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Geo Informatics 1-2008
ems keynote speaker rob van essen (teleatlas) user friendliness is another issue in visualizing 3d data. it is expected that this will increase as systems draw more users and designers take careful account of consumer demands. this leads to another issue, namely that of standardization in visualizing 3d. positioning in particular is something that has not been standardized in 3d. where a 2d map, like a printed map, always has north pointing ‘up’, this varies when talking about 3d: tomtom users can choose between having north at the top of the screen in their navigation systems or letting the environment rotate with the direction of traffic flow. at the moment it is not clear if positioning is something that can be standardized, or if the many possible ways of positioning can be used independently of each other. weather conditions the biggest advantage for visualizing 3d is the visualization of dynamic objects and appearance in 3d, like traffic flows and weather conditions. the question is how to visualize the aspect of movement, not so much that of appearance. it is expected that the future of 3d visualization will be about smart objects that tell you where they are and what they are, like information about traffic jams or diversions. much of the problem-solving in 3d visualization will depend on user demands: it’s nice to retrieve data with a high level of detail in 3d, but is this what every user wants? an example from the world of gaming shows how much user demands can vary. a participant of the session: “i’m very interested in the level of detail in 3d in my son’s most recent shoot-em-up game, but he’s only interested in the different types of guns that are available in the game”. techniques in 3d will make it possible to do much more than ever before, but user demands will have to help direct these techniques when creating new applications. eric van rees evanrees@geoinformatics.com is editorial manager of geoinformatics. more information on www.3d-geoinfo-07.nl latest news? visit www.geoinformatics.com 43 january/february 2008
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