Abstract: An observation sub-system is described wherein in three-dimensional (3D) views of objects and their interactions over time are provided. Each different view is based on a fundamental visualisation paradigm. For example, Data View's location of virtual objects within a space is based on the interaction of real and virtual objects from the environment under examination. DataView, as its name suggests is intended to provide a view where the basic paradigm is simply one of data driven events rather than geographic location. Heavily interacting objects, eg. producers and consumers of data, can be depicted as being located “close together” for example. Therefore, rules are created so as to define the position of objects not only from the perspective of whether interaction occurred, but also the amount of interaction, and the rate of interaction.