Explorations in 3D web cartography

Interactive 3D cartography has evolved substantially in the last years. New tools allow cartographers and mapping enthusiasts to create 3D web maps with a minimum effort. Technological advancements allow users to interact with 3D maps on a variety of devices, including their mobile phones or virtual reality glasses. As a result, many interactive 3D maps have been created, from which many insights on their design principles and creation process can be obtained. In this talk I will provide an overview of what is currently possible in 3D cartography and what are the current challenges and possible solutions when creating such maps. More precisely, the specifics of 3D symbology and rendering styles ranging from realistic to abstract will be discussed. In addition, 3D cartography is evolving with a heavy influence from different fields like games industry, art, data visualization or architecture, just to name a few. Hence, examples from some non-conventional 3D maps will be given that allow detecting features that come from such different fields and enhance the maps.

Methodical framework for developing interactive web maps based on the example of Struve Geodetic Arc UNESCO World Heritage Site

Today, interactive maps are gaining popularity and are used by both specialists and ordinary users in various fields of science and technology. However, the development of the theoretical base of web cartography and the development of interactive maps lags significantly behind the practical component. Moreover, a systematization of the principles of user-centered design in the field of web mapping is necessary. The aim of this work is to create a methodical framework that can be universal for most interactive web map development projects. The creation of the framework is based on the established scheme of interactive web maps development, the ideas of user-oriented design, as well as on the personal experience of the authors in the development of interactive web maps. The methodical framework covers the following aspects: the need for interactivity of web maps, accessibility on various devices, the dimensional aspect of a map, data structuring, the choice of elements of interaction, the need of usage of third-party maps, multilinguality, the ability to upload user-generated content, the need to create animations, and the choice of the base software. The developed framework helps to form the determining part of the conception of an interactive web map, which is a fundamental step in the proposed process of a web map development. Moreover, the framework facilitates the process of creating interactive web maps and opens up new possibilities and development methods for specialists in web cartography. The authors, using the interactive web map dedicated to the World Heritage Site “Struve Geodetic Arc”, which was developed by them, as an example, clearly demonstrated the conceptual development process based on the methodical framework. The terminology is considered and a new definition of an interactive web map is given.

Evolving In Step or Poles Apart?

Comparative studies are rare in the study of online communication campaigning. The authors chose two cases, Poland and France, to describe the two campaigns for the Parliamentary elections. Content analysis allowed the authors to detect online communication strategies and parties' attempt to reach different audiences. Web-cartography illustrates the parties' network connections. The authors find strong cross-country and resource-based differences for the more interactive and engaging features (Web 2.0), which are not that powerful for explaining audience-targeting strategies. Overall a sales strategy and a focus on marketing dominated over e-representation (exhibiting the parties' political record). In both countries social media platforms are well incorporated into online strategies. Facebook dominates in Poland, Twitter in France. Web cartography gives a counterintuitive picture of the Polish parties' network being much more personalized but also of more ghettoing within the supporting environment.