Text lens

The transformation of text through a chosen perspective, balancing fidelity to the original with the clarity of a different framing. Actors can switch between lenses to reshape how content is presented:

Magnifying lens: Adjust detail level

• Zoom out: summarisation
• Zoom in: elaboration or expansion

Filter lens: Shift tone and style

• Formal ↔ casual
• Technical ↔ accessible
• Assertive ↔ diplomatic

User control

Text lenses can be applied with varying degrees of user control:

• Direct control: Users explicitly select and apply specific lens types
• Contextual suggestions: System recommends appropriate lenses based on content or context
• Automatic application: Lenses applied based on user preferences or situational needs

Examples

Interactive text transformation

The Bubble menu pattern demonstrates text lens application through text selection and transformation. Users can select text and apply different lenses using AI-powered tools to modify content presentation at granular levels.

To-do

• Combined with citations, summaries let you capture key takeaways from a long document and then go deeper into the relevant content.
• Combined with synthesis, summaries can take multiple inputs such as an email thread and capture the main ideas.
• Combined with workflow, summaries can be added automatically to specific objects.

Resources & references

• NN/g / Accordion editing