Can motion increase user interface bandwidth in complex systems?

Current user interfaces to complex systems suffer from data displays which are increasingly cumbersome since the representation techniques exceed the human's perceptual capacity to efficiently interpret them. New display dimensions are required to support the user in integrating and relating information across displays and representations. Advances in technology have made animation a viable alternative. Motion holds promise as a perceptually rich and efficient display dimension but little is known about its properties for information display. We summarize types of movement characterization from diverse disciplines and proposes an initial taxonomy of motion properties and application to serve as a framework for further empirical investigation into motion as a useful display dimension.