Patent US 5,761,685

A multi-dimensional processing and display system that is used with textual data to provide a system by which large volumes of such textual data may be efficiently sorted and searched. Textual data that is input to the multi-dimensional processing and display system is from one or more documents that are reformatted and translated into one or more numeric matrices. The matrices are modified to enhance and/or suppress certain words, phrases, subjects, etc. Thereafter, a single two-dimensional data is formed by concatenating the numeric matrices. The multi-dimensional processing and display system creates and maintains a historical database which is also concatenated in the two-dimensional matrix. Once the textual data is in the form of a two-dimensional matrix, the data can be analyzed efficiently, for example, using singular value decomposition (SVD). In doing so, the two-dimensional concatenated matrix is decomposed to obtain a compressed form of the numeric matrix. Certain data elements in the two-dimensional matrix may be enhanced, while certain other data elements may be suppressed. After data enhancement and/or suppression, the two-dimensional matrix is partitioned and rearranged to form an enhanced multi-dimensional matrix. All or portions of the enhanced multi-dimensional matrix are then visually displayed. Lexical, semantic, and/ or textual constructs of interest may be displayed as opaque objects within a three-dimensional transparent cube, enabling a user to review many documents quickly and easily.