A student-led comparison of techniques for augmenting the field experience

We report a study in which 30 university geography students compared five techniques to enhance the experience of visiting outdoor locations. The techniques were: a pre-prepared acetate overlay of the visual scene; a custom-designed visitor guide running on a PDA; the mScape location-based software running on a GPS-enabled mobile phone; Google Earth on a tablet PC; and a head-mounted virtual reality display. The students were given the assignment as part of their assessed coursework for a field trip to the UK Lake District, where they had to evaluate the techniques and propose improvements or future designs to enable tourists or students on field trips to gain an enhanced understanding of their surroundings. The paper describes these techniques, reports the process and results of the student assignment, and concludes with a discussion of some broader issues emerging from the project

Augmenting the field experience: a student-led comparison of techniques and technologies

In this study we report on our experiences of creating and running a student fieldtrip exercise which allowed students to compare a range of approaches to the design of technologies for augmenting landscape scenes. The main study site is around Keswick in the English Lake District, Cumbria, UK, an attractive upland environment popular with tourists and walkers. The aim of the exercise for the students was to assess the effectiveness of various forms of geographic information in augmenting real landscape scenes, as mediated through a range of techniques and technologies. These techniques were: computer-generated acetate overlays showing annotated wireframe views from certain key points; a custom-designed application running on a PDA; a mediascape running on the mScape software on a GPS-enabled mobile phone; Google Earth on a tablet PC; and a head-mounted in-field Virtual Reality system. Each group of students had all five techniques available to them, and were tasked with comparing them in the context of creating a visitor guide to the area centred on the field centre. Here we summarise their findings and reflect upon some of the broader research questions emerging from the project

Rediscovering the Power of Physical Relief Models: Mayson’s Ordnance Model of the Lake District

Mayson’s Ordnance model of the Lake District, commissioned by Henry and Thomas Mayson from the sculptor Raffaelle Monti in 1875, was based upon early maps from Ordnance Survey, the government mapping agency for Great Britain. It was displayed in the town of Keswick, now in Cumbria, England, until around 1980, when it is believed to have been destroyed. A large number of original negative moulds from the model were recovered, together with other historical objects, allowing the unique characteristics of the model to be explored for the first time. The study reveals the model to have been innovative for its time, being a very early example of a relief model constructed from contours. The scientific authority of the model, along with its cartographic detail and size, was used to promote it as a spectacle for early tourists. The article describes a process of digital capture, processing, and 3D fabrication that allowed parts of the model to be analysed and redisplayed. An exhibition explored public engagement with physical landscape models, included a novel visitor-led identification of the remaining moulds. Examples of modern landscape modelling and visualization techniques helped to explore the role physical models could play in the modern visitor experience

Of catwalk technologies and boundary creatures

Researchers designing and deploying technologies in the wild can find it difficult to balance pure innovation with scalable solutions. We propose a catwalk technology metaphor where researchers as boundary creatures focus on innovation whilst providing links to prêt-a-porter (ready to wear) developments. Evidence from three ‘in-the-wild’ field-based learning case studies with 140 geosciences and history learners are used to conceptualise the researchers’ ‘boundary creature’ role in managing these design process tensions, specifically for e-learning using mobile systems, distributed collaboration, sensors and augmented reality in quarries, up mountains and in the city. The analysis details the researcher issues of spatial/temporal acuity and socio-political astuteness in an adapted practitioner inquiry approach. Ultimately, a researcher design role (RDR) model reveals how researchers establish expectations with the design team, stakeholders and users around what is to be innovated (e.g. technology, activities) and how the system will change or enable current practices

Zapp: learning about the distant landscape

A successful application area of mobile technology for learning has been to provide location-based guides that inform students or tourists about their immediate surroundings. In this paper we extend this location-based learning to the distant landscape, so that a visitor to an unfamiliar area can ask “what can I see over there?”, or can annotate the landscape by taking photos of distant features and adding text or audio notes that are the automatically located as points on a digital map. We describe a system, named Zapp, for learning about the distant landscape. It uses a line of sight algorithm computed over a digital surface model stored on a smartphone to determine which distant feature is showing in the centre of the smartphone camera screen. In ‘query’ mode the system can inform the user about pre-stored elements of a landscape such as names of rock formations. In ‘capture’ mode the user can store a note about a distant feature, linked to a photo and to its map coordinates. A trial of the system with university students has demonstrated its usability and usefulness in interpreting the geology of a rural landscape

Spatial frames of reference for literature using geospatial technologies

This book chapter focuses on the use of three-dimensional representations of landscape, where digital terrain data is used as a backdrop to place cultural heritage information including passages from works of literature, diaries, and sketches, into a broader landscape context. Three case studies, which offer examples of different presentation techniques, one based on a computer monitor, one on a physical landscape model, and one on a mobile device, are described. The studies engage with the same geographic area, upland Cumbria in North West England, where surface relief is a dominant feature of the landscape. Each case study, however, uses different technologies appropriate to the contexts of display and a set of stated aims. The chapter summarises the affordances of each technique, presents observations from their use, and discusses some of the opportunities and design challenges that apply when utilising geospatial technology and digital landscape models for communicating spatial context

Interactions with Projected Augmented Relief Models (PARM)

Techniques for enhancing physical landscape models with dynamic maps and imagery, termed Projected Augmented Relief Models (PARM), are part of a revival of interest in the power of relief models as tools for geographic visualization. This method enables the creation of dynamic and engaging public displays, which appear attractive but also promote discussion and interaction as revealed through direct observation and video. This paper explores the capabilities of physical relief models as tangible displays for geographic information, and considers the role of interaction using the Kinect sensor for finger detection. The focus of interaction is on making solid landscape models of real geographic areas reactive to touch

Mobile capture of remote points of interest using line of sight modelling

Recording points of interest using GPS whilst working in the field is an established technique in geographical fieldwork, where the user’s current position is used as the spatial reference to be captured; this is known as geo-tagging. We outline the development and evaluation of a smartphone application called Zapp that enables geo-tagging of any distant point on the visible landscape. The ability of users to log or retrieve information relating to what they can see, rather than where they are standing, allows them to record observations of points in the broader landscape scene, or to access descriptions of landscape features from any viewpoint. The application uses the compass orientation and tilt of the phone to provide data for a line of sight algorithm that intersects with a Digital Surface Model stored on the mobile device. We describe the development process and design decisions for Zapp present the results of a controlled study of the accuracy of the application, and report on the use of Zapp for a student field exercise. The studies indicate the feasibility of the approach, but also how the appropriate use of such techniques will be constrained by current levels of precision in mobile sensor technology. The broader implications for interactive query of the distant landscape and for remote data logging are discussed

MarsCAPE: Mars Communicated through an Augmented, Physical Environment

In the last decade, vast amounts of planetary science data has been made available publicly often focused on Mars. Such data is typically disseminated via the web and made available through screen-based visualisations. However, this approach can make it difficult to convey the broader context of a feature of interest or the spatial arrangement of surface phenomena. To better support learning and engagement, we present and evaluate MarsCAPE: Mars Communicated through an Augmented, Physical Environment. MarsCAPE consists of physical models of the surface of Mars, augmented by projected information and visualizations. To assess its learning and engagement value, a structured workshop and formal evaluation were conducted. Participants reported a significant increase in knowledge, found the models engaging, and exhibited natural learning without prompting. Systems such as MarsCAPE have potential to provide an interesting, educational way for the public to access planetary data that goes beyond the capabilities of on-screen visualizations

Design of learning spaces in 3D virtual environments

3D virtual environments have considerable potential for learning. However there is a lack of research into how such environments should be designed to maximise this potential. This paper introduces a project to carry out research into two aspects of the design of 3D learning spaces: the degree of realism; and the degree of immersion. In order to investigate the realism aspect, the project will compare students' experiences of learning spaces within Second Life which have different degrees of realism. To investigate immersion, the project will compare students' experiences in an existing virtual reality environment and an environment built within Second Life. In all cases students will carry out learning activities suited to their course of study. The investigation of realism will involve students from a range of courses at the Open University, UK undertaking activities within Second Life. The investigation of immersion will involve UK's Nottingham University Geography students working with two models of an actual physical environment: one in a virtual reality system and one in Second Life. The findings of this project will contribute to an improved understanding of how the aspects of realism and immersion influence students' learning in 3D virtual environments