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Title

EXPLORING GEOSPATIAL DATA ON AN INTERACTIVE TABLETOP – A VENICE CASE STUDY

Abstract

The work with geospatial data routinely is carried out in groups with users exploring the data in
ways according to their varying expertise and needs. However, geographical visualization applications
often are suited for individual expert users, only. In this paper, we introduce and describe a case study
on collaborative geo-visualization on an interactive tabletop.
We developed and designed new methods to communicate urban and territorial data in visual and
interactive ways, enabling experts and non-experts alike to participate in the discovery and analysis of
information located in the physical world. Our application visualizes the spatial and conceptual
relations of architectural projects to enable investigating the transformation process of the city of
Venice. The prototype is built for a big tabletop display and shows projects on a map as basis layer,
with connections and further metadata visible on demand. The map can be navigated by multitouch,
while a tangible object allows browsing the projects by selecting and filtering various metadata facets.
Multiple users can stand around the table and interact with the visualization, thus allowing directed
collaborative exploration as well as to find connections by serendipity when multiple persons each
want to examine the projects they are interested in.
This paper gives an overview on the development of the prototype, discusses design decisions and
their impact, and presents first results of a usability evaluation.

Authors

Till Nagel - University of Applied Sciences Potsdam
Massimiliano Condotta - Università Iuav di Venezia