Sense of presence and sense of place in perceiving a 3D geovisualization for communication in urban planning – Differences introduced by prior familiarity with the place

Technological development towards increased visual quality and accessibility has made photorealistic 3D geovisualizations an interesting tool for communication in urban planning. Particularly the ability to support perception is important in assessing 3D geovisualizations’ effectiveness for communication. We applied both the concept of sense of presence, i.e. effectiveness of the medium, and sense of place, i.e. meanings and affordances, in a user study conducted through a web-based 3D geovisualization. The study addressed a shopping mall in Helsinki, Finland. We collected a sample of adolescent respondents (n = 122), both familiar and unfamiliar with the geovisualized place in question. Adolescents responded to a survey addressing their perceptions of the mall after the virtual visit. The results indicate that prior familiarity with the place affects the results with the sense of presence, sense of place and preferred urban planning outcome. Familiar respondents were more likely to prefer preservation of the mall. The results show how sense of presence and sense of place work in interplay in the perception of a photorealistic 3D geovisualization. Perception is not only dependent on the realism the 3D geovisualization is able to transmit but also on the individual knowledge and experiences of the audience. According to the results, 3D geovisualizations are best used as supportive tools in communication for urban planning and secondary to a real visit.</p

Towards Q-analysis Integration in Discrete Global Grid Systems: Methodology, Implications and Data Complexity

Spatial data is characterized by rich contextual information with multiple characteristics at each location. The interpretation of this multifaceted data is an integral part of current technological developments, data rich environments and data driven approaches for solving complex problems. While data availability, exploitation and complexity continue to grow, new technologies, tools and methods continue to evolve in order to meet these demands, including advancing analytical capabilities, as well as the explicit formalization of geographic knowledge. In spite of these developments Discrete Global Grid Systems (DGGS) were proposed as a new comprehensive approach for transforming scientific data of various sources, types and qualities into one integrated environment. The DGGS framework was developed as the global data model and standard for efficient storage, analysis and visualization of spatial information via a discrete hierarchy of equal area cells at various spatial resolutions. Each DGGS cell is the explicit representation of the Earth surface, which can store multiple data values and be conveniently recognized and identified within the hierarchy of the DGGS system. A detailed evaluation of some notable DGGS implementations in this research indicates great prospects and flexibility in performing essential data management operations, including spatial analysis and visualization. Yet they fall short in recognizing interactivity between system components and their visualization, nor providing advanced data friendly techniques. To address these limitations and promote further theoretical advancement of DGGS, this research suggests the use of Q-analysis theory as a way to utilize the potential of the hierarchical DGGS data model via the tools of simplicial complexes and algebraic topology. As a proof of concept and demonstration of Q-analysis feasibility, the method has been applied in a water quality and water health study, the interpretation of which has revealed much contextual information about the behaviour of the water network, the spread of pollution and chain affects. It is concluded that the use of Q-analysis indeed contributes to the further advancement and development of DGGS as a data rich framework for formalizing multilevel data systems and for the exploration of new data driven and data friendly approaches to close the gap between knowledge and data complexity

‘The raft, the ladder, the transitional space, the moratorium…’: digital interventions in twenty-first-century private and public lives

This project explores the nebulizing effect of digital technologies on their analogue counterparts, and their cultural and social repercussions as depicted in early twenty-first-century novels. The thesis finds five central concerns of digital culture, areas in which the structures and codes of the culture have had to be recalibrated to such a degree to accommodate virtuality, and examines them through the works of a novelist with a fascination for, or resistance to this change. The thesis identifies an irreversible shift in the mental apparatus caused by digital technologies that work on narrativizing powers such as memory, interpretation, and perception, that finds expression in fiction. Chapter 1 reads Jennifer Egan’s A Visit from the Goon Squad and The Keep as responses to the phenomena of geomapping, networking and communications in the age of global reach. Chapter 2 uses Tom McCarthy’s novels C, Remainder, and Satin Island to illustrate the distorting effects of digitality on time. Chapter 3 brings to focus the more recent work of J. M. Coetzee, Summertime, Elizabeth Costello, and Diary of a Bad Year, that engages with digitality and a cultural landscape increasing reliant on distancing technologies. Chapter 4 examines the recording and surveilling technologies at the heart of Ali Smith’s twentyfirst- century novels How to Be Both, Autumn and The Accidental. Chapter 5 reads Dave Eggers’ The Circle as a critique of corporate digital culture, and examines the role of taste in articulating personal freedom. The conclusion analyses a current crisis point in the digital project, and gestures towards the future of technology in the contemporary novel, speculating on what elements discussed in the thesis might endure and shape fictional narrative as the age of digitality progresses

A Survey of Digital Earth Representation and Visualization

The creation of a digital representation of the Earth and its associated data is a complex and difficult task. The incredible size of geospatial data and differences between data sets pose challenges related to big data, data creation, and data integration. Advances in globe representation and visualization have made use of Discrete Global Grid Systems (DGGSs) that discretize the globe into a set of cells to which data are assigned. DGGSs are well studied and important in GIS, OGC, and Digital Earth communities. However, DGGSs have not been introduced very well to computer graphics community. In addition, there are many advanced techniques related to geospatial data creation and representation that might be very useful to Digital Earth community. In this paper, we provide an overview of DGGSs and their use in digitally representing the Earth as well as the list of current Digital Earths and their method of Earth representation. In addition, we present key research areas and related papers in computer graphics that are useful for a Digital Earth framework. Moreover, we list a number of applications of Digital Earths and their related works