Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
4 The Evolving GeoWeb
Andrew Crooks, Andrew Hudson-Smith,
Arie Croitoru and Anthony Stefanidis
CONTENTS
Abstract ............................................................................................................................................ 69
4.1 Web-Based GeoComputation ................................................................................................. 70
4.2 Evolution of the GeoWeb ........................................................................................................ 70
4.3 Rise of Web 2.0 ....................................................................................................................... 74
4.4 Role of Crowdsourcing and the GeoWeb ................................................................................ 75
4.5 Visualisation and Simulation .................................................................................................. 77
4.5.1 Digital Earths .............................................................................................................. 78
4.5.2 Virtual Worlds ............................................................................................................ 80
4.6 From GIS Software to GIS Services ....................................................................................... 86
4.7 Summary ................................................................................................................................ 89
References ........................................................................................................................................ 92
ABSTRACT
The Internet and its World Wide Web (WWW) have revolutionised many aspects of our daily
lives from how we access and retrieve information to how we communicate with friends and
peers. Over the past two decades, the Web has evolved from a system aimed primarily towards
data access to a medium that fosters information contribution and interaction within large, glob-
ally distributed communities. Just as the Web evolved, so too did Web-based GeoComputation
(GC), which we refer to here as the Geographic World Wide Web or the GeoWeb for short.
Whereas the generation and viewing of geographical information was initially limited to the
purview of specialists and dedicated workstations, it has now become of interest to the general
public and is accessed using a variety of devices such as GPS-enabled smartphones and tab-
lets. Accordingly, in order to meet the needs of this expanded constituency, the GeoWeb has
evolved from displaying static maps to a dynamic environment where diverse datasets can be
accessed, exchanged and mashed together. Within this chapter, we trace this evolution and cor-
responding paradigm shifts within the GeoWeb with a particular focus on Web 2.0 technologies.
Furthermore, we explore the role of the crowd in consuming and producing geographical infor-
mation and how this is influencing GeoWeb developments. Specifically, we are interested in how
location provides a means to index and access information over the Internet. Next, we discuss
the role of Digital Earth and virtual world paradigms for storing, manipulating and displaying
geographical information in an immersive environment. We then discuss how GIS software is
changing towards GIS services and the rise in location-based services (LBS) and lightweight
software applications (so-called apps). Finally, we conclude with a summary of this chapter and
discuss how the GeoWeb might evolve with the rise in massive amounts of locational data being
generated through social media and the growth of augmented reality (AR) applications tied to
specific locations.
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