Stretching Space and Splicing Time: From Cartographic Animation to Interactive Visualization

Animation and cartography present very different traditions to combine. This paper offers some ideas about the directions such a combination might take and presents a series of cartographic animation and visualization case studies involving several unusual representations. These examples range from the interactive exploration of high-resolution, two-dimensional images, to the use of animation in understanding temporal change and three-dimensional structure. Some of the conventional wisdom about the appropriate software applications and visual representations to use is questioned. Exploratory analysis, presenting facts to an interested audience and creating a dramatic image, are seen as distinct tasks, requiring distinctly different animation methods.