Continuing my infatuation with the method of loci, I presented a walk around panorama that introduces the image schema for user interface design of videogames. Here are the slides for the 14-screen panorama. Compared to my previous panoramas, I think the parsominious and iconic content and black background avoided the problem of overloading the user with multimedia. As you might guess, all slides were composed of copy-and-pasted shapes from Pac-man and Ms Pac-man.
If you are curious (and contact or comment), then I'll decipher the images by writing the verbal content of my talk. In any case, below are links that I found illuminating.
The term "image schema" itself makes more sense when an applicable etymology (or at least a mnemonic device) is teased out. Schema in psychology refers to plans derived from patterns that will lead to behavior. I suspect, but am not certain, that "image" in image schema most closely matches the meaning of image in mathematics, and has no other meaningful association with pictorial images. An image is the target of a function for mapping one domain to another. Domain mapping is one popular frame for discussing conceptual metaphors.
Last summer, while researching theoretical foundations for my thesis, I became introduced to image schemas in Jerome Feldman's excellent summary of the state of research in embodied cognitive linguistics, From Molecule to Metaphor. The notion of an image schema first became popular among cognitive linguists, for its nearly comprehensive ability to decipher how humans think about words. In the linguistic context an image schema explains how abstract concepts are mapped onto a template scenario that may be physically simulated. A handful of image schemas can explain how your mind processes much of the conversation that you listen to and generate.
But image schemas explain even more than language; they explain many kinds of symbolic behavior. Image schemas may be observed in the interface design of virtual reality and has framed the design of some tangible interaction. The artful application of appropriate image schemas can enhance concept communication in graphic design. Since I design games, I noticed a spooky parallel between image schemas and user interface design, such as the primacy of the source-path-goal in the level design of Super Mario Bros, the in-out schema in Go's territories and Diablo's health display and inventory system. I suspect that many effective user interfaces leverage image schemas to communicate efficiently to the user's subconscious mind.
Yet I'm a designer and not a cognitive scientist, so would appreciate your comments and corrections that lead to a more accurate understanding of how to apply image schemas to the design of interactive media.