Preview

Overview

Inspired by Ink & Switch's Embark research paper, this interface explores an alternative to siloed software apps: dynamic documents. Instead of forcing users to coordinate across separate maps, weather, calendar, and notes apps, Embark provides a single flexible substrate that starts as casual, informal notes and gradually enriches them with dynamic behavior.

Core Primitives

1. Structured Mentions (@):

   • Entities like places (@Aachen Cathedral, @Rur Dam, @Chocolate Factory) and dates (@Friday, @Saturday) are referenced inline within natural text.
   • Mentions act as links to structured records (ratings, coordinates, hours, addresses) that can be passed directly into computations and views.
   • Interactive inspector popover reveals metadata upon clicking or hovering any mention.

2. Spreadsheet-like Live Formulas (/):

   • Perform calculations directly inside the outline nodes, pulling arguments from the surrounding hierarchy:
     • Weather(in: @Aachen, on: @Friday) → ⛅️ Overcast 11° · 18°C
     • Route.Drive(from: @Aachen, to: @Rur Dam) → 🚗 42 min · 38.4 km
     • Cost(route.distance * 0.30€ + 25.00€) → 💶 36.52 € (12.17 € / person)
   • Auto-repeating heuristics allow duplicating formula patterns across days or destinations.

3. Coordinated Multi-View Canvas:

   • Interactive Map View: Visualizes places mentioned in the active outline with day-coded colors and animated transit route paths.
   • Hover & Focus Synchronization: Hovering a place in the outline immediately illuminates its marker on the map; selecting a map pin highlights the note in the document.
   • Schedule & Weather Overlay: Demonstrates multi-source composition by plotting scheduled activities alongside hourly rain probabilities from weather formulas.
   • Trip Budget Breakdown: Reactive expense analysis updated dynamically as routes and ticket parameters change.