Collaborative geographic visualization

Dissertação apresentada na Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade Nova de Lisboa para a obtenção do grau de Mestre em Engenharia do Ambiente, perfil Gestão e Sistemas AmbientaisThe present document is a revision of essential references to take into account when developing ubiquitous Geographical Information Systems (GIS) with collaborative visualization purposes. Its chapters focus, respectively, on general principles of GIS, its multimedia components and ubiquitous practices; geo-referenced information visualization and its graphical components of virtual and augmented reality; collaborative environments, its technological requirements, architectural specificities, and models for collective information management; and some final considerations about the future and challenges of collaborative visualization of GIS in ubiquitous environment

Exploring the Design Space of Immersive Urban Analytics

Recent years have witnessed the rapid development and wide adoption of immersive head-mounted devices, such as HTC VIVE, Oculus Rift, and Microsoft HoloLens. These immersive devices have the potential to significantly extend the methodology of urban visual analytics by providing critical 3D context information and creating a sense of presence. In this paper, we propose an theoretical model to characterize the visualizations in immersive urban analytics. Further more, based on our comprehensive and concise model, we contribute a typology of combination methods of 2D and 3D visualizations that distinguish between linked views, embedded views, and mixed views. We also propose a supporting guideline to assist users in selecting a proper view under certain circumstances by considering visual geometry and spatial distribution of the 2D and 3D visualizations. Finally, based on existing works, possible future research opportunities are explored and discussed.Comment: 23 pages,11 figure

Use of creative tools, technologies, processes and practices in the sectors of Art, Media, and Architecture: State-of the-Art and desired future scenarios

The aim of the paper is to analyse and present the preliminary findings of the EU FP7 funded CRe-AM project for the Art, Media, and Architecture sectors. This project bridges communities of technology providers and innovators with the creative industries, with the aim to build sector-specific dynamic roadmaps for the future of the European creative industries by examining the current state-of-the-art tools, technologies, processes, and practices supporting the creative process against the future scenarios envisioned by stakeholders in these sectors.This work was carried out as part of CRe-AM project, which is supported by European Commission (grant agreement n°612451)

Simultaneous Worlds: Supporting Fluid Exploration of Multiple Data Sets via Physical Models

We take the well-established use of physical scale models in architecture and identify new opportunities for using them to interactively visualize and examine multiple streams of geospatial data. Overlaying, comparing, or integrating visualizations of complementary data sets in the same physical space is often challenging given the constraints of various data types and the limited design space of possible visual encodings. Our vision of “simultaneous worlds” uses physical models as a substrate upon which visualizations of multiple data streams can be dynamically and concurrently integrated. To explore the potential of this concept, we created three design explorations that use an illuminated campus model to integrate visualizations about building energy use, climate, and movement paths on a university campus. We use a research through design approach, documenting how our interdisciplinary collaborations with domain experts, students, and architects informed our designs. Based on our observations, we characterize the benefits of models for 1) situating visualizations, 2) composing visualizations, and 3) manipulating and authoring visualizations. Our work highlights the potential of physical models to support embodied exploration of spatial and non-spatial visualizations through fluid interactions.Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC

Narrative visualization with augmented reality

The following study addresses, from a design perspective, narrative visualization using augmented reality (AR) in real physical spaces, and specifically in spaces with no semantic relation with the represented data. We intend to identify the aspects augmented reality adds, as narrative possibilities, to data visualization. Particularly, we seek to identify the aspects augmented reality introduces regarding the three dimensions of narrative visualization—view, focus and sequence. For this purpose, we adopted a comparative analysis of a set of fifty case studies, specifically, narrative visualizations using augmented reality from a journalistic scope, where narrative is a key feature. Despite the strong explanatory character that characterizes the set of analyzed cases, which sometimes limits the user’s agency, there is a strong interactive factor. It was found that augmented reality can expand the narrative possibilities in the three dimensions mentioned—view, focus and sequence—but especially regarding visual strategies where simulation plays an essential role. As a visual strategy, simulation can provide the context for communication or be the object of communication itself, as a replica.publishe

Exploring a Cognitive Basis for Learning Spatial Relationships with Augmented Reality

Augmented reality (AR) is an emergent class of interface that presents compelling possibilities for advancing spatial visualization. We offer a brief overview of AR technology and current research with in the educational realm. AR interfaces appear to provide a unique combination of visual display properties, modes of user manipulation, and interaction with spatial information. Drawing upon aspects of proprioception and sensorimotor function, we discuss how AR may have a unique and powerful link to spatial knowledge acquisition through visuo-motor involvement in the processing of information. We identify key properties of AR interfaces and how they differ from conventional visualization interfaces, followed by a discussion of theoretical perspectives that make a case for learning spatial relationships using first person manipulative AR.Recent research provides evidence that this form of AR holds cognitive advantages for learning when compared with traditional desktop 2D interfaces. We review the visual-physical connections to learning using first person manipulative AR within educational contexts. We then provide some suggestions for building future research in this area and explore its significance in the realm of spatial knowledge acquisition

Encouraging Children to Actively Recycle: A mobile application to promote recycling in the Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic generates 14,000 tons of solid waste daily, 49% of this is recyclable, but only 5% is. This waste is causing health problems, affecting the tourism industry, and the quality of life of its residents. Problems of confusion, lack of motivation, and lack of prioritization of the activity, affect the decision-making process when recycling. What if there was a way to motivate the Dominican population to recycle, and change the behavior towards this activity? Children learn new behaviors faster than adults. Why not use this opportunity to incorporate the engaging factor of design and technology to help improve the motivation level of the Dominican society, with the help of children as the promoters of good recycling habits? To educate, motivate, and engage children and adults to actively recycle, a mobile application can be used throughout the country to raise recycling awareness memorably. This thesis explores behavioral design methods and the use of gamification and Augmented Reality to engage children with the application. The solution rewards real-world recycling actions and allows children to transform recycled materials into energy for virtual robots. The application provides tips on how to separate and dispose of scanned materials. Users can share their knowledge with other children and adults, which can result in hopes of building a virtual recycling community. When using the application, children will be able to make recycling a habit, by implementing their learnings from interacting with the platform and integrate recycling into their life and its value to become a lifelong habit. The final solution highlights the primary interactions of the mobile application in a demo format, built based off of feedback from primary user groups and design peers. This prototype demonstrates how design can be used to best leverage the full capabilities of mobile technology to affect real-world change

Relevance-driven acquisition and rapid on-site analysis of 3d geospatial data

One central problem in geospatial applications using 3D models is the tradeoff between detail and acquisition cost during acquisition, as well as processing speed during use. Commonly used laser-scanning technology can be used to record spatial data in various levels of detail. Much detail, even on a small scale, requires the complete scan to be conducted at high resolution and leads to long acquisition time, as well as a great amount of data and complex processing. Therefore, we propose a new scheme for the generation of geospatial 3D models that is driven by relevance rather than data. As part of that scheme we present a novel acquisition and analysis workflow, as well as supporting data-models. The workflow includes on-site data evaluation (e.g. quality of the scan) and presentation (e.g. visualization of the quality), which demands fast data processing. Thus, we employ high performance graphics cards (GPGPU) to effectively process and analyze large volumes of LIDAR data. In particular we present a density calculation based on k-nearest-neighbor determination using OpenCL. The presented GPGPU-accelerated workflow enables a fast data acquisition with highly detailed relevant objects and minimal storage requirements.State of Lower-SaxonyVolkswagen Foundatio