Usability dimensions in collaborative GIS

Collaborative GIS requires careful consideration of the Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and Usability aspects, given the variety of users that are expected to use these systems, and the need to ensure that users will find the system effective, efficient, and enjoyable. The chapter explains the link between collaborative GIS and usability engineering/HCI studies. The integration of usability considerations into collaborative GIS is demonstrated in two case studies of Web-based GIS implementation. In the first, the process of digitising an area on Web-based GIS is improved to enhance the user's experience, and to allow interaction over narrowband Internet connections. In the second, server-side rendering of 3D scenes allows users who are not equipped with powerful computers to request sophisticated visualisation without the need to download complex software. The chapter concludes by emphasising the need to understand the users' context and conditions within any collaborative GIS project. © 2006, Idea Group Inc

Virtual reality urban modelling - an overview

This paper offers an overview of the increasing use of Virtual Reality (VR) technologies for the simulation of urban environments. It provides a summary of cities worldwide where three-dimensional computer modelling is being utilised to aid urban planning. The study considers the need for a digital representation of cities and raises issues pertaining to advantages, barriers and ownership. A case study of a pilot project on the visualisation of Newcastle upon Tyne is examined to show an approach adopted for the representation of this city in North East England. The process of this visualisation is summarised and future research is outlined in relation to this city model

Storage free terrain simulation

Landscape visualisation is the process of recreating a natural environment and displaying it in an interactive graphical simulation. To do this a terrain is displayed together with accompanying plant life and other objects. Present landscape visualisation software is capable in theory of displaying very detailed and large landscapes. The software is also in theory capable of simulating environments with thousands if not millions of individually structured plants. In practice though, the simulation of such landscapes requires such a large amount of storage space that it is not achievable on personal computers. Even storing small landscapes with a moderate amount plant life can be a major development problem. The extent of this problem is such that modem simulators almost always exhibit the following limitations. • When detailed landscapes are stored to the hard disk, the area of terrain covered is usually very small. • When large terrains are stored to the hard disk the detail used is usually low. • When detailed plants are used in a landscape only twenty or so plants are created and used over and over again in the landscape. This work is an original approach to solving the storage space problem that involves not storing any landscape data to the hard disk at all. In this solution, instead of the landscape simulator displaying a landscape that is stored on a hard disk, the landscape simulator displays a landscape that is randomly generated. The landscape is produced on a need-to know basis, the only landscape that exists in the simulator is the landscape that the user of the simulator can see. If the user\u27s position in the landscape alters then the newly visible areas of landscape are created, and the areas no longer visible are removed from the simulator entirely. Areas of landscape being visited for a second time are always re-created the same way as they were originally created

Implementation of computer visualisation in UK planning

PhD ThesisWithin the processes of public consultation and development management, planners are required to consider spatial information, appreciate spatial transformations and future scenarios. In the past, conventional media such as maps, plans, illustrations, sections, and physical models have been used. Those traditional visualisations are at a high degree of abstraction, sometimes difficult to understand for lay people and inflexible in terms of the range of scenarios which can be considered. Yet due to technical advances and falling costs, the potential for computer based visualisation has much improved and has been increasingly adopted within the planning process. Despite the growth in this field, insufficient consideration has been given to the possible weakness of computerised visualisations. Reflecting this lack of research, this study critically evaluates the use and potential of computerised visualisation within this process. The research is divided into two components: case study analysis and reflections of the author following his involvement within the design and use of visualisations in a series of planning applications; and in-depth interviews with experienced practitioners in the field. Based on a critical review of existing literature, this research explores in particular the issues of credibility, realism and costs of production. The research findings illustrate the importance of the credibility of visualisations, a topic given insufficient consideration within the academic literature. Whereas the realism of visualisations has been the focus of much previous research, the results of the case studies and interviews with practitioners undertaken in this research suggest a ‘photo’ realistic level of details may not be required as long as the observer considers the visualisations to be a credible reflection of the underlying reality. Although visualisations will always be a simplification of reality and their level of realism is subjective, there is still potential for developing guidelines or protocols for image production based on commonly agreed standards. In the absence of such guidelines there is a danger that scepticism in the credibility of computer visualisations will prevent the approach being used to its full potential. These findings suggest there needs to be a balance between scientific protocols and artistic licence in the production of computer visualisation. In order to be sufficiently credible for use in decision making within the planning processes, the production of computer visualisation needs to follow a clear methodology and scientific protocols set out in good practice guidance published by professional bodies and governmental organisations.Newcastle upon Tyne for awarding me an International Scholarship and Alumni Bursar

3D City Models and urban information: Current issues and perspectives

Considering sustainable development of cities implies investigating cities in a holistic way taking into account many interrelations between various urban or environmental issues. 3D city models are increasingly used in different cities and countries for an intended wide range of applications beyond mere visualization. Could these 3D City models be used to integrate urban and environmental knowledge? How could they be improved to fulfill such role? We believe that enriching the semantics of current 3D city models, would extend their functionality and usability; therefore, they could serve as integration platforms of the knowledge related to urban and environmental issues allowing a huge and significant improvement of city sustainable management and development. But which elements need to be added to 3D city models? What are the most efficient ways to realize such improvement / enrichment? How to evaluate the usability of these improved 3D city models? These were the questions tackled by the COST Action TU0801 “Semantic enrichment of 3D city models for sustainable urban development”. This book gathers various materials developed all along the four year of the Action and the significant breakthroughs

A theoretical view on concept mapping

Auto‐monitoring is the pivotal concept in understanding the operation of concept maps, which have been used to help learners make sense of their study and plan learning activities. Central to auto‐monitoring is the idea of a ‘learning arena’ where individuals can manipulate concept representations and engage in the processes of checking, resolving and confirming understandings. The learner is assisted by familiar metaphors (for example, networks) and the possibility of thinking ‘on action’ while ‘in action’. This paper discusses these concepts, and concludes by arguing that maps are part of the process of learning rather than a manifestation of learning itself. Auto‐monitoring is suggested as an appropriate term to describe the process of engaging in the learning arena

Key challenges in agent-based modelling for geo-spatial simulation

Agent-based modelling (ABM) is fast becoming the dominant paradigm in social simulation due primarily to a worldview that suggests that complex systems emerge from the bottom-up, are highly decentralised, and are composed of a multitude of heterogeneous objects called agents. These agents act with some purpose and their interaction, usually through time and space, generates emergent order, often at higher levels than those at which such agents operate. ABM however raises as many challenges as it seeks to resolve. It is the purpose of this paper to catalogue these challenges and to illustrate them using three somewhat different agent-based models applied to city systems. The seven challenges we pose involve: the purpose for which the model is built, the extent to which the model is rooted in independent theory, the extent to which the model can be replicated, the ways the model might be verified, calibrated and validated, the way model dynamics are represented in terms of agent interactions, the extent to which the model is operational, and the way the model can be communicated and shared with others. Once catalogued, we then illustrate these challenges with a pedestrian model for emergency evacuation in central London, a hypothetical model of residential segregation tuned to London data which elaborates the standard Schelling (1971) model, and an agent-based residential location built according to spatial interactions principles, calibrated to trip data for Greater London. The ambiguities posed by this new style of modelling are drawn out as conclusions