The Impact of Augmented Reality Techniques on Cartographic Visualization

Augmented reality (AR) is playing an increasingly important role in a variety of everyday application scenarios. Users are not completely disconnected from the current sensory influences of reality. They are merely confronted with additional virtual objects that are projected into reality. This allows users to obtain additional spatial information, which makes this technology interesting for cartographic applications (e.g. navigation). The dynamic positioning of the superimposed image in the scene being viewed is crucial for the generation of AR elements displayed correctly in terms of perspective. Understanding these technical basics is an important prerequisite for the cartographic use of augmented reality. The different techniques influence the visualization and the perception of AR elements in 3D space. This article highlights important visualization properties of current augmented reality techniques.

Determination and evaluation of spatio-temporal trends on the example of PM10 concentration in Poland (2000−2018)

Increasing amounts of rapidly growing data are the driving force behind proposing and automating new processing, enabling the extraction of useful information from data. One of such possibilities is determining trends to consider in terms of time and space. Thus far, the analysis of these aspects has been separate and lacked automated tools. Therefore, the authors proposed, implemented, and tested a tool for analyzing spatio-temporal linear trends. The tool was tested on PM10 concentration data in the years 2000–2018. The results, presented as cartographic visualization, were then evaluated, both in terms of time and space. The proposed approach facilitates analyzing spatio-temporal trends and assessing their accuracy; it can be developed using other types of analyzed trends or considering additional factors that influence the trend by using cokriging.

Рossibilities of using Google (My maps) for cartographic visualization of tourist routes

The possibilities of using the free Google My Maps service for cartographic visualization of independently developed tourist routes are considered. The research is carried out on the example of one of the variants of the author’s tourist and local history bicycle route of the weekend-on the territory of the Saransk-Ruzaevka industrial hub, the largest in the Republic of Mordovia. Key stations of the route—reference points, confined to historical, cultural and/or natural attractions, are located in the cities of Saransk and Ruzaevka, and their immediate surroundings. The result of the visualization of the route is presented in the form of a map, with the overlay of its individual sections, infrastructure and recreational facilities. The sequential connection of layers and/or previously prepared routes in the service allows the user to easily navigate the features of the spatial movement of key route stations. In the process of studying the features of using the service, the possibilities of adding the semantics of individual route objects were clarified, which allows the user, within the framework of one service, to get acquainted in detail with all reliable information about the object of interest. The Google My Maps service can contain in one layer all types of vector representation of spatial data, which makes it possible to create detailed detailed excursion plans for tourist and recreational objects and territories. If the corresponding icon is located in the immediate vicinity of the transport highway, the application will display the corresponding panoramic photo. This allows the user to get acquainted with all the reliable information about the object of interest within one service. The possibilities of the service may be useful to public authorities, enterprises in the sphere of tourism and hospitality, administrations of educational institutions; students and all interested parties.

Student’s Reading of Thematic Maps from Czech School World Atlas – an Eye-tracking Study

According to the cartographic communication models, the map is intended as a product which helps people to understand the world. Usually, the first systematic cartographic product which pupils and students met in their lives is a school world atlas. In the Czech Republic, these atlases are used in almost every geography lesson. Thus, school atlases should be understandable, well-arranged, intelligible and easy to use by students. However, almost no empirical studies focused on this type of product exist.This presentation summarizes the results of the experiment, where the task was to find some object on the thematic map. The research aimed on two main issues: if the students are able to read thematic maps from school world atlas (Q1) and if the used cartographic visualization methods are properly selected (Q2).For finding answers to these research questions, the eye-tracking study conducted on 30 grammar school students was performed. This study contained ten tasks on the thematic world maps from the Czech school world atlas. Depending on the type of information displayed, visualization method and legend style, the tasks were formulated for each map. Eyemovement data were recorded using low-cost GazePoint eye-tracker with sampling frequency of 60 Hz. The first research question – if students can work with the thematic maps from school world atlas – was analysed using the correctness of answers and Trial Duration – the metric that shows how much time respondents needed to find the answer. For answering the second research question – if the cartographic methods used in the atlas are understandable –qualitative data visualization methods were used.At the beginning of the recorded data analysis, the correctness of answers and trial duration was ïnvestigated. These results helped us to find out, how the students were able to read the maps, if their answers were correct and how much time they needed for task solving. The results showed that generally, the students could read thematic maps (Q1). The most problematic task was the one where students had to estimate the pie-chart value according to the logarithmic scale.In the next step, the behaviour of students while solving each task was qualitatively described and problematic cartographic visualization methods were identified (Q2). For example, in some cases, used symbols were difficult to distinguish. The most serious problems were in the task, where students had to estimate the value of the bar chart. The scale of the legend was designed so that one millimetre of the bar corresponds to 50 million USD of export volume. This cartographic method was hard to understand for the students.The conducted eye-tracking study pointed out to maps where the cartographic methods were misused and caused problems to the students. The results might help the cartographers and map publishers who can modify the maps to be more understandable for the readers.

Differences in Thematic Map Reading by Students and Their Geography Teacher

A school world atlas is likely the first systematic cartographic product which students encounter in their lives. However, only a few empirical studies have analysed school atlases in the context of map reading and learning geographical curricula. The present paper describes an eye-tracking study conducted on 30 grammar school students and their geography teacher. The study explored ten tasks using thematic world maps contained in the Czech school world atlas. Three research questions were posed: (i) Are students able to learn using these particular types of maps? (ii) Have the cartographic visualization methods in the school atlas been adequately selected? (iii) Does the teacher read the maps in the same manner as students? The results proved that the students were sufficiently able to learn using thematic maps. The average correctness of their answers exceeded 70%. However, the results highlighted several types of cartographic visualization methods which students found difficult to read. Most of the difficulties arose from map symbols being poorly legible. The most problematic task was estimating the value of the phenomenon from the symbol size legend. Finally, the difference between the students’ and teacher’s manner of reading maps in each task was analysed qualitatively and then quantitatively by applying two different scanpath comparison methods. The study revealed that the geography teacher applied a different method than her students. She avoided looking at the map legend and solved the task using her knowledge.

PERCEPTION OF CARTOGRAPHIC IMAGES AND GEOSPATIAL INFORMATION ON MAPS AND MOBILE DEVICES

The article is devoted to the consideration of the features of the perception of cartographic images and geospatial information on traditional maps and mobile devices. Cartographic visualization can be considered as interactive construction of virtual (static, dynamic) cartographic images and their perception. The main properties of perception include: objectivity, integrity, structurality, meaningfulness, constancy, apperception, activity. Some other properties of perception are distinguished as sequence, memorability, correlation, reaction to movement. The article analyzes and generalizes the properties of perception. The study of the properties of perception from the position of visual perception of these properties on traditional maps and mobile devices. The same properties of perception of cartographic image and geospatial information on maps and mobile devices reveal themselves differently. This must be taken into account when developing cartographic applications in order to better adapt them to the specifics of user perception.

Evaluation of Map Signs for Evacuation Purposes

<p><strong>Abstract.</strong> An increasing number of population brings increasing vulnerability of the society to different disasters and emergencies. The maps provide spatial information, which is useful on different levels of decision making during emergencies from strategic planning to single person decision making. To fit the user needs maps can be optimized for a particular user, user group, available technology or external conditions.</p><p>Evacuation is a crucial part of the process dealing with most of the emergencies. In case of building the standard ISO 23601:2009, Safety identification &amp;ndash; Escape and evacuation plan signs was developed to provide the guidelines for the design, materials, installation and other attributes of the evacuation plans. It is mostly based on the ISO 7010:2003, Graphical symbols &amp;ndash; Safety colours and safety signs &amp;ndash; Safety signs that are widely used in the buildings all around the world. The symbols were designed with the purpose to attract user attention under any circumstances and across the different cultural background. It can be a disadvantage in case of cartographic visualization, while the symbols on the map are not easy to identify the anchor point, increase the graphics clutter of the map (see figure 1).</p><p>In our research, we have decided to focus on the evaluation of user’s abilities to use and understand of designed evacuation signs and plans. As the standard is intended to be used worldwide, we have designed study focused on the comparison of the understanding to the meaning of evacuation symbols in general and also in the form of cartographic visualization. We have designed the user study performed in the first step in Nanjing (China) and in Brno (Czech Republic) in order to verify the cross-cultural universality of evacuation symbols. There were about seventy participants in China and seventy participants in the Czech Republic, who performed similar tasks. The tasks consist of separate symbol meaning selection, a separate symbol meaning estimation, identification of a particular symbol on the map and basic interpretation of the map content. The original and modified map signs were used as stimuli in case of cartographic visualization. Results were statistically processed and discussed. The results bring a new perspective on the standardized cartographic visualization for purposes of building evacuation.</p>

Evaluating rainbow colour scheme in social data mapping

<p><strong>Abstract.</strong> Colour is one of the most useful variables to be applied in map design for information visualization. The choice of colour scheme affects the visual appearance of the map, its aesthetics, and how pleasant it appears. Consequently, it may, potentially, impact data perception, which has been proved by various authors (e.g. Brewer et al. 1997, Brychtova and Çöltekin 2015). There are established guidelines regarding colour use in cartography, for example, in textbooks. It is a well-established rule that when presenting quantitative data, the various values of the mapped data should be mainly represented by varying the colour value. But a growing frequency in colour use that contradicts the rules of cartographic visualization has been observed. The case is particularly true of the rainbow colour schemes (Figure 1.), which are commonly applied in geovisualisation practices in thematic maps; in the past, mainly on isoline maps; and currently, also on choropleth maps. The schemes involve the use of varying hues for presenting quantitative data, typically via a gradation based on the electromagnetic spectrum, instead of the practice recommended in cartography of varying colour value. The scale is interpolated through the saturated, spectrally ordered hues: blue, cyan, green, yellow, and red. The result is a vivid, fully saturated colour map that looks like a rainbow.</p><p> This colour scheme is commonly considered to be a very poor way of representing data due to several problems. The disadvantages most often raised are as follows: (1) it is not perceptually ordered and there is no logical ordering (Monmonier 1991), which means there is no innate sense of higher or lower values; (2) it introduces sharp transitions between hues as the perceptual changes in the rainbow colours are not uniform (Moreland 2016), and which may be perceived as being a considerable transition in the mapped data; and (3) the middle values may be interpreted as extreme values since yellow has a highlighting effect, being perceived as brighter than the other colours.</p><p> The rainbow colour scheme is applied mainly in visualizing the quantitative data of various themes, both natural (weather maps, elevation) and socio-economic. The colour scheme can be found on on isoline maps; and currently, also on choropleth maps. Using rainbow colours for mapping natural phenomena such as temperature or elevation seems to be understandable, as they are presented using isolines. The use of spectral progression for relief maps is a convention of long standing; it is now well known through its regular appearance on school maps and atlas maps for the general public. However, applying this colour code to social data mapping using choropleth maps may not always be intuitive. Choropleth maps do not show the order of the colour on the face of the map, in contrast to isoline maps where colours are always in the same order on the map.</p><p> The issue of the incorrect use of the rainbow colour scheme in cartographic visualization was raised two decades ago. What is important is that Brewer (1997) raised doubts concerning the warnings that spectral hues were not ordered; and considered that this idea may no longer be valid due to users’ continuous exposure to spectral graphics. There is a ‘likelihood that the public is learning this code, through its use on most scientific visualizations that enter the public sphere.’ (Brewer 1997: 217). Nowadays, this issue is still important with even more frequent use of spectral colour schemes in practice, often for non-diverging, sequential data. This makes the need for validating current practices more vital in order to verify if the commonly applied rainbow colour schemes can actually represent quantitative, non-diverging data on maps as effectively as the traditionally recommended sequential colour schemes. Further research is thus needed to validate the current common practices of using rainbow colours, and to establish evidence-based guidelines for color-coding on thematic maps.</p><p> The aim of the study is to empirically evaluate the usability of the rainbow colour scheme for thematic maps. For this investigation choropleth maps presenting social data will be selected. Over 200 participants (high school students) will take part in the study and will be asked to solve different tasks using the presented maps. The participants will be dived into two groups, with each group solving the same tasks but using choropleth maps with differently designed colour scales: (1) a rainbow colour scheme, and (2) a colour scheme considered to be correct for non-diverging data, i.e., a sequential, value-varied colour scale. The study applies usability performance metrics, expressed as effectiveness (response correctness), efficiency (answer time), and preferences (users opinions). The participants will be given various tasks, ranging from reading quantities, to noting distributions and extracting patterns. Participants will also be asked to recall the studied maps. The tasks partially refer to the questions asked by Mersey (1990) in an in-depth evaluation of various colour schemes (including spectral). We thus want to compare this study’s results with those collected over 30 years ago, and verify the assumption posed by Brewer (1997), that is, if nowadays, frequent exposure to rainbow maps results in improving usability of the rainbow colour scheme for maps, in a similar way – or to some extent – to the use of spectral colours for elevation maps.</p><p> By conducting this empirical investigation we hope to contribute to an increased understanding of how thematic geovisualisations should be designed in order to support users effectively. We also want to empirically verify the rules that have been established in cartographical theory, but which are often violated in practise. As Brewer (1997) noted, cartographers cannot stop people from selecting spectral schemes, but we can try to assess the consequences of applying such colour schemes to thematic maps.</p>