Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 15.5
The Black Death in a space-time cube. The mediaeval Black Death epidemic is dis-
played in a map (a) and an animation frame (b). The map shows the location of data points and the
animation frame the spread of the epidemic at the end of 1348 (data courtesy of Christakos
et al
.,
2005). The locations have been mapped as stations in the cube (c). Their size corresponds to the
number of deaths over the years the plague was active at that location. The graphs in (d) and
(e) show for each location the start date of the epidemic in alphabetical and chronological order,
respectively. The chronological order has been used to create a path connecting all the station and
is displayed in the cube in (f)
15.5 Discussion
From the above examples it seems that almost any kind of data can be displayed in the
space-time cube, if not in one of the link views. However, there are some basic questions
to be asked related to cognition and usability. Does the user understand what she sees? Are
other mapping techniques more suitable? When does a certain space-time path make sense?
Can we use time and the third spatial dimension along the same axis? These questions will
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