The representation of information, particularly for scientific purposes, has changed dramatically over the last few decades. For example, Brassel's 1979 paper on shading polygons\cite{brassel1979analgorithm} has been produced on a mechanical type writer. Although the paper discusses an algorithm for shading on computer displays, the figures illustrating this algorithm have not been generated by a computer, but drawn by Brassel's assistant. In contrast, modern papers such as Barnes et. al's 2013 paper on embedding 3d images in PDF documents\cite{barnes2013embedding} can themselves be an interactive proof of concept.

Haye's 2012 article ``Pixels or Perish'' discusses the recent history and current state of the art in documents for scientific publications\cite{hayes2012pixels}. Hayes argued that there are currently two different approaches to representing a document: As a sequence of commands for producing an image on a static sheets of paper (Interpreted Model) or as a dynamic and interactive way to convey information, using the Document Object Model.


% We will now explore these two approaches and the extent to which they overlap.
