham, North Carolina 27705 2Department of Biochemistry, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27710

^*Correspondence to David C. Richardson, Department of Biochemistry, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27710

Funded by:
 NIH; Grant Number: GM15000
 Office of Naval Research and the Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center
 University of North Carolina

Keywords

electronic publishing • kinemage • molecular graphics

Abstract

A kinemage (kinetic image) is a scientific illustration presented as an interactive computer display. Operations on the displayed kinemage respond within a fraction of a second: the entire image can be rotated in real time, parts of the display can be turned on or off, points can be identified by selecting them, and the change between different forms can be animated. A kinemage is prepared and specified by the author(s) of a journal article, in order to better communicate ideas that depend on three-dimensional information. The kinemages are distributed as plain text files of commented display lists and accompanying explanations. They are viewed and explored in an open-ended way by the reader using a simple graphics program, such as the one described here (called MAGE), which presently runs on Macintosh computers. A utility (called PREKIN) helps authors prepare the kinemages. Kinemages are being implemented under the auspices of the Innovative Technology Fund.

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Received: 4 October 1991; Accepted: 4 October 1991

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1002/pro.5560010102  About DOI