Challenges in creating a 3D participatory platform for urban development ::a case study

This paper aims at underling difficulties regarding the establishment of citizen engagement processes. The specificity of citizen engagement processes lies in their evolution over time where objectives, constraints, and latitudes of a given project influence the relevance of the tools offered to citizens. Three categories of urban projects (trans-urban, major metropolitan, architectural design) have been described. These classes range from a local space with short deadlines to a regional space spread over several decades. Furthermore, the use of 3D platforms for a broad public is influenced by the users’ preferences, perception, and expertise. Throughout this study, major challenges that have been experienced during the design a 3D participatory platform are identified. They range from the issues of implementing adequate tools according to the project (temporal and spatial scalability), the participation forms (passive, consultative or interactive), to the difficulties of convincing the authorities to use new bottom-up methods. Finally, a conceptual framework for the creation of a 3D participatory platform has been introduced. It can be summarized by three major steps: (1) Meeting the needs of a decision maker, (2) Designing the participation tool in accordance with the context, (3) Translating collected raw data in order to respond to the initial request

The performance of 2D and 3D tsunami evacuation maps: A case study for Seaside, Oregon

Tsunami evacuation maps are intended to inform the public about the geographic extent of the hazard and where to evacuate, but these maps can be difficult to interpret for people unfamiliar with cartographic semiology. This study focuses on the performance of tsunami evacuation maps and how the tsunami hazard is represented cartographically, as at-risk communities must be able to act quickly, and effectively understand tsunami maps to remain aware of the hazard and adequately evacuate. This study investigated the use of static three-dimensional (3D) perspective maps and travel time to safety representation (shown using point markers and choropleth symbology), as alternative ways to help mitigate tsunami disaster. The performance of, and preference for, static 3D tsunami evacuation maps were compared to conventional two-dimensional (2D) evacuation maps using a user survey and a set of test maps for the area of Seaside, Oregon. Each participant was given either a 2D or 3D map showing travel times as either point markers or choropleth symbology, and asked to complete a series of tasks concerning terrain and positional judgment, and evacuation travel time estimation. Participants were also shown all four maps and asked to determine which map was best for completing the tasks mentioned above. There were 84 survey respondents, and the results indicated that the 3D maps were preferred, overall. 3D maps performed best for judging terrain but showed no difference in performance when judging position. There was no difference in performance between 3D maps using choropleth symbology and 2D maps using point markers when estimating travel times. The results indicate that 3D maps perform the same or better than 2D maps and are preferred, suggesting the use of 3D maps for tsunami evacuation planning and education

The impact of 3D virtual environments with different levels of realism on route learning: a focus on age-based differences

With technological advancements, it has become notably easier to create virtual environments (VEs) depicting the real world with high fidelity and realism. These VEs offer some attractive use cases for navigation studies looking into spatial cognition. However, such photorealistic VEs, while attractive, may complicate the route learning process as they may overwhelm users with the amount of information they contain. Understanding how much and what kind of photorealistic information is relevant to people at which point on their route and while they are learning a route can help define how to design virtual environments that better support spatial learning. Among the users who may be overwhelmed by too much information, older adults represent a special interest group for two key reasons: 1) The number of people over 65 years old is expected to increase to 1.5 billion by 2050 (World Health Organization, 2011); 2) cognitive abilities decline as people age (Park et al., 2002). The ability to independently navigate in the real world is an important aspect of human well-being. This fact has many socio-economic implications, yet age-related cognitive decline creates difficulties for older people in learning their routes in unfamiliar environments, limiting their independence. This thesis takes a user-centered approach to the design of visualizations for assisting all people, and specifically older adults, in learning routes while navigating in a VE. Specifically, the objectives of this thesis are threefold, addressing the basic dimensions of: ❖ Visualization type as expressed by different levels of realism: Evaluate how much and what kind of photorealistic information should be depicted and where it should be represented within a VE in a navigational context. It proposes visualization design guidelines for the design of VEs that assist users in effectively encoding visuospatial information. ❖ Use context as expressed by route recall in short- and long-term: Identify the implications that different information types (visual, spatial, and visuospatial) have over short- and long-term route recall with the use of 3D VE designs varying in levels of realism. ❖ User characteristics as expressed by group differences related to aging, spatial abilities, and memory capacity: Better understand how visuospatial information is encoded and decoded by people in different age groups, and of different spatial and memory abilities, particularly while learning a route in 3D VE designs varying in levels of realism. In this project, the methodology used for investigating the topics outlined above was a set of controlled lab experiments nested within one. Within this experiment, participants’ recall accuracy for various visual, spatial, and visuospatial elements on the route was evaluated using three visualization types that varied in their amount of photorealism. These included an Abstract, a Realistic, and a Mixed VE (see Figure 2), for a number of route recall tasks relevant to navigation. The Mixed VE is termed “mixed” because it includes elements from both the Abstract and the Realistic VEs, balancing the amount of realism in a deliberate manner (elaborated in Section 3.5.2). This feature is developed within this thesis. The tested recall tasks were differentiated based on the type of information being assessed: visual, spatial, and visuospatial (elaborated in Section 3.6.1). These tasks were performed by the participants both immediately after experiencing a drive-through of a route in the three VEs and a week after that; thus, addressing short- and long-term memory, respectively. Participants were counterbalanced for their age, gender, and expertise while their spatial abilities and visuospatial memory capacity were controlled with standardized psychological tests. The results of the experiments highlight the importance of all three investigated dimensions for successful route learning with VEs. More specifically, statistically significant differences in participants’ recall accuracy were observed for: 1) the visualization type, highlighting the value of balancing the amount of photorealistic information presented in VEs while also demonstrating the positive and negative effects of abstraction and realism in VEs on route learning; 2) the recall type, highlighting nuances and peculiarities across the recall of visual, spatial, and visuospatial information in the short- and long-term; and, 3) the user characteristics, as expressed by age differences, but also by spatial abilities and visuospatial memory capacity, highlighting the importance of considering the user type, i.e., for whom the visualization is customized. The original and unique results identified from this work advance the knowledge in GIScience, particularly in geovisualization, from the perspective of the “cognitive design” of visualizations in two distinct ways: (i) understanding the effects that visual realism has—as presented in VEs—on route learning, specifically for people of different age groups and with different spatial abilities and memory capacity, and (ii) proposing empirically validated visualization design guidelines for the use of photorealism in VEs for efficient recall of visuospatial information during route learning, not only for shortterm but also for long-term recall in younger and older adults

Map-based interaction with trajectory data

Tese de doutoramento, Informática (Engenharia Informática), Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciências, 2017With the increasing popularity of location based services and mobile tracking technologies, the collection of large amounts of spatio-temporal data became an increasingly common, easier, and more reliable task. In turn, this has emphasized the possibility of analysing georeferenced information, particularly associated with human trajectory data, to identify and understand movement patterns and activities, ultimately, supporting decision making in various contexts. In order to properly analyse and understand the spatio-temporal and the thematic properties associated with these data, adequate visualization techniques are needed. Due to the spatial properties of trajectories, map-based techniques, such as 2D static maps or 3D space-time cubes (STCs) are considered as essential tools for their visualization. However, despite the increasing number of visualization systems, the study regarding their usability, alongside the role of the human user, sometimes with a limited background in data visualization and analysis, are often neglected. In addition to the somewhat disperse, and sometimes even contradictory, results in the literature, these factors, ultimately, emphasize the lack of knowledge to support the choice of particular visualizations, and their design, in different types of tasks. This dissertation addresses these issues through three main sets of contributions, focusing on inexperienced users, in terms of data visualization and analysis: i) the characterization of the dis/advantages of existing map-based techniques (2D static maps and STCs), depending on the types of visual analysis tasks and the focus of the analysis; ii) the improvement of existing visualization techniques, either through the inclusion of additional spatial cues within the STC, or combining both types of techniques in various ways; and iii) the identification of design guidelines for trajectory data visualization, describing various considerations/criteria for the selection of different map-based visualization techniques and their possible interactive features