Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Fig. 12 Inside-projection
systems of an OmniGlobe
;
left fisheye based, right
mirror based (from Riedl
2012
)
In 2005 a tactile hyperglobe was created at the Department of Geography and
Regional Research of the University of Vienna, Austria. ''Therefore this depart-
ment is the first European research facility which focused research activities on the
visualisation of global topics under the use of spherical displays.'' (Riedl
2012
).
The German Globoccess AG, which closely cooperates with Riedl, offers tactile
hyperglobes and the authoring and presentation software for tactile hyperglobes
named OmniSuite. Two types are offered: the OmniGlobe
, a spherical display
which is based on an inside-projection system (Fig.
12
), and the Hyperglobe
with
an outside-projection system (Fig.
13
). The size of OmniGlobe
globes reaches
from 32 to 60 inches, that of Hyperglobe
80-150 inches. A third possibility—
which unfortunately is not yet available—is direct-projection. This could be rea-
lised with flexible OLED-Displays (organic light-emitting diodes), but they still
need several years of research. With this technique the globe image would have the
best image quality with high resolution, no pixel distortion and no shadows of the
projection beam, etc. (
www.Globoccess
; Riedl
2012
).
For the sake of completeness, at this point the Dresden globe project is men-
tioned, since it also deals with a globe, however not a haptic one like those
described above (Knust et al.
2012
).
5 True-3D in Geophysics and Geology
3D representations are also being increasingly used in Geology. The British
Geological Survey developed in cooperation with the INSIGHT Geologische Soft-
waresysteme GmbH the Subsurface Viewer. With this software 2D geological maps
can be created three-dimensionally. The geological models generated in this viewer
are a valuable supplement to 2D geological map representations (see Fig.
14
).
The single opaque geological layers of the model of Fig.
15
hide much infor-
mation. To be able to perceive all layers—whether by digital data or in physical
material—one has to play with the degree of opacity versus transparency in order
to make all subterranean information visible. This will be of benefit for an easier
