Looking for example of displaying data in an animated / swarm - type way

Factual Questions
1

A friend of mine was describing his idea for a new data display component, which would expand sections of data as your mouse neared them, making similar data appear. I think that such a control already exists, but I can’t find an example.

I want to call it a dynamic cloud or swarm or something, but it’s not helping. As an example, if you had a dictionary, and you mouse over G, then you’d see something like


                    
        get    gone
dE F        G      H   Ij
        gab   gate
    gable         gated

His idea involved changing the Z-axis of the data involved, but wouldn’t require that.

So… anyone seen something like this anywhere?

2

I have seen, in the hurricane hunter overlays in Google Earth, something where if you mouse over a spot and two things are occupying it then they kind of “part” and move away from the mouse. Is that what you mean?

The other thing which this question reminds me of is that “dynamic desktop” someone had linked here once. You could riffle through folders and look at files graphically on the computer screen. Can’t remember what it was called, though.

3

You’re looking for this: