{ "model": { "rank": 2044, "code": "thing-q126017", "model_id": "vr.tr.distance", "name": "distance", "purpose": "Let an agent state distances with their path, unit, method and uncertainty, and never mix straight-line, route and travel-time distances.", "family": "Thing Registry", "category": "Cross-cutting context", "status": "research-draft", "kind": "thing", "plane": "XCT", "domain": "XCT.TME", "industry": "", "version": "", "url": "/models/thing/q126017/", "tier": 2, "score": 117, "payload": { "layer": "wikidata", "aliases": [ "medium track gauge railway", "minimum track gauge", "1429 mm track gauge", "1050 mm track gauge", "1200 mm track gauge", "1100 mm track gauge", "1106 mm track gauge", "four-foot gauge", "track gauge", "track gauge in Spain", "Ten and a quarter inch gauge", "pupillary distance", "underbust", "human head circumference", "flight length", "air draft", "wavelength", "mean free path", "semi-major axis of an orbit", "light-travel distance", "lattice plane spacing", "close approach", "mast height", "mean depth", "dispersal distance", "wheelbase", "outer dimension", "interpersonel distance", "axle track", "gear inches", "flight zone", "Q factor", "French railway metrics", "critical distance", "line height", "distance between two parallel lines", "anogenital distance", "as the crow flies", "total stopping distance", "dot pitch" ], "aliasCount": 95, "merged": 95, "knownIn": 117, "facets": null, "markers": [], "lexicalClass": "", "senseRank": null, "alsoRegisteredAs": "vr.tr.distance-time", "source": { "dataset": "wikidata", "item": "Q126017", "url": "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q126017", "license": "CC0 1.0" } }, "research": { "vercy": "1.0-draft", "publication": { "status": "research-draft", "adjudicationStatus": "unreviewed", "publishableCanonical": false, "generatedAt": "2026-09-11T04:26:34Z", "providers": [ "Claude" ], "breadth": "written by Claude from model knowledge without web access - no source was read, every claim is a lead to verify", "pass": 2, "wave": 1, "engine": "claude" }, "metaModel": { "id": "THING-Q126017", "registryId": "vr.tr.distance", "name": "distance", "version": "0.2.0-wave.1", "entryKind": "thing", "family": "Thing Registry", "domain": [ "XCT.TME" ], "status": "research-draft" }, "canonicalUrl": "https://ver.cy/models/thing/q126017/", "model": { "registry_id": "vr.tr.distance", "name": "distance", "purpose": "Let an agent state distances with their path, unit, method and uncertainty, and never mix straight-line, route and travel-time distances.", "definition": "The amount of space between two points, objects or places, measured along a specified path or as the straight-line length, in units of length.", "what_it_is_for": "Measuring separation, for navigation, planning, engineering and science.", "affordances": [ "measure it, by survey, GNSS, laser or odometer", "compute it, from coordinates or a network", "convert it between units", "use it, for routing, pricing and planning" ], "distinguishing_features": [ "A length, with a path: straight line, great circle, along a route", "Distinct from displacement, which has direction", "Distinct from travel time, which depends on speed", "Always needs a unit and ideally a method" ], "appearance": "Not a thing to look at; seen on maps, signs and instruments as a number with a unit.", "visual_identification": [ "A number with a length unit: m, km, mi, nmi, ft", "Road signs and maps state route or straight-line distances", "Track gauge, a distance between rails, is one specialised distance" ], "physical_properties": [ { "quantity": "unit", "typical_range": "metre (SI)", "unit": "m", "note": "mile 1609.344 m, nautical mile 1852 m" } ], "families_and_kinds": [ "Euclidean, great-circle, geodesic, route or network distance", "specialised distances such as track gauge and wheelbase", "abstract distances in mathematics, such as metric distances" ], "related_models": [ { "relation": "is a kind of", "target": "length", "why": "a physical quantity measured in metres" }, { "relation": "is confused with", "target": "displacement", "why": "displacement is a vector" }, { "relation": "is used in", "target": "transport and navigation", "why": "routes, fares and plans depend on it" }, { "relation": "has specialisation", "target": "track gauge", "why": "the distance between rails" } ], "identifiers": [ { "scheme": "SI unit", "value_or_pattern": "metre, symbol m", "note": "base unit of length" } ], "standards_and_regulation": [ "International System of Units (SI)", "ISO 80000-3 space and time quantities", "WGS 84 for geodetic distances" ], "failure_modes_and_hazards": [ "Unit confusion, such as miles for kilometres or feet for metres", "Mixing straight-line and route distances", "Projection errors when measuring on flat maps" ], "in_scope": [], "out_of_scope": [], "characteristics": [] }, "sources": [], "structure": { "bundles": [ { "id": "definition-and-path", "name": "Definition and path", "description": "What distance is meant.", "rationale": "A distance is meaningless without the path it follows.", "layers": [ { "id": "path", "name": "Path", "description": "Straight line, great circle or route.", "findings": [ { "id": "path-finding", "name": "Path type", "description": "The path along which distance is taken.", "questions": [ { "text": "Along which path is this distance measured?", "kind": "definition" }, { "text": "How different is it from the straight-line distance?", "kind": "measurement" } ] } ] }, { "id": "endpoints", "name": "Endpoints", "description": "The two points.", "findings": [ { "id": "endpoints-finding", "name": "Endpoint definition", "description": "The points and their coordinates.", "questions": [ { "text": "Between which two points exactly?", "kind": "definition" }, { "text": "How precisely are those points located?", "kind": "measurement" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "measurement", "name": "Measurement", "description": "How it was obtained.", "rationale": "Method determines accuracy.", "layers": [ { "id": "method", "name": "Method", "description": "Survey, GNSS, odometer, calculation.", "findings": [ { "id": "method-finding", "name": "Measurement method", "description": "The method and instrument.", "questions": [ { "text": "How was this distance measured or computed?", "kind": "provenance" }, { "text": "What is its uncertainty?", "kind": "measurement" } ] } ] }, { "id": "reference", "name": "Reference system", "description": "Datum and projection.", "findings": [ { "id": "reference-finding", "name": "Reference frame", "description": "The datum and projection used.", "questions": [ { "text": "Which datum and projection were used?", "kind": "provenance" }, { "text": "How much distortion does the projection introduce?", "kind": "measurement" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "units", "name": "Units", "description": "Units and conversion.", "rationale": "Unit errors have caused real accidents.", "layers": [ { "id": "unit", "name": "Unit", "description": "The unit stated.", "findings": [ { "id": "unit-finding", "name": "Unit stated", "description": "The unit and its definition.", "questions": [ { "text": "In which unit is this distance given?", "kind": "definition" }, { "text": "Could the unit be misread?", "kind": "boundary" } ] } ] }, { "id": "conversion", "name": "Conversion", "description": "Converting units.", "findings": [ { "id": "conversion-finding", "name": "Conversion factors", "description": "Exact conversion factors.", "questions": [ { "text": "Which exact factor converts this unit to metres?", "kind": "measurement" }, { "text": "What rounding was applied?", "kind": "measurement" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "use", "name": "Use", "description": "Distances in decisions.", "rationale": "Distances drive fares, routes and safety margins.", "layers": [ { "id": "application", "name": "Application", "description": "Where the distance is used.", "findings": [ { "id": "application-finding", "name": "Use context", "description": "The decision the distance feeds.", "questions": [ { "text": "What decision does this distance feed?", "kind": "definition" }, { "text": "Would a travel time be more appropriate?", "kind": "boundary" } ] } ] }, { "id": "margins", "name": "Safety margins", "description": "Distances as limits.", "findings": [ { "id": "margins-finding", "name": "Margin rules", "description": "Required minimum distances.", "questions": [ { "text": "Is a minimum distance required here, and by which rule?", "kind": "provenance" }, { "text": "How is compliance measured?", "kind": "measurement" } ] } ] } ] } ] }, "openQuestions": [ "Should route distance and straight-line distance be separate entries?", "How should uncertainty in measured distances be recorded?", "Should specialised distances such as track gauge be children of this entry?" ], "statistics": { "bundles": 4, "layers": 8, "findings": 8, "questions": 16 } }, "draft": { "generator": "vr.draft.v3", "status": "draft-generated", "researched": false, "archetype": "abstract concept", "method": "Written from the archetype playbook - what this kind of thing needs beyond identity and provenance - and from the structure that recurred across 6,333 models already researched by two engines. Applied to this entry by rule. No source was read for this thing and no claim here is researched. This entry carries no facets of its own, so they were inferred from its domain - a guess about a whole domain applied to one thing.", "facetsInferred": true, "nextPass": "A researcher replaces this draft with a sourced specification. Treat every sentence below as a proposal to argue with.", "purpose": "Give an agent a durable, checkable way to recognise a distance, record what state it is in, and decide what may be done with it.", "whatItIs": "Let an agent state distances with their path, unit, method and uncertainty, and never mix straight-line, route and travel-time distances.", "characteristics": { "substance": "abstract", "origin": "conceptual", "agency": "inert" }, "whatYouCanDoWithIt": [ "observed and measured" ], "distinguishingFeatures": [ "Names folded into this entry, which a task may need to split apart again: medium track gauge railway, minimum track gauge, 1429 mm track gauge, 1050 mm track gauge, 1200 mm track gauge, 1100 mm track gauge, 1106 mm track gauge, four-foot gauge, track gauge, track gauge in Spain, Ten and a quarter inch gauge, pupillary distance.", "95 finer distinctions are held as aliases rather than separate entries, because telling them apart needs a task that asks for it.", "Described in 117 Wikipedia languages, which is a measure of how widely the thing is known, not of how important it is." ], "openQuestionsForResearch": [ "Which of the bundles below does a real task actually need, and which are ceremony?", "What does this thing have that the facets do not capture at all?", "Which neighbouring kind is most often confused with a distance, and on what evidence are they told apart?" ], "whatItIsMadeOf": "an abstraction with no physical instance", "physicalCharacter": [ "Does nothing on its own; everything it does, something else did to it.", "These come from the domain this entry sits in rather than from the entry itself, so treat them as a first guess about the whole domain applied to one thing." ], "whatCanBeDoneWithIt": [ "observe it, measure it, record its state" ], "howItIsRecognised": [ "Nothing to see. What is recognised is an instance of it, and which instances count is exactly what is argued about." ], "relatedModels": [ { "relation": "covers", "note": "Finer kinds folded into this entry because telling them apart needs a task that asks for it. Each is a model waiting to be split out when one does.", "targets": [ "medium track gauge railway", "minimum track gauge", "1429 mm track gauge", "1050 mm track gauge", "1200 mm track gauge", "1100 mm track gauge", "1106 mm track gauge", "four-foot gauge", "track gauge", "track gauge in Spain", "Ten and a quarter inch gauge", "pupillary distance" ] } ], "standing": "Described in 117 Wikipedia languages, which measures how widely it is written about rather than how important or how common it is. 95 finer distinctions are held inside this entry as names rather than as separate models.", "structure": { "bundles": [ { "id": "identity-and-classification", "name": "Identity, naming and classification", "description": "How an agent tells one distance from another, and a distance from things that resemble it.", "rationale": "Recognition comes before every other claim. Without stable identity nothing else in the model can be trusted to be about the same thing twice.", "layers": [ { "id": "naming-and-identifiers", "name": "Names and identifiers", "description": "The names this thing goes by and the identifiers that survive translation and time.", "findings": [ { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases", "name": "Preferred name, aliases and local names", "description": "Which name to use, which names mean the same thing, and which merely sound similar.", "questions": [ { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the name of a distance, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the name of a distance, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the name of a distance is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] }, { "id": "stable-identifiers", "name": "Stable identifiers and external keys", "description": "Identifiers that keep pointing at this kind of thing across systems and languages.", "questions": [ { "id": "stable-identifiers-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes an identifier for a distance, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "stable-identifiers-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about an identifier for a distance, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "stable-identifiers-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once an identifier for a distance is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "classification-and-granularity", "name": "Classification and granularity", "description": "Where a distance sits among kinds, and how finely a task needs to cut it.", "findings": [ { "id": "kind-and-parents", "name": "Kind, parents and neighbouring kinds", "description": "The classes this thing belongs to and the ones it is next to.", "questions": [ { "id": "kind-and-parents-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the kind of a distance, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "kind-and-parents-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the kind of a distance, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "kind-and-parents-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the kind of a distance is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] }, { "id": "distinguishing-features", "name": "Distinguishing features", "description": "What separates a distance from the things most often confused with it.", "questions": [ { "id": "distinguishing-features-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes what distinguishes a distance, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "distinguishing-features-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about what distinguishes a distance, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "distinguishing-features-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once what distinguishes a distance is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "state-and-lifecycle", "name": "State and lifecycle", "description": "The states a distance passes through and the events that move it between them.", "rationale": "Most decisions about a thing depend on what state it is in now, which is a claim with a time on it, not a property.", "layers": [ { "id": "lifecycle-stages", "name": "Lifecycle stages", "description": "From coming into existence to ceasing to be one of these.", "findings": [ { "id": "stages-and-transitions", "name": "Stages and transitions", "description": "The stages worth naming and what moves a distance between them.", "questions": [ { "id": "stages-and-transitions-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the lifecycle of a distance, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "stages-and-transitions-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the lifecycle of a distance, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "stages-and-transitions-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the lifecycle of a distance is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "observations-and-status", "name": "Observations and current status", "description": "What is observed about a distance, how often and by whom.", "findings": [ { "id": "observation-record", "name": "Observation record", "description": "How an observation of a distance is recorded so that it can be superseded rather than overwritten.", "questions": [ { "id": "observation-record-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes an observation of a distance, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "observation-record-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about an observation of a distance, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "observation-record-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once an observation of a distance is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "definitions-in-contest", "name": "Definitions and who holds them", "description": "What distance is taken to mean, and by whom.", "rationale": "When a field disagrees about a concept, the disagreement is the content. A model that picks one definition silently destroys the information.", "layers": [ { "id": "competing-definitions", "name": "Competing definitions", "description": "The main readings and the traditions behind them.", "findings": [ { "id": "definition-map", "name": "Definitions and their holders", "description": "Each definition with the school or body that holds it.", "questions": [ { "id": "definition-map-q01", "text": "Which definitions of distance are in use, and which tradition or body holds each?", "kind": "definition" }, { "id": "definition-map-q02", "text": "What turns on the difference between them in practice?", "kind": "boundary" } ] } ] }, { "id": "operationalisation", "name": "Operationalisation", "description": "How it is measured or applied when it has to be.", "findings": [ { "id": "operational-record", "name": "Measures and proxies", "description": "Instruments and indicators used to stand in for it.", "questions": [ { "id": "operational-record-q01", "text": "How is distance operationalised or measured in practice, and by what instrument?", "kind": "measurement" }, { "id": "operational-record-q02", "text": "What does that operationalisation leave out, and when does that matter?", "kind": "boundary" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "instances-and-use", "name": "Instances, use and consequence", "description": "What counts as an instance of distance and what follows from calling something that.", "rationale": "Applying a concept is an act with consequences, so a model must say what the label licenses and what it does not.", "layers": [ { "id": "instances", "name": "What counts as an instance", "description": "Clear cases, borderline cases and non-cases.", "findings": [ { "id": "instance-tests", "name": "Tests for an instance", "description": "What would settle whether something falls under it.", "questions": [ { "id": "instance-tests-q01", "text": "What would settle whether something is an instance of distance?", "kind": "boundary" }, { "id": "instance-tests-q02", "text": "Which borderline cases are argued about, and on what grounds?", "kind": "definition" } ] } ] }, { "id": "consequence", "name": "Consequence of application", "description": "Rights, duties or decisions that follow from the label.", "findings": [ { "id": "consequence-record", "name": "What the label licenses", "description": "What an agent may do once something is classified this way.", "questions": [ { "id": "consequence-record-q01", "text": "What follows practically once something is treated as distance?", "kind": "action" }, { "id": "consequence-record-q02", "text": "What must an agent not infer from the label alone?", "kind": "action" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "provenance-and-evidence", "name": "Provenance, evidence and time", "description": "Where every claim about a distance came from and when it held.", "rationale": "A claim without a source and a time cannot be superseded, only overwritten, and an agent that overwrites loses the ability to explain itself.", "layers": [ { "id": "source-and-authority", "name": "Source and authority", "description": "Who said it, on what evidence, and how strongly.", "findings": [ { "id": "claim-provenance", "name": "Claim provenance and confidence", "description": "The authority behind each claim about a distance and how confident it is.", "questions": [ { "id": "claim-provenance-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes a claim about a distance, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "claim-provenance-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about a claim about a distance, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "claim-provenance-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once a claim about a distance is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "time-and-versions", "name": "Time, versions and supersession", "description": "When a claim was true, when it was learnt, and what replaced it.", "findings": [ { "id": "validity-and-supersession", "name": "Validity period and supersession", "description": "How an old claim about a distance is retired without being erased.", "questions": [ { "id": "validity-and-supersession-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the validity of a claim about a distance, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "validity-and-supersession-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the validity of a claim about a distance, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "validity-and-supersession-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the validity of a claim about a distance is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] } ] }, "statistics": { "bundles": 5, "layers": 10, "findings": 12, "questions": 32 } } } }