At first glance, i2Brain looks like just another mind mapping software program. But in fact it can do much more. Its developer calls it “a new type of software for visualizing information and its structure.” It enables you to create a conventional mind map, with a topic in the center and sub-topics radiating out from it. But it can also be used to regroup information into grids and columns, giving users more of a multi-dimensional view of their information. Here is an example.
When I asked the developer, John Boyd-Rainey, what makes i2Brain different than “conventional” mind mapping software, here’s what he had to say:
"Conventional mind mapping software represents things in flat trees. i2Brain uses ‘networks’ of elements. I disposed of the central point in a mind-map because I found it to be unnecessary. When I enter my office I know that I’m going to work. I don’t need a block in the middle of the floor with the word ‘Work’ on it. The second, and possibly more important difference is the ‘aspects.’ (To mathematicians and such like they are in fact ‘dimensions.’) When planning a project I will want to input the status of each activity. The status could be not started, working, finished or tested. i2Brain allows you to add such an aspect and to input the status for each activity. Then you can use colors to show the status, or indeed a filter so you can see only those items you are currently working on, or perhaps everything except those which are finished and tested."
In other words, you can use the program to view your information and knowledge and its "meta-data" from multiple perspectives, which could lead to new insights and ideas.
For a tutorial that visually explains how i2Brain moves beyond a web-type mind map, please click here.
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