Smart Layer proposes a set of browser or plug-in features that capture web-based information in an interactive journal.
Learning from and using content from the Internet is problematic. We request information
and get back thousands of results, but we are challenged when it comes to capturing, saving
and/or recalling it. Browser platforms generally lack a set of integrated tools that help users
process information. Bookmarks only direct you to the information’s location (if it hasn’t
been moved). Ratings have no context. And many advanced features like text-to-speech are
hidden or platform-specific. What use is the Internet if we cannot easily employ its contents
in another context once we find it?
Smart Layer is a proposal for a set of tablet or PC browser or plug-in features that capture
and focus web-based information through an interactive journal. Intended to help the user
surmount the often distracting and overwhelming amount of information one finds on the
Internet, these features — bookmark, memo, reader, highlight, record and snapshot – are
modeled on studying tools and techniques for students with ADHD.
