Axon Idea Processor

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Axon Idea Processor is a freeware/commercial Windows-based three-dimensional educational and thought-processing visualization tool written in Visual Prolog, an artificial intelligence language created by Mr. Chan Bok from Singapore as a tool for computer-assisted thinking and problem solving. Mr. Bok is a life member of the Operational Research Society of Singapore.^[1]

The processor is used for organizing ideas, brainstorming, concept mapping, mind mapping, analysis, flowcharting and creative writing; applicable to many disciplines and pursuits. A highly heuristic multi-level user workspace is manipulated using a wide array of linguistic, analytical, graphical and compostional idea generation tools. As a sketchpad for visualizing and organizing ideas, the idea processor exploits visual attributes such as color, shape, size, scale, position, depth, shadow, link, icon, etc. Visual cues help to facilitate recall, association, and discovery. Diagrams assist modeling and solving complex problems. Visualization tools are used to reinforce short term memory and stimulate creativity.

Pre-defined Templates as well as models provided by collaborative users have been developed for a wide variety of pre-defined creative, analytic or problem solving graphical formats: hierarchical, flow-chart, critical-path, logical, data-flow, associational, contextual, pathway, etc. An example use of the program is for the PHD doctoral thesis Spatial Aspects of Metaphors for Information: Implications for Polycentric System Design.^[2]

The system is currently in use internationally at universities and colleges, including RMIT^[3], Melbourne, Australia, University of Maryland^[4] and the University of West Florida's Institute for Human and Machine Cognition for NASA^[5]