Dronotope

Concept

Dronotope is a volumetric timeline that depicts events connected to the development and impacts of drone technology.

The timeline is designed to emphasise the multiple, overlapping vectors of activity that have shaped the drone story, as a series of connections and resonances between varied developments in time, rather than as a single, predestined trajectory.

Basic Layout

Events within the timeline are arranged into nodes along a calendar grid, with the years and months running along the major axis and minor axis, respectively.

These events have been grouped together into five thematic strands that are overlaid on top of one another, like a deck of cards. Each strand has a particular colour and shape associated with it — these are showing using the Theme Display window or via the information button info.

As you navigate the timeline, event labels will appear above each node. You can select these labels to bring up additional context and detail.

Only a small number of event labels are shown at any one time to prevent the display from becoming cluttered — zooming in or out will variously show or hide overlapping labels.

Changing the Timeline

The timeline is not fixed, and you can reconfigure its structure and contents in line with topics you might wish to explore.

You can use the filter button sort at the top of the screen to filter the timeline data using inputted keywords.

You can also select which of the five thematic strands are displayed at any one time using the Theme Display window or via the information button info.

How to Navigate

• Use the cursor swipe_right and zoom gestures pinch to navigate the timeline view.
• If using a desktop browser, you can also use the zoom in zoom_in or zoom out zoom_out buttons.
• Selecting any label that appears on the timeline will bring up an information card concerning the event it depicts.

Additional Features

• You can recentre the timeline view back to the default overhead by using the recentre button recenter.
• You can toggle between windowed and full-screen viewing by using the full-screen button zoom_out_map.
• You can reset the timeline back to its default configuration by using the reset button history.
• If using a desktop browser, you can freely rotate the timeline view to your preferred orientation angle (horizontal or vertical) by pressing and holding the right mouse button mouse. This orientation is reset on using the recentre button recenter.

About

This application was produced by researchers associated with the Centre for Drones and Culture (CDAC) at the University of Cambridge. It was developed as part of the UKRI funded project "Droned Life: Data, Narrative, and the Aesthetics of Worldmaking".

Credits

Project lead Dr Beryl Pong (Cambridge/CDAC).

Application design and coding by Dr Richard A Carter (York).

Publication editing by Dr Amy Gaeta (Cambridge/Leverhulme Center for the Future of Intelligence/CDAC).

Research and Writing

• Regulatory — Dr Beryl Pong
• Commercial — Dr Amy Gaeta
• Technical — Prof. Márjory da Costa-Abreu (Sheffield-Hallam)
• Conflict & Security — Dr Joanna Tidy (Sheffield)
• Humanitarian & Conservation — Dr Richard A Carter

Publication

All materials in this application belong to their respective authors. This application is being released under the Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license.

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Published in March 2025, Updated November 2025, v.1.7.6.