Geoscience after IT: Part L. Adjusting the emerging information system to new technology

Coherent development depends on following widely used standards that respect our vast legacy of existing entries in the geoscience record. Middleware ensures that we see a coherent view from our desktops of diverse sources of information. Developments specific to managing the written word, map content, and structured data come together in shared metadata linking topics and information types

Rapid Prototyping for Virtual Environments

Development of Virtual Environment (VE) applications is challenging where application developers are required to have expertise in the target VE technologies along with the problem domain expertise. New VE technologies impose a significant learning curve to even the most experienced VE developer. The proposed solution relies on synthesis to automate the migration of a VE application to a new unfamiliar VE platform/technology. To solve the problem, the Common Scene Definition Framework (CSDF) is developed, that serves as a superset/model representation of the target virtual world. Input modules are developed to populate the framework with the capabilities of the virtual world imported from VRML 2.0 and X3D formats. The synthesis capability is built into the framework to synthesize the virtual world into a subset of VRML 2.0, VRML 1.0, X3D, Java3D, JavaFX, JavaME, and OpenGL technologies, which may reside on different platforms. Interfaces are designed to keep the framework extensible to different and new VE formats/technologies. The framework demonstrated the ability to quickly synthesize a working prototype of the input virtual environment in different VE formats

The addition of the haptic modality to the virtual reality modeling language

Thesis (S.B. and M.Eng.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 1998.Includes bibliographical references (p. 40-43).by Evan F. Wies.S.B.and M.Eng

Options and recommandations related to further development of an Espon Cartographic Language

In this 5th part of Espon Cartographic Language Final Report, our aim is to identify good practices, as well in the development of interactive cartographic environments such as atlases, as in innovative cartographic constructions. Our proposals target several levels:- The level of applications themselves: which functionalities have to be use, for what applications and what objectives?-The level of cartographic representations, meaning the possibilities to introduce elements of animation and interactivity in maps, depending on data and objectives: what innovations for which representation?To achieve such aims, we use two types of resources:- a collection of interactive atlases, considered as the most representative of the diversity in european statistical atlases, which we have analyzed and compared.- the collection of maps presented in Task 4, that we propose to enrich with functions of interaction and animation.The first part of Task 5 deals with recommendations, coming from a comparative analysis of european statistical atlases. These recommendations depend on the type of environment to be made (environment of visualization, analysis or exploration), and on the desired interactivity level.The second part deals with recommendations to create interactive and animated maps. They are illustrated by concrete proposals, in the form of summary datasheet.The final part deals with a comparison of computer tools that can be used to make innovative cartographic applications