Spatialization as a perceptual basis for information: How perception becomes a narrative

Abstract

According to enaction theory, information perception results from a coupling between the individual and data in the perceptual space. Consequently, the minimal condition of achieving perception is that there be something to act upon, i.e., a salience or a hook. Data emerge in the background and become preponderant. But, being at first only a sensation, these data can only be constituted as information if they persist in the perceptive field. One should be able to leave them and return to them in the logic of topological continuity, for example, association, similarity/dissimilarity, divergence, etc. Our hypothesis is that there are logics that transform these data into information. We posit that, in addition to being spatializing, they embody above all the perceptual gestures that make these data legible. Such is, for example, the status of the various supports that serve as structures of data inscription available on the digital applications: lists, tables, diagrams, and cartographies. Starting from sensorimotor theories, in connection with the enactive approach, we intend to establish the semiotic conditions of these supports as a perceptive basis of information.