Animated Maps of Aggregate Data: Conceptual and Practical Problems

Predictions of the 1960s about the computer's potential to change cartography are finally being fulfilled. Dynamic maps for vehicle navigation, interactive cartographic/statistical tools, and map animation are being investigated actively. As these new environments for mapping become available, we must reevaluate past questions about transformations from reality to data and data to map. In this paper, we consider these transformation questions in the context of statistical map animation. The issues discussed were raised in producing a “map movie” depicting the spread of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) over time. Jenks' data model concept is used as the basis for a typology of data models representing phenomena typically depicted by enumeration unit data. The typology is then used to evaluate symbolization decisions for AIDS incidence maps. Implications for symbol selection imposed by dynamic rather than static maps are considered, as are technical issues involved in producing the animation on a microcomputer platform. A hybrid symbolization method that we have termed the “chorodot” is suggested as a way to meet the constraints on symbolization imposed by animation and to represent the appropriate data model for AIDS incidence.     

Change Blindness in Animated Choropleth Maps: An Empirical Study

Animated choropleth maps enable cartographers to visualize time-series data in a way that congruently depicts change over time. However, users have difficulty apprehending information encoded within these displays, and often fail to detect important changes between adjacent scenes. Failures of visual experience, such as change blindness, threaten the effectiveness of dynamic geovisual displays, in which several important changes can occur simultaneously throughout the display. Animated choropleth maps require viewers not only to notice changes but also understand symbolic meanings encoded in rapid transitions between scenes. Graphic interpolation between key frames, also known as “in-betweening” or “tweening”, smoothes transitions and lengthens the duration of the transition between scenes in a dynamic sequence. Previous cartographic literature suggests tweening could be a potential solution for change blindness in the cartographic context. This article examines this issue of change blindness in the cartographic context and reports on a human subjects investigation designed to evaluate the influence of cartographic design variables on map readers' change detection abilities. Our results indicate that 1) map readers have difficulty detecting changes in animated choropleth maps, 2) map readers over-estimate their own change detection abilities, and 3) tweening influences the legibility of change in animated choropleth maps.     

时空地图与视觉变量

时空地图是显示随时间变化所历过程的地图，既可能是静态的也可能是动态的。本文分析了时空地图的表现形式，对其视觉变量作了初步探讨，认为视觉变量应当由６个静态变量和３个动态变量构成。     

Complexity reduction in choropleth map animations by autocorrelation weighted generalization of time-series data

Choropleth map animation is widely used to show the development of spatial processes over time. Although animation congruently depicts change, the rapid succession of complex map scenes easily exceeds the human cognitive capacity, causing map users to miss important information. Hence, a reduction of the visual complexity of map animations is desirable. This article builds on research related to complexity reduction of static choropleth maps. It proposes value generalization of choropleth time-series data in space and time, by using a method that adapts to the degree of global spatiotemporal autocorrelation within the dataset. A combination with upstream algorithms for local outlier detection results in less complex map animations focusing on large-scale patterns while still preserving significant local deviations in space and time. An according software application allows for in-depth exploration of the spatial and temporal autocorrelation structures in time-series data and provides control over the whole process of generalization.     

大数据环境下道路场景高时空分辨率众包感知方法EI北大核心CSCD

道路场景作为人类发展演变中最重要、最复杂、最典型的载体之一,是道路基础设施与活动行为共同构成的综合体,链接和构建“人地关系”。道路场景感知从二维抽象简略到三维精细丰富、从静态过去式向动态现在时发展,成为智慧城市、智能交通、无人驾驶的关键技术支撑,是我国新型城镇化战略、交通强国战略的核心技术保障。本文立足于时空交通大数据,提出基于道路场景静态基础设施“形”和动态活动行为“流”的高时空分辨率道路场景感知方法。该方法从静态路网“形”角度,以“点-线-面-体”等要素为研究脉络,构建高精度道路地图众包感知的理论体系;在活动行为“流”感知上,突破传统的点模式分析局限,发展了道路网络空间活动流的时空建模与多尺度分析方法。本文揭示了静态基础设施“形”结构与动态活动行为“流”模式交互作用下的道路场景演化规律,形成以“形”控“流”、借“流”定“形”、“形”“流”叠置的高时空精度道路场景众包感知理论体系,为智慧城市、智能交通的发展提供核心技术与数据支撑。     

基于IconMap的可视化技术及其在土壤肥力分析中的应用

基于IconMap可视化技术,将传统以像元为架构的栅格数据结构扩展为icon图形设计,使得简单的栅格数据层能够在每个位置表达多个地理空间变量,从而揭示彼此协同作用产生的空间模式,达到挖掘地理空间信息的目的。在IconMapper原型系统软件支持下,进行了成都双流县土壤有机质及养分的可视化研究实验,结果表明,静态IconMap能够较好地显示土壤有机质及各养分高值分布趋势,而动态IconMap既能反映有机质及养分之间的协同关系,又能综合表达土壤肥力的质量水平。     

Effectiveness and Efficiency of Map Symbols for Dynamic Geographic Information Visualization

The quality of dynamic map symbols plays an important role in the representation of spatial-temporal changes. This paper reports an investigation into the quality of dynamic symbols. To assess the quality of such symbols, a set of traffic flow data is used for the production of different kinds of dynamic maps, with focus on four variables, i.e. size, color, frame rate and display format. Two quantitative measures are used for analysis, i.e. deviation and response time. A set of traffic data is used for the production of dynamic maps for evaluation. The experimental results show that the size is more efficient and more effective than color for dynamic maps with the same frame rate and display format. The most efficient and effective color class number is 10 on the large format display such as 1024 × 768 pixels. And the most efficient and effective size class number is 15 on large format display such as 1024 × 768 pixels. The effective frame rate for dynamic map animation is smaller than that of the general animation on the Internet or Quick Time and AVI format video. The most efficient and most effective frame rate is 3 frames per second in the color expression and 6 frames per second in the size expression. In sum, the effective and efficient value of color, size and frame rate on large format display is less than the value on the small format display. These results suggest the frame rate should be reduced on the small format display. It is hoped that the results from this study will be of help in the design of effective and efficient dynamic map symbols for geographical information visualization.     

动态符号与动态地图

地理信息可视化为地图动态特征的表现提供了工具。为适应新技术条件下地图符号的设计,本文在Bertin符号参量体系基础上扩展了符号的4个动态参量:发生时长、变化速率、变化次序、节奏,讨论了这些动态参量在突出显示空间定位、描述属性特征、描述动态变化几个方面的应用。在充分分析地理信息变化特征后,提出了动态地图的概念,包括动态地图的定义、动态地图的综合问题以及动态地图在过程再现、实时跟踪、运动模拟领域的功能应用。     

时态GIS的空间实体关联技术应用研究

在自然界中大多数现实世界的实体都是动态的,地图上的公路、铁路、居民地等只是相对于一个很短的时间里是静态的,经过一个长的时间这些实体都将发生改变。本文根据不同时态地理实体的各种特征比较,将两个时态的数据进行关联,建立几何、位置和属性的变化模型,将这个动态的过程表现出来。试验表明,本文的算法是有效的。     

Assessing the Effectiveness of Dynamic Symbols in Cartographic Communication

Abstract

The age of the Internet poses new challenges to cartography. While cartographic animation has become a practical alternative, it is mostly used to depict both spatio-temporal and non-temporal changes. The paper concentrates on the use of dynamic symbols on a static base map. A visual test was carried out to obtain some perspectives about the cartographic communication of blinking point and line symbols. The results confirmed that dynamic symbols tended to attract the attention of the users in general and even in situations when the foreground–background contrasts were poor. Their effectiveness was more pronounced with symbols of a larger size but tended to diminish with an increasing number of blinking symbols. It was also observed that users were able to perceive differences in the frequency of flickering, particularly when the variation was large. The line animation method (marquee and grow-out) did not yield a substantial difference in visual responses in the case of blinking line symbols.     

基于图像语义分割的动态场景下的单目SLAM算法

在恢复场景信息和相机运动时,传统的SLAM算法是基于静态环境假设的。场景中的动态物体会降低算法的稳健性和最终的定位精度。本文提出将基于深度学习的图像语义分割技术与传统的视觉SLAM算法结合,以减少动态物体对定位结果的干扰。首先,构建有监督的卷积神经网络对输入图像中的动态物体进行分割,获得语义图像;然后,从原始图像中提取特征点,并根据语义图像剔除动态物体特征点,保留静态物体特征点;最后,利用静态物体特征点采用基于特征点的单目视觉SLAM算法对相机运动进行跟踪。在ApolloScape自动驾驶数据集上的试验表明,与传统方法相比,本文算法在动态场景中定位精度提升约17%。     

Interface Design for Geographic Visualization: Tools for Representing Reliability

Digital "softcopy" maps are becoming the norm—replacing static paper maps in applications from wayfinding to scientific research. As a result, the design of interface tools that allow users to manipulate map parameters effectively and efficiently is likely to become as fundamental to cartography as the design of maps themselves. This article presents some principles for the design of interfaces to geo-referenced data. These principles are summarized in a hierarchical approach to interface design with conceptual, operational, and implementational levels. This hierarchical approach leads designers from questions about the goals of the system and the users of that system to the creation of tools to accomplish those goals and interface controls that allow effective interaction with the tools. The article goes on to describe the application of these principles to a prototype geographic visualization system designed for exploration of spatial data sets and visualization of reliability of both data and data abstractions associated with environmental change. The prototype involves a synthesis of concepts and methods derived from cartography, scientific visualization, and exploratory data analysis into a system for exploratory spatial data analysis and spatial decision support.     

一种时空数据静态可视化表达方法

本文简要介绍了时空数据可视化的必要性,以及目前人们采用的时空数据可视化方法,并分析了这些方法的局限性,提出了一种将年轮(annual ring)作为时空载体,结合视觉变量对面状地物的属性数据进行静态可视化的方法。该方法将面状地物的同心环按照类似树木年轮的生长特征进行划分,作为空间和时间的载体,不同时期属性数据映射到相应的同心环中,同心环的厚度和色彩的差异揭示了属性数据的变化。最后以武汉市城市管理网格化平台的统计评价数据为例实现了对比率量表数据的时态可视化表达。本文所提出的静态时空可视化方法将面状地物的空间、属性和时间紧密地结合在一起,克服了以往静态可视化方法中时间-空间、时间-属性相分离的不足,试验证明了这种方法在实践中的可行性。     

网络动画类动态符号的研究

目前网络动态地图符号主要分为两种,一种是实时数据动态符号;另一种是由符号内的动画表现动态性,其变化与地物实时属性变化没有关系。第一种研究较多,应用领域也比较广泛。而第二种研究一般是作为第一种的辅助,并没有进行系统的研究。本文基于静态符号的设计基础和原则上,提出了网络动画类动态符号的相关概念、设计原则,以及动态符号在地图中显示原则。     

Geovisualization illustrated

In recent years, the visualization of geospatial data has undergone dramatic and important developments. Next to static maps, nowadays, immersive and highly interactive virtual environments can be used to explore and present dynamic geospatial data. Additionally, the World Wide Web has developed into a prominent medium to disseminate geospatial data and maps. In visualizing geospatial data, methods and techniques from fields, such as scientific visualization and information visualization, are applied because of the large volumes of data at hand. This has accumulated in what is known as geovisualization—the use of visual geospatial displays to explore data and through that exploration to generate hypotheses, develop problem solutions and construct knowledge. Maps and other linked graphics play a key role in this process. The objective of this paper is to demonstrate the usefulness of geovisualization and, in particular, how alternative graphic representations can stimulate the visual thought process. This is demonstrated by applying geovisualization techniques to Minard's well-known map of Napoleon's 1812 campaign into Russia, the “Carte figurative des pertes successives en hommes de l'Armee Française dans la campagne de Russie 1812–1813” (http://www.itc.nl/personal/kraak/1812/).     

流场动态地图符号视觉变量分析与应用

随着大数据的发展以及数据观测技术的进步,以动态地图和动态符号的方式进行流场可视化表达具有广泛的应用前景。针对目前流场动态地图符号表达机制研究不足的问题,本文采用粒子系统方法构建了流场动态地图符号表达模型,基于流场的特点,研究了视觉变量的选取对于流场动态表达效果的影响。然后,以海洋流场数据的可视化实现为例进行验证,结果表明可视化效果良好,可以为矢量场动态符号的应用提供参考。     

BinSq: visualizing geographic dot density patterns with gridded maps

ABSTRACT

Dot maps have become a popular way to visualize discrete geographic data. Yet, beyond showing how the data are spatially distributed, dot maps are often visually cluttered in terms of consistency, overlap, and representativeness. Existing clutter reduction techniques like jittering, refinement, distortion, and aggregation also address this issue, but do so by arbitrarily displacing dots from their exact location, removing dots from the map, changing the spatial reference of the map, or reducing its level of detail, respectively. We present BinSq, a novel visualization technique to compare variations in dot density patterns without visual clutter. Based on a careful synthesis of existing clutter reduction techniques, BinSq reduces the wide variety of dot density variations on the map to a representative subset of density intervals that are more distinguishable. The subset is derived from a nested binning operation that introduces order and regularity to the map. Thereafter, a dot prioritization operation improves the representativeness of the map by equalizing visible data values to correspond with the actual data. In this paper, we describe the algorithmic implementation of BinSq, explore its parametric design space, and discuss its capabilities in comparison to six existing clutter reduction techniques for dot maps.     

GIS中三维模型的视觉变量

视觉变量是作为平面图形符号设计的理论基础而提出来的,在平面地图的符号化中起着非常重要的作用。然而,平面地图符号中的视觉变量并不能完全适用于GIS中三维模型的视觉变量,本文首先对比分析了平面地图表达和三维GIS表达的特点和异同,然后提出了GIS中三维模型的视觉变量,即:形状、空间姿态、尺寸、纹理、明暗度(光照)、阴影和清晰度。     

时态信息可视化模型研究及实现

时间问题是地理学中一个基本的研究问题。随着空间技术和现代信息基础设施的飞速发展,使得空间信息具备了较强的时态特性,传统静态地图中的可视化表达方式已无法满足时态信息的动态表示需求,如何在空间格局上和基于时间维的动态演化过程中,提供时态信息模拟结果的可视化分析和表达,是不可忽缺的一个环节。针对当前时空数据模型较多,而可视化研究相对较少的现状,在充分研究时态信息特点的基础上,研究了可视化动态过程所涉及的相关模型,包括概念模型、时空耦合模型以及预测模型等。     

Animation of Reliability in Computer-generated Dot Maps and Elevation Models

Visualization of reliability in spatial data has been the subject of considerable recent research activity. Animation has been suggested as one method to achieve this, and its application to various measures associated with class-area maps (classified satellite images and soil maps) has been discussed elsewhere. Animation is achieved by randomly selecting a location and then assigning it to a different map unit (cover or soil type) according to the information on the reliability associated with the original map or map units. In this article the same basic method is extended to mapping locational reliability in dot maps and surface error in a digital elevation model (DEM). In the former case, the dots, which are randomly located in the first place, are randomly relocated so that any meaningless positional information implicit in the location of the dots is lost while the meaningful information (the number of dots within a region) remains constant. In the DEM, animation uses a random field as an error surface, based upon the root mean squared error (RMSE). The amount of error at a location is constantly changed, giving no impression that the elevation is precisely known. The ability to vary the spatial autocorrelation within the error field provides a graphic illustration that the usual RMSE is not a sufficient method for the reporting of error in spatial databases. In both examples animation of reliability is believed to make a novel, but appropriate, use of the computer in cartography.