Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
issues (Sheppard
2005, 2006)
. Sheppard and Cizek
(2009)
show several examples
of misuse of landscape visualization, and suggest a code of ethics, with “the
combination of scientific/technical expertise, 3D computer modelling skills, and
understanding of social responses to landscape imagery”.
Decisions support systems are increasingly being applied in spatial planning,
and virtual landscapes become an important part of decision making. Planners
recognise realism as an important factor in this type of visualisation (Appleton and
Lovett
2005
). It is important to define an appropriate level of realism, because the pho-
torealism can have potential negative effects if it is not linked to real-world data.
Furthermore, the very fact that we have so much control over the content and style of
a visualisation means that everything must be questioned -viewpoint choice, pre-
sentation method and addition of auxiliary information should all be considered
alongside realism issues when creating images for planning purposes, since they
are not subject to the limitations imposed by photo-based or artistic techniques, and
they all have the potential to affect the feedback gained from a consultation exercise.
The opportunities presented by advancing technology should not be automatically
taken, but carefully evaluated and implemented with regard to the needs of the
project in question. Only then will computer-generated visualisations form a useful
and reliable part of the planning process.
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