Enhancing the accessibility of maps with personal frames of reference

Abstract

The visualization of geographic information requires large displays. Even large screens can be insufficient to visualize e.g. a long route in a scale, such that all decisive elements (like streets and turns) and their spatial context can be shown and understood at once. This is critical as the visualization of spatial data is currently migrating to mobile devices with small displays. Knowledge based maps, such as μMaps are a key to the visual compression of geographic information: those parts of the environment which are familiar to a user are compressed while the unfamiliar parts are displayed in full detail. As a result μMaps consist of elements of two different frames of reference: a personal and a geographic frame of reference. In this paper we argue for the integration personally meaningful places in μMaps. Their role is to clarify the spatial context without increasing the visual representation and they serve as an experienced based key to different scales (the compressed and uncompressed parts of the environment) of μMaps. © 2009 Springer Berlin Heidelberg.