Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
(a)
(b)
Figure 15.6
Rotary Clubs in the Netherlands. In the map (a) all Rotary Clubs in the Netherlands
are displayed together with their history. In the cube (b) each club is represented by a station,
which appears at the starting date of that particular club. The horizontal line in the cube links new
clubs to their parent clubs. The base map has been moved to 1935
not have simple black-and-white answers. Although lots of testing has to be done, it is likely
that the same graphic representation might work for some users with certain tasks in mind,
while it might completely fail for others. For a start it would be interesting to see how a
simple cube as shown in Figure 15.1 would compare with a map with the same data. The
map could, for instance, have the start and arrival timed display on the harbour symbols.
Probably these two come close, especially if both are interactive and easy accessible. An
animation of the boat trip could be an alternative. The sport examples demonstrate that
each view in a multiple view environment has its own strength. The path, map and graph
each displaying and emphasizing different aspects of the data allow one to look at the
data from different perspectives. This alone would, in an exploratory environment, be a
good argument for having them all. For presentation purposes, depending on the message
needing to be sent, one selects one of them. The data on Napoleon in Figure 15.4 clearly
demonstrate the space-time cube's advantage in relation to the display of time. The stay in
Moscow would be missed using the map alone. The crossing of the Berezina results is a more
complex image. The cube gives the overview and a linked map could show the animated
snapshot that corresponds with the cube's base map along the time axis. The relief model in
the cube might look impressive; the combination of time and heights might be confusing. It
could be better to have a separate view for the terrain model in which the paths are plotted
on the terrain in real time. The Black Death example is the most complex application of
the space-time cube. The station view with over 300 locations is reasonably clear. The path
created from the start of the disease for each location seems complex and chaotic on its own.
An animation through this cube with all other views linked and highlighting the current
location and time might prove to be a possible solution. Looking at large amounts of data
is not easy. A simplified mapping is always possible, but in an exploratory environment one
would like to have a full overview, play with the data by selection and filtering and obtain
details from the database on demand (Shneiderman, 1996).
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