Map Use by Adults with Visual Impairments

In this paper we summarize five experiments that were designed to investigate how tactile maps contribute to the cognitive maps of people with visual impairments. In two experiments we demonstrated that tactile maps can contribute to peoples' ability to learn a route through an unfamiliar area. From the results of two further studies, we argue that compared to people with sight, people with visual impairments have greater difficulty encoding information from a map. We considered this directly in a fifth experiment by investigating how people with visual impairments search and learn a map. We found that they used less efficient strategies than people with sight. We conclude that tactile maps are an important source of geographical information when people need to learn about new environments, but we also point out that to benefit most from tactile maps people need to encode the map information as effectively as possible. As people with visual impairments do not always use the most appropriate encoding strategies we suggest that tactile map users might benefit from greater experience and training in map encoding strategies.     

Tasks,Strategies, and Cognitive Processes Associated With Navigational Map Reading: A Review Perspective*

All geographers use and may create maps in their professional activities. While perceived by some as merely tools to present spatial information, maps are actually complicated communication mechanisms. Many geographers spend tremendous amounts of time learning about verbal and written communication (how to speak, listen, read critically, and write effectively). But to many, one of the basic tools of geographic communication, the map, is a general source of unknown. Many previous papers have focused on how to create effective maps; this paper focuses on how people read and use navigation maps. Everyone completes map‐reading tasks, uses (often different) strategies, and processes information through cognitive processing. Geographers may benefit from understanding how they, as well as their map‐viewing public, process the information contained on their maps. This paper addresses terms and issues addressed in navigational map reading, specifically including tasks and strategies as well as the governing cognitive processes.     

A Commentary on the Use of Touch for Accessing On‐Screen Spatial Representations: The Process of Experiencing Haptic Maps and Graphics

The growth of the Internet and the digital revolution have meant increased reliance on electronic representations of information. Geospatial information has been readily adapted to the world of cyberspace, and most Web pages incorporate graphics, images, or maps to represent spatial and spatialized data. But flat computer screens do not facilitate a map or graph experience by those who are visually impaired. The traditional method for compensating for nonvisual access to maps and graphics has been to construct hard‐copy tactile maps. In this article, we examine an electronic accommodation for nonvisual users—the haptic map. Using new and off‐the‐shelf hardware—force feedback and vibrotactile mice—we explore how touch can be combined with virtual representations of shapes and patterns to enable nonvisual access to onscreen map or graphic material.     

I.G.U. Commission on Rural Development,Sub-commission on Rural Development in Highlands and High-Altitude Zones

Theories which explain mental imagery are discussed and are related to cognitive maps. An experiment was conducted to illustrate that people can code information about maps as visual images and use map images for a map-reading task. Subjects were shown maps which were rotated at various angles from north-at-the-top. The time needed to decide if a map was a correct or mirror representation was recorded. The results support the notion that people did this task by forming and rotating map images.     

IMAGES OF MAPS: A ROTATION EXPERIMENT*

Theories which explain mental imagery are discussed and are related to cognitive maps. An experiment was conducted to illustrate that people can code information about maps as visual images and use map images for a map-reading task. Subjects were shown maps which were rotated at various angles from north-at-the-top. The time needed to decide if a map was a correct or mirror representation was recorded. The results support the notion that people did this task by forming and rotating map images.     

The Effects of Prior Knowledge on the Learning of Categories of Maps

The purpose of this study is to answer several important questions concerning the learning of categories of geographic information from maps. Categorization is a fundamental part of both learning and communication, and learning and communication are, in turn, central to any field of study. If categorization is a fundamental part of the learning process, then how people categorize information learned from maps must be of concern to cartographers and geographers. This study examines map reader categorization by having subjects in an experimental situation learn categories of maps. The primary variables in this study are the coherence of the categories and the duration of exposure to the categories. It was found that coherent categories cause subjects to rely on prior knowledge. The ability to use prior knowledge allows subjects to learn categories quickly, but it also causes them to make inaccurate assumptions about the category membership. This finding was not altered when subjects were given longer exposures to the category membership.     

The Use of Environmental Features on Tactile Maps by Navigators Who Are Blind

Maps designed for and used by sighted audiences benefit from map symbol standardization and convention but, with very limited exception (most notably two European projects), neither standardization nor convention guides the design and use of symbols for tactile maps. In this project, we developed and field tested symbolization for and use of tactile street maps. The development process included consultation with the literature as well as with field experts (orientation and mobility teachers, Braillists, and teachers working with students who are blind or have low vision). Following development, we undertook a three-year field testing and validation phase, in which we conducted pilot testing and formal testing with travelers who are blind or have low vision. Research results reveal not only a discriminable and useful tactile symbol set but also environmental feature use by travelers who are blind or have low vision.     

A Review of “Environmental Modelling: An Introduction”

The purpose of this study is to answer several important questions concerning the learning of categories of geographic information from maps. Categorization is a fundamental part of both learning and communication, and learning and communication are, in turn, central to any field of study. If categorization is a fundamental part of the learning process, then how people categorize information learned from maps must be of concern to cartographers and geographers. This study examines map reader categorization by having subjects in an experimental situation learn categories of maps. The primary variables in this study are the coherence of the categories and the duration of exposure to the categories. It was found that coherent categories cause subjects to rely on prior knowledge. The ability to use prior knowledge allows subjects to learn categories quickly, but it also causes them to make inaccurate assumptions about the category membership. This finding was not altered when subjects were given longer exposures to the category membership.     

Ripe for the picking? Dataset maturity assessment based on temporal dynamics of feature definitions

Map databases traditionally capture snapshot representations of the world following strict data collection and representation guidelines. The content of these map databases is often assessed using data quality metrics focusing on accuracy, completeness and consistency. The success of volunteered geographic information, supporting evolving representations of the world based on fluid guidelines, has rendered these measures insufficient. In this paper, we address the need to capture the variability in quality of a map database. We propose a new spatial data quality measure – dataset maturity – enabling assessment of the database based on temporal trends in feature definitions, specifically geometry-type definitions. The proposed measure can be (1) efficiently used to identify feature definition patterns reflecting community consensus that could be formalised in community guidelines and (2) deployed to identify regions that would benefit from increased editorial activity to achieve greater map homogeneity. We demonstrate the measure based on the content of the OpenStreetMap database in four regions of the world and show how the proposed dataset maturity measure captures a distinct quality of the datasets, distinct to data completeness and consistency.     

Patterns of accessing variable resources across time and space: Desert plants,animals and people

Key resources in arid and semi-arid systems are highly variable in time and space. Biophysical variability is mainly driven directly or indirectly by rainfall. Arid-dwelling people are also exposed to variability – indirectly from their biophysical environments, and directly as a result of sparse, mobile populations and variable, distant signals from policy and markets. The tradeoffs between the benefits and costs of increasing the scale of resource use are comparatively more critical in shaping system dynamics in arid systems than mesic environments. Understanding the strategies employed to scale resource use is vital for arid-system management. We contribute to this discussion using a conceptual model, based on modern portfolio theory, to explore how variability is managed by diversifying access to resources across space and time. The model is developed using ecological ideas and our Australian case knowledge, but demonstrates general learning on how optimal investment in strategies changes with resource distribution, and with the physical characteristics of the entity (e.g. plant, animal) and resource (e.g. water, nutrients) in question. Using pastoral enterprise, arid-system administration and policy cases, we argue that people and organisations need variability-coping strategies that are comparable with biophysical responses, and that strategy behaviour needs greater acknowledgement in managing arid systems.     

Interpreting maps through the eyes of expert and novice users

The experiments described in this article combine response time measurements and eye movement data to gain insight into the users' cognitive processes while working with dynamic and interactive maps. Experts and novices participated in a user study with a ‘between user’ design. Twenty screen maps were presented in a random order to each participant, on which he had to execute a visual search. The combined information of the button actions and eye tracker reveals that both user groups showed a similar pattern in the time intervals needed to locate the subsequent names. From this pattern, information about the users' cognitive load could be derived: use of working memory, learning effect and so on. Moreover, the response times also showed that experts were significantly faster in finding the names in the map image. This is further explained by the eye movement metrics: experts had significantly shorter fixations and more fixations per second meaning that they could interpret a larger part of the map in the same amount of time. As a consequence, they could locate objects in the map image more efficiently and thus faster.     

Personalizing map content to improve task completion efficiency

Significant interaction challenges arise in both developing and using interactive map applications. Users encounter problems of information overload in using interactive maps to complete tasks. This is further exacerbated by device limitations and interaction constraints in increasingly popular mobile platforms. Application developers must then address restrictions related to screen size and limited bandwidth in order to effectively display maps on mobile devices. In order to address issues of user information overload and application efficiency in interactive map applications, we have developed a novel approach for delivering personalized vector maps. Ongoing task interactions between users and maps are monitored and captured implicitly in order to infer individual and group preferences related to specific map feature content. Personalized interactive maps that contain spatial feature content tailored specifically to users' individual preferences are then generated. Our approach addresses spatial information overload by providing only the map information necessary and sufficient to suit user interaction preferences, thus simplifying the completion of tasks performed with interactive maps. In turn, tailoring map content to specific user preferences considerably reduces the size of vector data sets necessary to transmit and render maps on mobile devices. We have developed a geographic information system prototype, MAPPER (MAP PERsonalization), that implements our approach. Experimental evaluations show that the use of personalized maps helps users complete their tasks more efficiently and can reduce information overload.     

基于多源地图信息重组的土壤侵蚀背景值图编制

对土地利用图进行信息的挖掘,结合岛状地的界定,提取了其中的岛状地信息;与天然性程度的信息源进行融合,得到了天然岛状地信息;再与土壤侵蚀图、地貌图信息重组,最终得到了土壤侵蚀背景值信息,生成土壤侵蚀背景值图。通过在内蒙古农牧交错带内的试验研究,说明基于土地利用图、土壤侵蚀图和地貌图的多源地图信息重组,编制土壤侵蚀背景值图的方法是可行的。     

Assessing the application and value of participatory mapping for community bushfire preparation

The increased ease for individuals to create, share and map geographic information combined with the need for timely, relevant and diverse information has resulted in a new disaster management context. Volunteered geographic information (VGI), or geographic information voluntarily created by private citizens enabled through technologies like social media and web-based mapping, has changed the ways people create and use information for crisis events. Research has focussed on disaster response while largely ignoring prevention and preparedness. Preparing for disasters can reduce negative impacts on life and property, but despite strategies to educate communities, preparation remains low. This study assesses the application and value of VGI in bushfire risk reduction through a participatory mapping approach. It examines VGI as a social practice and not simply a data source by considering the user experience of contributing VGI and the potential for these activities to increase community connectedness for building disaster resilience. Participatory mapping workshops were held in bushfire-risk communities in Tasmania. Workshop activities included a paper-mapping exercise and web-based digital mapping. Survey results from 31 participants at three workshops indicated the process of mapping and contributing local information for bushfire preparation with other community members can contribute to increased social connectedness, understanding of local bushfire risk, and engagement in risk reduction. Local knowledge exchange was seen as valuable, but the social dimension appeared even more engaging than the specific information shared. Participants reported collaborative maps as effective for collating and sharing community bushfire information with a preference for digital mapping. Some limitations of online sharing of information were also reported by participants, however, including potential issues of privacy, data quality and source trustworthiness. Further work is needed to extrapolate findings from the study sample to the broader population.     

Tactile-map output from geographical information systems: the challenge and its importance

Abstract

The incorporation of the technology of geographic information systems (GIS) into a wide range of planning decisions makes it important that the visually handicapped have access to GIS-based map products to participate more fully in community decision making. Fortunately, GIS contain many procedures useful to the design of tactile maps, including changes of scale and simplification. Developing research opportunities are outlined within the context of the general problem. Tactile maps using microcapsule paper can be produced quickly, but they must be tested using visually handicapped subjects to ensure that suitable symbolization and specifications are developed.     

Color map design for visualization in flood risk assessment

Visualizations of flood maps from simulation models are widely used for assessing the likelihood of flood hazards in spatial planning. The choice of a suitable type of visualization as well as efficient color maps is critical to avoid errors or bias when interpreting the data. Based on a review of previous flood uncertainty visualization techniques, this paper identifies areas of improvements and suggests criteria for the design of a task-specific color scale in flood map visualization. We contribute a novel color map design for visualizing probabilities and uncertainties from flood simulation ensembles. A user study encompassing 83 participants was carried out to evaluate the effects of this new color map on user’s decisions in a spatial planning task. We found that the type of visualization makes a difference when it comes to identification of non-hazardous sites in the flood risk map and when accepting risks in more uncertain areas. In comparison with two other existing visualization techniques, we observed that the new design was superior both in terms of task compliance and efficiency. In regions with uncertain flood statuses, users were biased toward accepting less risky locations with our new color map design.     

Big Data from the Ground Up: Mobile Maps and Geographic Knowledge

Consumer users of maps on mobile devices are producing noteworthy geographic knowledges in the contexts of their own lives that are distinct from those of professional data scientists. By leveraging the streaming nature of big data in mobile maps and zooming multiscalar views, consumer users' mobile map practices produce a popular, multiscalar form of visual geographic knowledge that is both enabled and limited by its big data assemblage and associated technologies. The first half of this article outlines the role of consumer user practices amidst spatial big data assemblages, not for volunteered geographic information or aggregate analysis but for contextual, everyday use. Consumer users and their knowledges are coconstituted through mobile map viewing and as materially limited technological practices. This article focuses specifically on the consumer users' concept of scale in this context, for Web-based maps' multiscalar views differentiate them from older maps. The second half analyzes mobile map consumer users' concepts of scale in a series of focus groups that involved both questions and observing participants' actions with maps on their own phones. Instead of passively accepting maps at predetermined optimized scales from the map application, consumer users actively viewed the map across scales while searching but not while navigating.     

北京市电子地图集的设计与技术实现

在电子地图设计的研究中,“用户界面设计”、“三维景观表达”、“多媒体的使用”、“动态注记”、“图形冲突”和“屏幕地图的交互功能”等都是至关重要的问题。然而在电子地图日益普及的今天,对这些问题的认识还需进一步的研究。本文结合《北京市电子地图集》的创作实践,详细讨论了电子图集的功能设计和界面设计,对以上问题提出了切实可行的的解决方案,并给出了较为理想的试验结果     

2008年以来地图学眼动与视觉认知研究新进展

地图是人类日常生活中不可或缺的工具。地图认知作为研究人对地图的感知、学习、记忆、推理和决策的科学,一直以来是地图学基础理论的重要内容。作为地图认知研究的核心,近年来地图视觉认知在相关学科（如心理学、认知科学和计算机视觉）和新的研究手段（如眼动跟踪、脑电和核磁）的促进下取得了一系列新的研究成果。尤其是眼动跟踪方法作为地图视觉认知研究的重要手段之一,越来越受到研究者的关注,为地图视觉认知研究的定量化、实用化提供了有力支撑。本文系统地梳理了2008年以来眼动跟踪方法在地图视觉认知研究中取得的新进展,并将其归纳为6个发展趋势,分别包括：① 刺激材料：从静态地图到动态交互地图;② 研究范围：从地图认知到地图空间认知;③ 实验环境：从实验室环境到真实环境;④ 地图维度：从二维地图到三维地图;⑤ 个体差异：从单一维度到多维度;⑥ 研究目的：从规律探究到实践应用。本文最后总结了未来研究面临的挑战、难点和可能的解决方法,期望能在地图视觉认知研究中起到抛砖引玉的作用。