Project Atlas -- Research Methodology v0.2

Strategic Direction

Project Atlas is not intended to become a large-scale experimental research lab in its early stages.

Its primary purpose is to integrate, organize, explain, and connect existing scientific knowledge into a unified model of visual understanding.

The project should leverage decades of research before attempting to produce new primary research.

Core Principle

Never perform an experiment if existing high-quality evidence already answers the question.

Original experimentation is reserved for genuine gaps in the literature.

Research Lifecycle

Stage 1 – Knowledge Integration
        ↓
Stage 2 – Model Building
        ↓
Stage 3 – Prediction
        ↓
Stage 4 – Gap Identification
        ↓
Stage 5 – Targeted Experiments

Experiments are the final step---not the starting point.

Atlas Philosophy

Atlas seeks to answer:

• What do we already know?
• How certain are we?
• Where do studies agree?
• Where do studies disagree?
• What remains unknown?

Only unanswered questions become candidates for future experimentation.

Evidence Review

Every Atlas principle begins with a structured evidence review.

Each review should collect:

• Historical origin
• Landmark papers
• Replication studies
• Meta-analyses (when available)
• Contradictory findings
• Current scientific consensus
• Remaining unknowns

Only after the evidence review is complete should Atlas build a causal model.

Atlas Workflow

Research Papers
        ↓
Evidence Extraction
        ↓
Evidence Graph
        ↓
Mechanism Model
        ↓
Confidence Score
        ↓
Predictions
        ↓
Open Questions

Most principles may stop at this stage for years.

Targeted Experiments

Atlas should conduct original experiments only when:

• Existing evidence is insufficient.
• The literature contains unresolved contradictions.
• A new technology or context has not been studied.
• Atlas identifies a genuine knowledge gap.

Example:

Rather than testing Proximity in general, Atlas might ask:

"How does proximity behave on extremely large wall displays used simultaneously by multiple users?"

That represents a meaningful research gap.

Evidence Sufficiency Scale

Every principle receives an evidence sufficiency rating.

Rating Meaning

A Multiple replications and/or meta-analyses provide strong evidence. No additional experiment currently needed.

B Strong evidence with minor gaps.

C Moderate evidence or conflicting findings.

D Limited evidence; significant unanswered questions.

E Very little evidence; high priority for future research.

This scale helps prioritize future work.

Scientific Position

Project Atlas is not attempting to replace:

• Psychology
• Neuroscience
• Human Factors
• HCI
• Design Research

Instead, Atlas integrates discoveries across disciplines into a unified causal model.

Its contribution is synthesis rather than duplication.

Long-Term Vision

As Atlas matures it may identify important unanswered questions.

Only then should targeted experiments be designed to extend human knowledge.

Until that point, Atlas should focus on becoming the best evidence-based map of visual understanding possible.

Guiding Principle

Atlas does not seek to prove ideas that have already been well established.

Atlas seeks to understand, connect, explain, quantify, and identify where knowledge ends and new discovery begins.

This philosophy allows the project to remain scientifically grounded, resource-efficient, and continuously expandable while preserving the ability to contribute original research when it becomes necessary.