Improvement of task-oriented visual interpretation of VGI points (TOVIP)
Volunteered
Geographic Information (VGI) is very often generated as point data
(e.g. Points
of Interests, location of a photo taken). As one of the main
characteristics,
VGI data show an enormous volume as well as semantic and temporal
heterogeneity.
At a certain map scale and amount of data, this will lead to point
clutters,
which are not only hiding important information, but also making the
map
unreadable. Thus, reducing geometric and thematic clutter and improving
the
interpretability of static, multi-scale or multi-temporal
visualizations of VGI
points is a task of major relevance. Instead of looking at isolated
generalization operations only, the project TOVIP –
„Improvement of
task-oriented visual interpretation of VGI point data”
focuses on optimizing
generalization workflows designed for specific high-level visual
interpretation
tasks, especially focusing on the identification and preservation of
spatial
patterns.
Normally,
generalization methods like aggregation, selection or simplification,
are
applied in order to overcome the aforementioned clutter problems,
merging the
user-generated information by reducing the amount of visible point
symbols. Nevertheless,
under certain conditions, these generation methods disperse spatial
patterns, reducing
the usability in visual presentation and exploration, especially when
the
interpretation of high-level patterns (e.g. hot spots, extreme values)
is of
interest. Therefore, the TOVIP project focuses on the optimization of
generalization workflows regarding these specific visual interpretation
tasks.
This
research project is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) as
part of
the Priority Programme 1894 (“VGIscience”).
For more information please refer to the VGI Science homepage or the TOVIP@VGI Science website.
