Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Design map'

Gustav Vasa association, among other things, works to inform the public about Strängnäs interesting background about Swedish history and cultural heritage. Their purpose is to promote Strängnäs as an interesting travel destination to visit and teach visitors about Swedish history during the 15th to 17th century specifically. Their objective is to promote and deliver this information through interactive and innovative platforms in order to attract a younger target group, but also to engage the user’s interaction. This research contains the strategies and methods needed in order to create a digitally interactive and cultural map of Strängnäs, that would achieve both visual engaging and guiding purposes. Under this research, multiple methodologies were performed in order to get a more in-depth knowledge about the Swedish domestic traveller needs, preferences, motivations and behaviours before and while leisure traveling. In addition to that, theories from emotional design, rhetorical, storytelling and cartographic visual techniques among others, are presented to give this thesis a base to visually engage and guide the users. The data collection methods used in this research has been both as observations, interviews with Gustav Vasa association, tourist centres in Eskilstuna, Västerås and Strängnäs and with the target group, with the purpose of gather data relevant as this research´s basis. Along with these, user testing methods such as A/B testing, think aloud and usability testing were conducted as to evaluate the resulting design concepts from the data collection methods. This thesis resulted in that a combination of both emotional and rhetorical theories, and both flat and skeuomorphic design styles, created an engaging and persuading visual content. This concluding in making users want to interact with the map´s visual and textual context within the map´s digital interaction. The use of visual concepts that could be associated by a both visceral and reflective level of design (Norman, 2005) concluded in a stronger engaging response from the users, as well as, the use of visual rhetorical theories within the map´s visual content. Finally, the use of storytelling techniques both in visual and textual context lured the user to interact with the information provided by the design.

What is good map design and how should information best be visualised for a human reader? This is a general question relevant for all types of design and especially for digital maps and various Geographic Information Systems (GIS), due to the rapid development of our digital world. This general question is answered in this thesis by presenting a number of principles and tips for design of maps and specifically interactive digital visualisation systems, such as a GIS. Furthermore, this knowledge is applied to the application dpPower, by Digpro, which present the tools to help customers manage, visualise, design and perform calculations on their electrical networks. The visualisation and design of the network was analysed together with the usage of two common background maps, GSD-Fastighetskartan by Lantmäteriet and Primärkartan by the municipalities, whose default appearances are defined by Digpro. The aim was to answer whether there is a more suitable design of the background maps and network to better complement the usage of dpPower and if so, what is the better design? When designing interactive systems that will later have various end-users, a user-centred design is important. Therefore, the initial step was to collect user inputs and feedback on the current design via customer interviews. This gave a set of user criteria for good map design of dpPower specifically. A study of existing relevant literature and previous work was also performed where several general key principles for good design could be identified. Finally, a comparison between the dpPower design and other existing map products, such as e.g. Google Maps and Eniro, was made where key similarities and dissimilarities were identified and discussed. These user criteria and design principles could be combined, both to present an answer to the general question “What is good design?” and to present a suggestion of new map appearance in dpPower. Key considerations in the new design suggestions were e.g. to have a toned down background map with all features in the same hue family. However, for GSD-Fastighetskartan the important convention of land classes, blue = water, green = vegetation \& yellow = open land, should be kept. Colour combinations and contrast is the most important design element and since a design cannot be optimally adapted for all types of colour vision deficiencies, the suggestion is to separate the designs to specifically target user groups of different colour vision abilities. Important map information such as e.g. detailed road data should be kept while unnecessary features such as contour lines and polygon borderlines should be hidden. Text positions should also be considered. The results were evaluated both via a survey, distributed to users of dpPower, GIT-students and users with no previous experience of GIT or dpPower, and a seminar with employees at Digpro. The conclusions drawn from the evaluation was that the presented design suggestions and principles are good, but adjustments should be made. E.g. a use of yellow for low voltage cables, as suggested for Red-Green impaired, is perhaps not the best solution. The results present a good foundation for design of dpPower but more adjustments should be made based on the evaluation and then another evaluation can be performed. It would give an even better result.

This thesis describes a doctoral project which has addressed some of the problems of automatically performing cartographic generalization in a holistic manner, that is, processing the map features in the context of the whole map rather than individual features in isolation. The approach is based on two key ideas: firstly, that the map surface can be represented by a structure based on simplicial complexes which provides useful relationships for topology and proximity and facilitates many of the fundamental generalization operations. Secondly, that the epistemological structures needed for generalization can be represented by a hierarchy of "context" frames, each of which encapsulate the knowledge required to recognize, generalize and resolve a cartographic situation. A data structure that uses simplicial complexes to represent map objects has been designed and implemented. Each object is described by a set of two-dimensional simplices (triangles) that are maintained in the form of a constrained Delaunay triangulation. This structure gives a fully connected two-dimensional plenum that stores important spatial relationships such as "enclosed", "adjacent" and "between" explicitly. This simplicial data structure (SDS), as it is called, can be used directly to perform several types of operations necessary for automatic generalization, for example, automatic overlap detection, displacement, merging, enlargement, simplification of building outlines and skeletonization. Algorithms for many of these operators have been implemented while others are proposed. Pseudo-code and descriptions are used to document many of these operators, results are given and discussed. A frame-based architecture is proposed which provides a framework for the representation and application of knowledge for generalization. The project was funded by an EPSRC CASE studentship in collaboration with the Ordnance Survey.

This thesis proposes a concept for exploring cities with an inclusive map. Most of current studies and projects only include one kind of user groups if creating systems for navigation and exploring new areas. Often, if creating a system for a very exclusive user group, e. g. visually impaired, other user groups are not considered. Though in order to create an accessible system, studies should include the user in the range of the most inclusive and most exclusive user groups. This is why we tried to create the concept of a design for an accessible city map under the approach of inclusive design. Since around 15 per cent of the world population suffer from some kind of disability, we decided to start with the most exclusive users of a city map – visually impaired. Therefore, theoretical and practical human-centred design methods are used to create a prototype hand in hand with the future user groups. The details used in the design process incorporates data from 10 survey answers from visually impaired people as well as data from 10 interviews with sighted people and a workshop with six people from different professions out of sociology, tourism marketing, HCI and language sciences. Additionally, at the end of the process, an evaluation with three visually impaired and two sighted people was used to prove the concept of the created prototype. The prototype was created with different digital fabrication and IoT tools and technologies. It should help to make public spaces more accessible and explorable. We hope to deliver a base idea of an accessible city map, which shows how to include inclusive design in the regular design process, in order to design without exceptions. The evaluation showed that our idea worked and that even though the users' groups are very different, they have a lot in common.

Mobile devices today frequently serve as platforms for the visualisation of map-based data. Despite the obvious advantages, mobile map-based visualisation (MMV) systems are often difficult to design and use. Limited screen space, resource constraints and awkward interaction mechanisms are among the many problems with which designers and users have to contend. Adaptive user interfaces (AUIs), which adapt to the individual user, represent a possible means of addressing the problems of MMV. Adaptive MMV systems are, however, generally designed in an ad-hoc fashion, making the benefits achieved difficult to replicate. In addition, existing models for adaptive MMV systems are either conceptual in nature or only address a subset of the possible input variables and adaptation effects. The primary objective of this research was to develop and evaluate an adaptive MMV system using a model-based approach. The Proteus Model was proposed to support the design of MMV systems which adapt in terms of information, visualisation and user interface in response to the user‟s behaviour, tasks and context. The Proteus Model describes the architectural, interface, data and algorithm design of an adaptive MMV system. A prototype adaptive MMV system, called MediaMaps, was designed and implemented based on the Proteus Model. MediaMaps allows users to capture, location-tag, organise and visualise multimedia on their mobile phones. Information adaptation is performed through the use of an algorithm to assist users in sorting media items into collections based on time and location. Visualisation adaptation is performed by adapting various parameters of the map-based visualisations according to user preferences. Interface adaptation is performed through the use of adaptive lists. An international field study of MediaMaps was conducted in which participants were required to use MediaMaps on their personal mobile phones for a period of three weeks. The results of the field study showed that high levels of accuracy were achieved by both the information and interface adaptations. High levels of user satisfaction were reported, with participants rating all three forms of adaptation as highly useful. The successful implementation of MediaMaps provides practical evidence that the model-based design of adaptive MMV systems is feasible. The positive results of the field study clearly show that the adaptations implemented were highly accurate and that participants found these adaptations to be useful, usable and easy to understand. This research thus provides empirical evidence that the use of AUIs can provide significant benefits for the visualisation of map-based information on mobile devices.

The ever increasing demand of our information society for reliable Geographic Information (GI) is the moving power for the development and maintenance of Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDI). Consequently, an SDI works to full benefit of its users if the SDI data collection is accessible and can be efficiently used by all users in spatial problem solving and decision-making. Current development and use of SDI focuses on handling geospatial data entirely by means of information technology. Thereby, low awareness seems to be paid to a user-friendly and understandable presentation of geospatial data. Based on the understanding that GI is the result of human geospatial information processing, it is argued that cartography is essential in the SDI context in order to achieve the objectives of SDI. Specifically, the thesis aimed at exploring the concept of user-oriented map design in relation to SDI and elaborating a methodology for creating effective cartographic representations for SDI relevant user types. First of all, the SDI concept, its objectives and principles are explored using the example of the current European SDI initiatives as to the human aspect of an SDI. Secondly, in order to determine the role and task of cartography in the SDI context, the conceptual framework of contemporary cartography is reviewed to provide the theoretical and technological framework for a user-oriented map design. Given this, the SDI environment is assessed in relation to cartography with respect to the services providing access to the SDI data collection. Further, an SDI map production framework is elaborated utilising Spiess’ concept of the graphic filter as a model for the transformation of SDI data into useful cartographic representations. Besides, the map design strategy by Grünreich provides the starting point for developing the process of map production. The main tasks are detailed and justified taking into consideration the semiotic-cognitive and action-related concepts underpinning contemporary cartography. The applied research encompasses a case study which is performed to implement and, thus, evaluate the proposed methodology. It starts from a use case scenario where an international spatial planning team requires getting familiar with the overall geographic characteristics of a European cross-border area. Following the process steps of user-oriented map design in the SDI environment, a map design specification is elaborated and implemented under real world conditions. The elaborated methodology for creating user-friendly and understandable cartographic representations of geospatial data in the SDI environment is based on theoretical and technological foundation of contemporary cartography. Map design in the SDI context, first of all, means to establish a graphic filter that determines the parameters and rules of the cartographic transformation process to be applied. As both an applied art and engineering the design of the graphic filter is a creative process developing a map design solution which enables SDI users to easily produce their map. It requires on the one hand an understanding of map use, map user and map use situation, and on the other hand insight into the data used as the source. The case study proves that the elaborated methodology is practicable and functional. Cartographic reverse engineering provides a systematic and pragmatic approach to the cartographic design task. This way, map design solutions can be built upon existing cartographic experience and common traditions as suggested by the INSPIRE recommendation for portrayal. The resulting design solution constitutes a prototype of a European Reference Map at medium scale built upon existing cartographic experience and common traditions. A user-friendly, understandable and comparable presentation of geospatial data in Europe would support the human and institutional potential for cross-border cooperation and collaboration. Besides that, the test implementation shows that tools are available which make it technically feasible and viable to produce a map from geospatial data in the SDI data collection. The research project raises awareness to the human aspect of SDI inherit in its objective to support end users to derive GI and knowledge from the geospatial data gathered in the SDI data collection. The role and task of cartography in the SDI context is to contribute to the initiation, creation, and maintenance of portrayal services to facilitate a comprehensive access to the underlying geospatial data by means of a user-friendly and understandable graphic interface. For cartography to take effect in the SDI development and use, cartographic design knowledge has to be made explicit and operational. It is the responsibility of cartographic professionals to prepare the map design. The wide range of map use contexts requires a great flexibility of design variants depending on the dimension of human-map interaction. Therefore, the design of the maps needs to be user-driven to enable an efficient map use in the user’s task. Besides their function as a graphic interface, maps facilitate a common understanding of the depicted geographic features and phenomena when sharing GI between SDI users. In other words, map design can be regarded a measure to establish interoperability of geospatial data beyond the technical level. The research work is in the scope of communication cartography, a research domain seeking to deepen the understanding of the role of cartographic expressions when understanding and communication of GI is involved
Der wachsende Bedarf unserer Wissensgesellschaft an zuverlässigen Informationen über räumliche Strukturen und Sachverhalte ist die treibende Kraft bei Aufbau und Einsatz von Geodateninfrastrukturen (GDI). Eine Geodateninfrastruktur wirkt zum vollen Nutzen der Gesellschaft, wenn die Daten in der GDI zugänglich sind und effektiv für Erkenntnis- und Entscheidungsprozesse genutzt werden können. Die gegenwärtige Entwicklung von GDI setzt auf moderne Informationstechnologien bei der Geodatenverarbeitung. Dabei, wird einer bedarfsgerechten und nutzerfreundlichen Präsentation von Geodaten in ansprechender visueller Form wenig Aufmerksamkeit zuteil. Da Geoinformation erst durch die Interaktion des Nutzers mit den Geodaten entsteht, ist es Aufgabe der Kartographie, bedarfsgerechte Kartendarstellungen zu gestalten und an der Schnittstelle zwischen einer Geodateninfrastruktur und ihren Nutzern bereitzustellen. Ziel der vorliegenden Dissertation ist es, eine Methodik für den Kartenherstellungsprozess in einer GDI-Umgebung zu entwickeln und beispielhaft zu erproben. Zunächst, werden Konzept, Ziele und Prinzipien von Geodateninfrastruktur beispielhaft anhand der Europäischen GDI-Initiativen dargestellt und hinsichtlich des Bedarfs an kartographischen Darstellungen untersucht. Danach wird, ausgehend von der Forderung nach verständlichen und gut interpretierbaren Geoinformationen, die Rolle der Kartographie im GDI-Kontext bestimmt. Dabei werden zunächst Funktion und Aufgaben der Kartographie sowie die tragenden Konzepte und Grundlagen einer nutzerorientierten Kartengestaltung dargelegt. Der Vergleich der bestehenden Geodatenzugangsdienste zur Funktion der Kartographie ergibt eine Lücke, die es zu schließen gilt, um den Nutzeranforderungen gerecht zu werden. Dazu wird der Gesamtprozess für die Herstellung von Karten im GDI-Kontext beschrieben. In diesem Prozess kommt dem Graphikfilter von Spiess (2003) besondere Bedeutung als Modell eines wissensbasierten Systems zur Aufstellung und Umsetzung von kartographischen Gestaltungsregeln zu. Den Ausgangspunkt für die Ausarbeitung der Teilprozesse bieten die von Grünreich (2008) vorgeschlagenen Teilaufgaben der Kartographie im Rahmen der GDI. Mittels eines Anwendungsfalls im Europäischen Kontext wird der vorgeschlagene Gesamtprozess erprobt. Dieses Beispiel geht davon aus, dass eine internationale Planungsgruppe im Zuge der Konzeption einer grenzüberschreitenden Verkehrsverbindung eine anschauliche Beschreibung der Landschaft in Form einer einheitlich gestalteten und flächendeckenden Karte benötigt. Durch Anwendung des kartographischen Reverse Engineering anerkannt gut gestalteter Karten werden die Vorgaben für die Kartengestaltung ermittelt. Einschließlich der Anwendung auf konkrete GDI-Daten wird der zuvor entwickelte Herstellungsprozess ausgeführt und diskutiert. Die entwickelte Methodik für den Kartenherstellungsprozess in der GDI-Umgebung basiert auf den semiotisch-kognitiven und handlungstheoretischen Konzepten der modernen Kartographie. Kartengestaltung im Kontext von Geodateninfrastrukturen bedeutet die Entwicklung eines Graphikfilters, der eine optimale bedarfsgerechte Visualisierung der Geodaten mittels nutzerspezifischer Parameter und Gestaltungsregeln ermöglicht. Wie das Fallbeispiel zeigt, ist es die durch die entwickelte Methodik möglich, brauchbare und nützliche Kartendarstellungen zu gestalten. Die Anwendung des kartographischen Reverse Engineering erlaubt es, Kartendarstellungen zu entwickeln, die - wie von INSPIRE empfohlen - bewährten kartographischen Erfahrungen und allgemeinen Traditionen entsprechen. Das Ergebnis des Anwendungsfalls ist ein Prototyp einer Europäischen Referenzkarte im Maßstab 1: 250,000. Die einheitliche und somit vergleichbare Darstellung über Grenzen hinweg unterstützt das Planungsteam in seiner Arbeit. Die praktische Umsetzung der Karte zeigt zudem, dass funktionsfähige Werkzeuge und Technologien für die regelbasierte Kartenherstellung aus GDI-Daten vorhanden sind. Die Dissertation trägt dazu bei, das Bewusstsein für den menschlichen Aspekt der Nutzung einer Geodateninfrastruktur zu schärfen. Der Beitrag der Kartographie zur Nutzung der Geodaten einer GDI besteht in der Initiierung, Gestaltung und Pflege von Darstellungsdiensten, da die Nutzbarkeit der Geodaten am besten gewährleistet ist, wenn die Gestaltungsmethoden der Kartographie angewendet werden. Dabei liegt es in der Verantwortung der Kartographen, die nutzerseitigen Aspekte dieser graphischen Schnittstelle unter Berücksichtigung der modernen kartographischen Konzepte zu betreuen. Gemäß INSPIRE-Richtlinie werden auf Karten gestützte Informationen bei zahlreichen Tätigkeiten verwendet. Für eine effektive visuelle Informationsverarbeitung durch den Nutzer ist daher eine nutzerorientierte Kartengestaltung in Abhängigkeit von der geplanten Interaktion (z.B. Kommunikation oder Analyse) unerlässlich. Neben der Funktion als Schnittstelle machen kartographische Darstellungen räumliche Strukturen verständlich. Daher ist die Kartenherstellung im GDI-Kontext eine Maßnahme, um Interoperabilität von Geodaten über die technische Ebene hinaus auf menschlicher Ebene zu ermöglichen. Die Relevanz dieser Forschungsarbeit liegt im Bereich der Kommunikationskartographie, die die Effektivität und Verbindlichkeit der Kommunikation über räumliche Strukturen und Sachverhalte zu vertiefen sucht

Previous research has indicated an increasing need for intelligent automated design. The contention of this project is that Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) techniques can be used to mimic the process of map design in cartography. A suitable environment for such a map system is considered. Attention is focused on methods for identifying and resolving conflicts that occur when spatial data are displayed using cartographic techniques. The research attempts to find a suitable mechanism for describing and identifying spatial conflicts and serves to focus attention on exactly what makes good map design. It appears that human judgement of design requires the understanding of the map as a whole and is based on geographical knowledge and an understanding of spatial processes. This is in addition to the knowledge of design and perception of maps. An appropriate method of description enables evaluation and assessment of the graphic. The potential spatial conflicts that can occur in a map, along with possible solutions for resolving those conflicts, are identified. Automated techniques were devised for identifying features in proximity and resolving those clusters by application of cartographic license (localized feature displacement). Following from this the knowledge governing the use of all generalization techniques is identified and explicitly itemized. A suitable taxonomy of rules is investigated and the knowledge implemented in a rule based system called CLARITY. The rules base contains over one hundred rules. The results and evaluation of the implementation, together with suggested further work conclude this project.

For many years, the construction industry in Sweden has not developed much of an integral approach for design across disciplines. The sector’s impact on society, economics and environment is huge. To make the interactions within the construction industry more efficient, a relatively new concept called BIM (Building Information Modeling) has been introduced. The idea with BIM is that the different actors of the construction industry will work through intelligent CAD software, with common file formats and more cooperation between different actors during the various steps of the building and construction process. The technical consultancy company WSP Sweden is working actively to implement BIM within the frame of its activities. One step towards BIM is the use of their visualization software Novapoint Virtual Map in a better way. They lack a good system to show which pipes belongs to different documents, i.e. some kind of status management. Another step towards BIM is to be able to change and revise Water and Sewage 3D-models with HVAC 3D-models, and to be able to detect possible errors in the connection nodes early in the designing stage. In this thesis work, a CAD-model has been created in Novapoint VA, the CAD software used to design pipe and sewage systems at WSP. The designed model is divided into many stages which creates many parallel documents at the same time. The model is visualized in Novapoint Virtual Map where functions for status management are created. With the help of grouping functions in the software it is possible to show pipes that belong to different documents at the same time. The more documents there are in the same model the longer it takes to create the model, which is something that could be improved in later editions of the software. In this paper, seven tests were carried on to examine how water and sewage pipes CAD-models created in Novapoint VA can be jointly revised with HVAC CAD-models created in MagiCAD. The result of the test shows that four of these tests can be used to revise the models. To use one of these methods, according to the BIM model, for changes and revisions of models can help avoid mistakes in connection points already at design stage.

The London Postal Map was introduced in 1856. It drew a boundary around London, and then divided the city into ten districts: EC, WC, N, NE, E, SE, S, SW, W and NW. It was a technological innovation that greatly increased the speed and efficiency of the movement of post around London, in a period when the postal service was the primary form of communication. Service became incredibly quick, frequent, and accessible; almost as instantaneous as the internet today. Deliveries began at 7.22am, with deliveries on the hour, every hour throughout the day. Letters posted at 7.30pm in central London would reach outer London suburbs that same evening. This thesis considers a period from 1830 until 1918, corresponding to the period of the beginnings of the Map’s story, to a major change in the Map during the First World War. It describes the origins of the Postal Map, and then explores its effects in the context of a rapidly developing city. It speculates on meanings of mapping the city where new names and boundaries are introduced and visualized. It investigates the development of the city, understanding the post as an essential part of London’s infrastructure. It considers how people experienced a city in which millions of letters, thousands of postmen, and hundreds of mail carts were moving each week. The Postal Map is argued to be one of the causal factors of modernity within London; it meant urban space was linked to a particular temporality – modern, fast-paced, connected. It changed how Londoner’s conceived their city through providing a new framework for labelling places in relation to each other, stating what was east, what was west.   The project uses the extensive archives held by the Postal Museum, which include hundreds of maps, to tell the story of the Postal Map. It combines methodologies from social history, technological and administrative histories, mapping theory, urban planning history, and design history to gain a rich understanding of the full spatial implications of this designed object: the London Postal Map.

Entertainment games are known for their motivational and engaging benefits when it comes to teaching the player how to play games. Still, there is little research about the connection between pedagogy and entertainment games. This knowledge could be used to develop educational games that utilize those sought after benefits of engagement and motivation. The purpose of this research is therefore to conduct a case study that identifies the underlying pedagogical elements in the level design components game progression and pacing in the entertainment game Space Team: Pocket Planets. The results show that by breaking down gameplay into level design components, used to teach the player how to play the game, and mapping them to a learning taxonomy, the pedagogical elements that corresponds to those components can be identified. This information can be used as a method when it comes to evaluating the pedagogy present in other games and to bridge the knowledge gap between game designers of educational and entertainment games.

Web maps are today used more than ever. These are often displayed in geographical information system solutions. Web maps are often constructed in the terms of different layers where the bottom-most layer is called base map or background map. A specific kind of base maps are those that are the canvas for utility networks. These base maps can look vastly different from each other. Sometimes the base map can be overlooked. Currently there are different theories and opinions on how these base maps shall be designed and what information they shall contain. This thesis investigates a suitable base map design for utility network management and also creates some prototypes as a proof of concept. The thesis focus mostly on three factors, colour, information visualisation and symbology. This is investigated by using a user-centred design approach and comparing it to existing findings in literature and among map theories. The user-centred design process involves a case study performed with participants that work with utility networks in web map solutions. The research method is an iterative process where the participants are answering three quantitative surveys. The surveys includes prototypes which is refined for each step after analysing the participants answers. The thesis concludes that low saturated colours is good practise to enhance the network, this is both evident in literature as well as in the case study. Amount of lightness in the base map seem to be more of a opinionated matter and can highly differentiate depending on users device. Using hue is recommended to make borders between map elements more distinct. The base map shall only obtain the most relevant information and more specific information is recommended to be added through additional layers. Further studies need to be done in order to investigate the networks design and there is also a need to investigate how a map solution with several layers shall be design and how the relationships between those layers shall be constructed for utility network management

Zoning map for Johnson City, Tennessee created March 9, 2007 by Johnson City GIS. The guide to zoning districts can be found in a box on the lower left corner. The color coded key and additional information is included along the bottom. Arterial and collector streets are also denoted using empty versus solid circles. Scale - 1" = 2500'
https://dc.etsu.edu/rare-maps/1060/thumbnail.jpg

Zoning map for Johnson City, Tennessee created July 2, 2021 by Johnson City GIS. The guide to zoning districts can be found in a box on the side of map. The color coded key and additional information is included. An inset of downtown is featured in the bottom left corner. Scale 1" = 2000'
https://dc.etsu.edu/rare-maps/1061/thumbnail.jpg

In our society multiple hierarchies exist when it comes to bodies. These hierarchies find their way to many fields of our daily life, including map applications (apps) and while places are becoming more inclusive, most of them are still tailored to a more “normal” user. In this explorative design thesis, I intend to explore different perceptions of the city and maps from the position of a wheelchair user by bringing multidisciplinary practices in Interaction Design field and through several design concepts. The thesis will follow the principles of Research-through-Design and will be supported with research in pluriversal design, phenomenology and norm creative innovation. It will explore the notion of “value” through different encounters between bodies and maps.

Thesis: M. Eng., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2017.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 23-25).
The Tangible Map is an interactive 3D printed MIT map (Tangible Map) that will be exhibited in the MIT Atlas Welcome Center. The Tangible Map will allow users to select buildings by touching them or search by building name, department, or faculty name on an iPad interface. The main goal of the project is to provide better access to knowledge and information about MIT life and the MIT campus to for both visitors and the MIT community. The system consists of a web app and a native iPad app, both of which connect to an Node.js server to communicate commands and retrieve data. The web app is displayed across two large touch-sensitive displays, and the printed buildings are positioned on top of the displays. Extensive software testing and user testing was done in order to ensure the robustness of the system and the effectiveness of the user interface.
by Chris Kevin G. Ong.
M. Eng.

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Outro
Disparity maps are key components of a stereo vision system. Autonomous navigation, 3D reconstruction, and mobility are examples of areas of research which use disparity maps as an important element. Although a lot of work has been done in the stereo vision field, it is not easy to build stereo systems with concepts such as reuse and extensible scope. In this study, we explore this gap and it presents a software architecture that can accommodate different stereo methods through a standard structure. Firstly, it introduces some scenarios that illustrate use cases of disparity maps and it shows a novel architecture that foments code reuse. A Disparity Computation Framework (DCF) is presented and we discuss how its components are structured. Then we developed a prototype which closely follows the proposal architecture and we prepared some test cases to be performed. Furthermore, we have implemented disparity methods for validation purposes and to evaluate our disparity refinement method. This refinement method, named as Segmented Consistency Check (SCC), was designed to increase the robustness of stereo matching algorithms. It consists of a segmentation process, statistical analysis of grouping areas and a support weighted function to find and to fill in unknown disparities. The experimental results show that the DCF can satisfy different scenarios on-demand. Besides, they show that SCC method is an efficient approach that can make some enhancements in disparity maps, as reducing the disparity error measure.
Mapas de disparidade são elementos cruciais em sistemas de visão estéreo. Navegação autônoma, reconstrução 3D e mobilidade são exemplos de área de pesquisa que utilizam mapas de disparidade como elementos-chave. Embora muitos trabalhos têm sido feitos na área de visão estéreo, ainda assim, não é trivial construir sistemas estéreos com aplicação de conceitos como reutilização e escopo extensível. Neste estudo, exploramos essa lacuna e apresentamos uma arquitetura de software capaz de acomodar diferentes métodos de visão estéreo através de uma estrutura bem definida. Inicialmente, cenários que ilustram usos de mapa de disparidade são introduzidos e uma arquitetura que fomenta reutilização de código é apresentada. Dessa forma, um Framework de Cálculo de Disparidade (FCD) é apresentado e seus componentes são discutidos a fim de especificar a sua estrutura. Em seguida, um protótipo que segue a arquitetura proposta é apresentado e alguns casos de teste são preparados e executados. Além disso, métodos de cálculo de disparidade foram implementados para propostas de validação e para avaliar o método de refinamento de disparidade proposto pelos autores. Esse método de refinamento, chamado de Checagem de Consistência de Segmento (CCS), foi projetado para aumentar a robustez de algoritmos de combinação estéreo. Trata-se de um método que utiliza um processo de segmentação preliminar, análise estatística de áreas definidas e função ponderada de suporte para encontrar e preencher disparidades marcadas como desconhecidas. Os resultados dos experimentos realizados apontam que o FCD pode satisfazer diferentes cenários sob demanda. Além disso, os resultados mostram que o método CCS é uma abordagem eficiente que pode trazer certos melhoramentos em mapas de disparidade, como reduzir a medida de erro no cálculo de correspondências estéreo.

This exploratory study aims to elucidate the mental processes of wayfinding in an outdoor area and the effects of map contour representations, map color, individual differences of users (gender, brain dominance, experience level, and cultural differences), and environmental cues using a field study in an established trail network in Jefferson National Forest. Six maps with three different contour representations (contour lines, shaded relief, and schematic) and two color codes (color and black-and-white) were tested for wayfinding performance. Thirty-six participants of different nationalities (Locals versus Internationals), experience in map usage (experienced versus novice), handedness, and gender took part in the study. Three out of ten junctions on the test route had directional signs while the rest had no sign. The participants performed wayfinding tasks in a national forest trail park, using the think aloud and retrospective protocols to obtain the information processes used by the participants during wayfinding. Subjective feedback was also obtained to find out usersâ map preferences and opinions on their experience during the experiment.

Multiple regression analyses were used to predict the relationship of the predictor variables to wayfinding performance. It was found that cultural differences and signage presence were significant predictors of decision-making accuracy at trail junctions. The rest of the predictors were not significant in predicting total time of completion, time for decision-making at junction, accuracy of decision-making, and time deviated from route due to choosing a wrong path at junction. Cultural differences were also significant in the prediction of the time deviated from route.

It was also found that the participants were using maps to derived route information for wayfinding. They utilized structural matching of the map with the terrain, by orientation principle, to continuously check the current position on the map. There was some evidence of participants gaining survey knowledge from the map during wayfinding but this could not be confirmed by the study. A set of design guidelines were given for map and trail design to improve the wayfinding performance of recreational users.
Master of Science

Gas turbine engines are conceptually designed using performance maps that describe the compressor’s effect on the cycle. During the traditional design process, the cycle designer selects a compressor design point based on criteria to meet cycle design point requirements, and performance maps are found or created for off-design analysis that meet this design point selection. Although the maps always have a pedigree to an existing compressor design, oftentimes these maps are scaled to account for design or technology changes. Scaling practices disconnect the maps from the geometry and flow associated with the reference compressor, or the design parameters which are needed for compressor preliminary design. A goal in gas turbine engine research is to bridge this disconnect in order to produce acceptable performance maps that are coupled with compressor design parameters. A new compressor conceptual design and performance prediction method has been developed which will couple performance maps to conceptual design parameters. This method will adapt and combine the key elements of compressor conceptual design with multiple-meanline analysis, allowing for a map of optimal performance that is attached to reasonable design parameters to be defined for cycle design. This method is prompted by the development of multi-fidelity (zooming) analysis capabilities, which allow compressor analysis to be incorporated into cycle analysis. Integrating compressor conceptual design and map generation into cycle analysis will allow for more realistic decisions to be made sooner, which will reduce the time and cost used for design iterations.

The ever increasing demand of our information society for reliable Geographic Information (GI) is the moving power for the development and maintenance of Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDI). Consequently, an SDI works to full benefit of its users if the SDI data collection is accessible and can be efficiently used by all users in spatial problem solving and decision-making. Current development and use of SDI focuses on handling geospatial data entirely by means of information technology. Thereby, low awareness seems to be paid to a user-friendly and understandable presentation of geospatial data. Based on the understanding that GI is the result of human geospatial information processing, it is argued that cartography is essential in the SDI context in order to achieve the objectives of SDI. Specifically, the thesis aimed at exploring the concept of user-oriented map design in relation to SDI and elaborating a methodology for creating effective cartographic representations for SDI relevant user types. First of all, the SDI concept, its objectives and principles are explored using the example of the current European SDI initiatives as to the human aspect of an SDI. Secondly, in order to determine the role and task of cartography in the SDI context, the conceptual framework of contemporary cartography is reviewed to provide the theoretical and technological framework for a user-oriented map design. Given this, the SDI environment is assessed in relation to cartography with respect to the services providing access to the SDI data collection. Further, an SDI map production framework is elaborated utilising Spiess’ concept of the graphic filter as a model for the transformation of SDI data into useful cartographic representations. Besides, the map design strategy by Grünreich provides the starting point for developing the process of map production. The main tasks are detailed and justified taking into consideration the semiotic-cognitive and action-related concepts underpinning contemporary cartography. The applied research encompasses a case study which is performed to implement and, thus, evaluate the proposed methodology. It starts from a use case scenario where an international spatial planning team requires getting familiar with the overall geographic characteristics of a European cross-border area. Following the process steps of user-oriented map design in the SDI environment, a map design specification is elaborated and implemented under real world conditions. The elaborated methodology for creating user-friendly and understandable cartographic representations of geospatial data in the SDI environment is based on theoretical and technological foundation of contemporary cartography. Map design in the SDI context, first of all, means to establish a graphic filter that determines the parameters and rules of the cartographic transformation process to be applied. As both an applied art and engineering the design of the graphic filter is a creative process developing a map design solution which enables SDI users to easily produce their map. It requires on the one hand an understanding of map use, map user and map use situation, and on the other hand insight into the data used as the source. The case study proves that the elaborated methodology is practicable and functional. Cartographic reverse engineering provides a systematic and pragmatic approach to the cartographic design task. This way, map design solutions can be built upon existing cartographic experience and common traditions as suggested by the INSPIRE recommendation for portrayal. The resulting design solution constitutes a prototype of a European Reference Map at medium scale built upon existing cartographic experience and common traditions. A user-friendly, understandable and comparable presentation of geospatial data in Europe would support the human and institutional potential for cross-border cooperation and collaboration. Besides that, the test implementation shows that tools are available which make it technically feasible and viable to produce a map from geospatial data in the SDI data collection. The research project raises awareness to the human aspect of SDI inherit in its objective to support end users to derive GI and knowledge from the geospatial data gathered in the SDI data collection. The role and task of cartography in the SDI context is to contribute to the initiation, creation, and maintenance of portrayal services to facilitate a comprehensive access to the underlying geospatial data by means of a user-friendly and understandable graphic interface. For cartography to take effect in the SDI development and use, cartographic design knowledge has to be made explicit and operational. It is the responsibility of cartographic professionals to prepare the map design. The wide range of map use contexts requires a great flexibility of design variants depending on the dimension of human-map interaction. Therefore, the design of the maps needs to be user-driven to enable an efficient map use in the user’s task. Besides their function as a graphic interface, maps facilitate a common understanding of the depicted geographic features and phenomena when sharing GI between SDI users. In other words, map design can be regarded a measure to establish interoperability of geospatial data beyond the technical level. The research work is in the scope of communication cartography, a research domain seeking to deepen the understanding of the role of cartographic expressions when understanding and communication of GI is involved.
Der wachsende Bedarf unserer Wissensgesellschaft an zuverlässigen Informationen über räumliche Strukturen und Sachverhalte ist die treibende Kraft bei Aufbau und Einsatz von Geodateninfrastrukturen (GDI). Eine Geodateninfrastruktur wirkt zum vollen Nutzen der Gesellschaft, wenn die Daten in der GDI zugänglich sind und effektiv für Erkenntnis- und Entscheidungsprozesse genutzt werden können. Die gegenwärtige Entwicklung von GDI setzt auf moderne Informationstechnologien bei der Geodatenverarbeitung. Dabei, wird einer bedarfsgerechten und nutzerfreundlichen Präsentation von Geodaten in ansprechender visueller Form wenig Aufmerksamkeit zuteil. Da Geoinformation erst durch die Interaktion des Nutzers mit den Geodaten entsteht, ist es Aufgabe der Kartographie, bedarfsgerechte Kartendarstellungen zu gestalten und an der Schnittstelle zwischen einer Geodateninfrastruktur und ihren Nutzern bereitzustellen. Ziel der vorliegenden Dissertation ist es, eine Methodik für den Kartenherstellungsprozess in einer GDI-Umgebung zu entwickeln und beispielhaft zu erproben. Zunächst, werden Konzept, Ziele und Prinzipien von Geodateninfrastruktur beispielhaft anhand der Europäischen GDI-Initiativen dargestellt und hinsichtlich des Bedarfs an kartographischen Darstellungen untersucht. Danach wird, ausgehend von der Forderung nach verständlichen und gut interpretierbaren Geoinformationen, die Rolle der Kartographie im GDI-Kontext bestimmt. Dabei werden zunächst Funktion und Aufgaben der Kartographie sowie die tragenden Konzepte und Grundlagen einer nutzerorientierten Kartengestaltung dargelegt. Der Vergleich der bestehenden Geodatenzugangsdienste zur Funktion der Kartographie ergibt eine Lücke, die es zu schließen gilt, um den Nutzeranforderungen gerecht zu werden. Dazu wird der Gesamtprozess für die Herstellung von Karten im GDI-Kontext beschrieben. In diesem Prozess kommt dem Graphikfilter von Spiess (2003) besondere Bedeutung als Modell eines wissensbasierten Systems zur Aufstellung und Umsetzung von kartographischen Gestaltungsregeln zu. Den Ausgangspunkt für die Ausarbeitung der Teilprozesse bieten die von Grünreich (2008) vorgeschlagenen Teilaufgaben der Kartographie im Rahmen der GDI. Mittels eines Anwendungsfalls im Europäischen Kontext wird der vorgeschlagene Gesamtprozess erprobt. Dieses Beispiel geht davon aus, dass eine internationale Planungsgruppe im Zuge der Konzeption einer grenzüberschreitenden Verkehrsverbindung eine anschauliche Beschreibung der Landschaft in Form einer einheitlich gestalteten und flächendeckenden Karte benötigt. Durch Anwendung des kartographischen Reverse Engineering anerkannt gut gestalteter Karten werden die Vorgaben für die Kartengestaltung ermittelt. Einschließlich der Anwendung auf konkrete GDI-Daten wird der zuvor entwickelte Herstellungsprozess ausgeführt und diskutiert. Die entwickelte Methodik für den Kartenherstellungsprozess in der GDI-Umgebung basiert auf den semiotisch-kognitiven und handlungstheoretischen Konzepten der modernen Kartographie. Kartengestaltung im Kontext von Geodateninfrastrukturen bedeutet die Entwicklung eines Graphikfilters, der eine optimale bedarfsgerechte Visualisierung der Geodaten mittels nutzerspezifischer Parameter und Gestaltungsregeln ermöglicht. Wie das Fallbeispiel zeigt, ist es die durch die entwickelte Methodik möglich, brauchbare und nützliche Kartendarstellungen zu gestalten. Die Anwendung des kartographischen Reverse Engineering erlaubt es, Kartendarstellungen zu entwickeln, die - wie von INSPIRE empfohlen - bewährten kartographischen Erfahrungen und allgemeinen Traditionen entsprechen. Das Ergebnis des Anwendungsfalls ist ein Prototyp einer Europäischen Referenzkarte im Maßstab 1: 250,000. Die einheitliche und somit vergleichbare Darstellung über Grenzen hinweg unterstützt das Planungsteam in seiner Arbeit. Die praktische Umsetzung der Karte zeigt zudem, dass funktionsfähige Werkzeuge und Technologien für die regelbasierte Kartenherstellung aus GDI-Daten vorhanden sind. Die Dissertation trägt dazu bei, das Bewusstsein für den menschlichen Aspekt der Nutzung einer Geodateninfrastruktur zu schärfen. Der Beitrag der Kartographie zur Nutzung der Geodaten einer GDI besteht in der Initiierung, Gestaltung und Pflege von Darstellungsdiensten, da die Nutzbarkeit der Geodaten am besten gewährleistet ist, wenn die Gestaltungsmethoden der Kartographie angewendet werden. Dabei liegt es in der Verantwortung der Kartographen, die nutzerseitigen Aspekte dieser graphischen Schnittstelle unter Berücksichtigung der modernen kartographischen Konzepte zu betreuen. Gemäß INSPIRE-Richtlinie werden auf Karten gestützte Informationen bei zahlreichen Tätigkeiten verwendet. Für eine effektive visuelle Informationsverarbeitung durch den Nutzer ist daher eine nutzerorientierte Kartengestaltung in Abhängigkeit von der geplanten Interaktion (z.B. Kommunikation oder Analyse) unerlässlich. Neben der Funktion als Schnittstelle machen kartographische Darstellungen räumliche Strukturen verständlich. Daher ist die Kartenherstellung im GDI-Kontext eine Maßnahme, um Interoperabilität von Geodaten über die technische Ebene hinaus auf menschlicher Ebene zu ermöglichen. Die Relevanz dieser Forschungsarbeit liegt im Bereich der Kommunikationskartographie, die die Effektivität und Verbindlichkeit der Kommunikation über räumliche Strukturen und Sachverhalte zu vertiefen sucht.

Mestrado em Design
Este estudo pretende debruçar-se sobre a importância do design como elemento diferenciador no contexto da mobilidade na cidade de Aveiro, sob o ponto de vista do design de informação. Deste modo o design coloca-se como um mediador que procura entender os fluxos de informação ligados à mobilidade urbana, para que os torne visíveis através do mapeamento das redes de transportes existentes e as torne visualmente mais claras, criando assim no utente uma consciência dos fluxos existentes, promovendo um diálogo entre estes no sentido de promover o uso e interface destas redes. Através de uma observação dos contextos de mobilidade e como esta é vista, de forma a entender todo um conjunto de instrumentos de comunicação da informação pertinentes neste contexto. Em específico introduz-se o caso de estudo da cidade de Aveiro, na qual existem características para o desenvolvimento da intermodalidade dos transportes. Deste modo são caracterizados os fluxos atuais da mobilidade neste território, mas também a informação que se encontra disponível nos diferentes serviços de transporte municipais e privados. Por fim, e tendo em conta todo o conhecimento adquirido, apresenta-se um cenário de reorganização da informação, hoje existente, designado á mobilidade: uma análise dos fluxos dos transportes em Aveiro segundo uma abordagem infográfica. Como resultado de uma atenta observação dos instrumentos de comunicação existentes no território de Aveiro, como resultado de um enorme défice de qualidade de informação, propõe-se desta forma um cenário estruturante que proponha uma nova leitura da intermodalidade e acessibilidade com o intuito de promover uma melhor qualidade no uso da rede de transportes, assim como a acessibilidade consciente ao nível do território. Através de diferentes suportes com uma linguagem visual própria, é possível criar uma nova visão sobre os diferentes fluxos e também uma nova leitura da cidade.
This study aims to look into the importance of design as a differentiator in the context of mobility in the city of Aveiro, from the point of view of design of information. The design stands as a mediator who tries to understand the flow of information related to urban mobility. The mapping of the existing transport networks makes them visible and visually clear, creating awareness on the user flows. It will promote a dialogue between these networks to help the use and interface of the networks. After an observation of contexts of mobility and how this is perceived it is easier to understand a whole range of communication tools of relevant information. In particular we introduce the case study of the city of Aveiro, in which there are characteristics for the development of intermodal transportation. The current flows of mobility in this area will be characterized and also the information that is available in different municipal services and private transportation. Finally, taking into account all the knowledge acquired, we present a scenario of reorganization of the information that it is available today to designate mobility using an analysis of transport streams in Aveiro having an infographic approach. As a result of a serious observation of the communication tools within the territory of Aveiro, that result of a huge deficit on the quality of the information it is proposed a structuring scenario. This scenario will result in a new reading of intermodality and accessibility in order to promote better quality in the use of the transport network, as well as accessibility to the conscious level of the territory. Through various media with an own visual language it is possible to create a new vision about the different streams and also a new reading of the city.

This thesis presents a new paradigm for RFID-based inventory robots. This map-less operation increases the operative autonomy of the robots as they no longer require a mapping step. This new paradigm is based on the stigmergy concept. Additionally, this new paradigm leads to a simplification of the robot design and allows the cooperation among multiple robots, increasing the robustness and scalability of the system while reducing its cost. The stock-counting problem is defined and an algorithm based on stigmergy is proposed as a solution, which is initially tested in simulation, an later in real scenarios. This thesis details the design process and development of two robots that can take advantage of this new paradigm and that are tested in a real environment, the library of the university. Finally the thesis also presents a new RFID groups location algorithm aligned with the main characteristics of the new paradigm: simplification and efficiency.
Aquesta tesi presenta un nou paradigma per als robots d'inventari basats en RFID. Aquest no requereix un mapa de l'entorn, així s'augmenta l'autonomia operativa dels robots. El nou paradigma està basat en el concepte d'estigmergia. A més, permet la simplificació del disseny dels robots, i de manera inherent, la coordinació entre ells. Així, la robustesa i l'adaptabilitat del sistema augmenta a la vegada que el cost es veu reduït. La tesi descriu el problema de ``stock-counting'' i proposa un algorisme com a solució, inicialment es desenvolupa i prova en una simulació basada en grafs. També es detalla el procés de disseny de dos robots per aprofitar els avantatges d'aquest nou paradigma. Els robots són provats a la biblioteca de la universitat, obtenint uns resultats molt satisfactoris. Finalment, es presenta un algorisme de localització de grups d'etiquetes RFID que s'alinea amb les característiques del nou paradigma: simplicitat i eficiència.

Mobile phones are increasingly being equipped with a wide range of sensors which enable a variety of interaction techniques. Sensor-based interaction techniques are particularly promising for domains such as map-based applications, where the user is required to interact with a large information space on the small screen of a mobile phone. Traditional interaction techniques have several shortcomings for interacting with mobile map-based applications. Keypad interaction offers limited control over panning speed and direction. Touch-screen interaction is often a two-handed form of interaction and results in the display being occluded during interaction. Sensor-based interaction provides the potential to address many of these shortcomings, but currently suffers from several limitations. The aim of this research was to propose enhancements to address the shortcomings of sensor-based interaction, with a particular focus on tilt interaction. A comparative study between tilt and keypad interaction was conducted using a prototype mobile map-based application. This user study was conducted in order to identify shortcomings and opportunities for improving tilt interaction techniques in this domain. Several shortcomings, including controllability, mental demand and practicality concerns were highlighted. Several enhanced tilt interaction techniques were proposed to address these shortcomings. These techniques were the use of visual and vibrotactile feedback, attractors, gesture zooming, sensitivity adaptation and dwell-time selection. The results of a comparative user study showed that the proposed techniques achieved several improvements in terms of the problem areas identified earlier. The use of sensor fusion for tilt interaction was compared to an accelerometer-only approach which has been widely applied in existing research. This evaluation was motivated by advances in mobile sensor technology which have led to the widespread adoption of digital compass and gyroscope sensors. The results of a comparative user study between sensor fusion and accelerometer-only implementations of tilt interaction showed several advantages for the use of sensor fusion, particularly in a walking context of use. Modifications to sensitivity adaptation and the use of tilt to perform zooming were also investigated. These modifications were designed to address controllability shortcomings identified in earlier experimental work. The results of a comparison between tilt zooming and Summary gesture zooming indicated that tilt zooming offered better results, both in terms of performance and subjective user ratings. Modifications to the original sensitivity adaptation algorithm were only partly successful. Greater accuracy improvements were achieved for walking tasks, but the use of dynamic dampening factors was found to be confusing. The results of this research were used to propose a framework for mobile tilt interaction. This framework provides an overview of the tilt interaction process and highlights how the enhanced techniques proposed in this research can be integrated into the design of tilt interaction techniques. The framework also proposes an application architecture which was implemented as an Application Programming Interface (API). This API was successfully used in the development of two prototype mobile applications incorporating tilt interaction.

Language maps provide illustrations of linguistic and cultural diversity and distribution, appearing in outlets ranging from textbooks and news articles to websites and wall maps. They are valuable visual aids that accompany discussions of our cultural climate. Despite the prevalent use of language maps as educational tools, little recent research addresses the difficult task of map construction for this fluid cultural characteristic. The display and analysis capabilities of current geographic information systems (GIS) provide a new opportunity for revisiting and challenging the issues of language mapping. In an effort to renew language mapping research and explore the potential of GIS, this dissertation is composed of three studies that collectively present a progressive work on language mapping. The first study summarizes the language mapping literature, addressing the difficulties and limitations of assigning language to space before describing contemporary language mapping projects as well as future research possibilities with current technology. In an effort to identify common language mapping practices, the second study is a map survey documenting the cartographic characteristics of existing language maps. The survey not only consistently categorizes language map symbology, it also captures unique strategies observed for handling locations with linguistic plurality as well as representing language data uncertainty. A new typology of language map symbology is compiled based on the map survey results. Finally, the third study specifically addresses two gaps in the language mapping literature: the issue of visualizing linguistic diversity and the scarcity of GIS applications in language mapping research. The study uses census data for the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Statistical Area to explore visualization possibilities for representing the linguistic diversity. After recreating mapping strategies already in use for showing linguistic diversity, the study applies an existing statistic (a linguistic diversity index) as a new mapping variable to generate a new visualization type: a linguistic diversity surface. The overall goal of this dissertation is to provide the impetus for continued language mapping research and contribute to the understanding and creation of language maps in education, research, politics, and other venues.
Ph. D.

Produced by the Johnson City GIS Division on December 1, 1999, this map denotes the land use of Johnson City as of 1998. The key along the bottom edge identifies the types of land use via a color code. Major roads and highways are labeled on the map itself. Scale - 3" = 6000’
https://dc.etsu.edu/rare-maps/1070/thumbnail.jpg

By using near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) and by modifying the current Somanetics® optodes being used with the INVOS oximeter, the modified optodes are made to be fairly functional not only across the forehead, but across the hairy regions of the scalp as well. A major problem arises in the positioning of these optodes on the patients scalp and holding them in place while recording data. Another problem arises in the inconsistent repeatability of the trends displayed in the recorded data. A method was developed to facilitate the easy placement of these optodes on the patients scalp keeping in mind thepatient's comfort. The sensitivity of the optodes, too, was improved by incorporating better refined techniques for manufacturing the fiber optic brushes and fixing the same to the optode transmitting and receiving windows. The modified and improved optodes, in the single as well as in the multiplexed modes, were subjected to various tests on different areas of the brain to determine their efficiency and functionality.

The development of effective multidimensional map-based interfaces is an important area of research in need of design techniques and guidelines. To date, guidelines for multidimensional interfaces have been generalized from text-based interfaces and few experimental studies have been conducted to asses their effectiveness. Guidelines for design were studied with the goal of extending the current body of knowledge about the usability of these interfaces. Based on design guidelines, multidimensional map-based interfaces with various levels of depth and breath, with and without scent-based components were used to perform simple and compound tasks. The goal of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of design guidelines on response time, preferences, and navigation and task accuracy. Results showed relationships exist among navigation and task accuracy, response time, and preferences within simple or compound tasks. However, few relationships exist between simple and compound tasks. Contrary to results from previous research, interface depth and breadth was found to have no significant effect on navigation and task accuracy or response time. For compound tasks, interfaces with scent-based components were found to be more effective regarding task accuracy at greater depth levels. The absence of scent in the interface was shown to be more efficient regarding response time and navigation accuracy during compound tasks.

1998 campus map of East Tennessee State University in Johnson City, Tennessee. Created by Johnson City GIS, Tennessee. A point of interest is the newly built Sherrod Library (as of 1998) identified as building 22/23. "New" is handwritten in black ink denoting the new library location. "Old" is handwritten on the old library location. These were added at an indeterminate time post publication. A building index can be found on the top right quadrant. Scale is 1" = 200 feet.
https://dc.etsu.edu/rare-maps/1047/thumbnail.jpg

碩士
國立臺灣大學
地理環境資源學研究所
91
Map is the most efficient tool in transferring space situation. Up today, the demand of map no matter on research, travel or daily life all grow with each passing day. However making a quality map still spend lots of time. Therefore, the speed of making-map isn’t fast enough. With the development of technology, automation of map production develop on and on. The speed of making map get faster and faster, but the quality of automatic-produced map still not good enough. One of the reason is lack of data, result in mistake of map. And another reason is lack of user’s expertise of cartography, so can not express the correct message. These situation is because of lack of knowledge and wisdom of professional cartographer during the map-making process. In the past, lots of study considered that create a “computer map-making expert system” is the best solution of this problem, but lots of map knowledge is still be tacit, or hide in map didn’t be dig out yet. Even if they have been dig out, they can not be used efficiently, because they didn’t be formalized. So the immediate challenge is digging out the map knowledge and manage them efficiently. The research cite the concepts, procedures and methods of “Knowledge Management”, expect to manage the map-design knowledge well. The study divide knowledge management into four stage: Knowledge extraction, Knowledge arrangement, Knowledge apply and Knowledge update. Since the main purpose of this study is managing map-design knowledge, therefore just focus on the second and the third stage of knowledge management and without discuss with Knowledge extraction and update. In part of knowledge object, the research focus on external knowledge, and integrate them and formalize them. At last, build up a knowledge base with the formalized knowledge, then establish an “map-design expert system” by Visual Basic 6.0, for the convenience of using map-design knowledge. In part of verification, the research use an experiment to evaluate the map with knowledge and without knowledge, also analysis and compare the difference between two maps.

碩士
國立臺灣師範大學
地理學系
98
Transit map is a highly generalized thematic map, which presents route information in a simple and clear way. Transit map had been produced for more than a century, few academic research were focused on the design in a scientific approach. Based on the theory of map cognitive, communication and design, this research propose two important aims for transit map design, and also its main design factors. The two important aims are to establish spatial structure, and provide clear service information. Under the framework, this research analyzed a total of 181 metropolises. This research also selects three complicated transit maps. Through discussion of their systems' development and the design changes over a long period of time, this research hopes to gain a deeper understanding on these maps. London Underground, the first subway system in the world, developed topological transit maps. New York City Subway, the world largest subway system, presents a special case that it abandon topological map and design the map on a real space basis. Tokyo, as the world most populated metropolis, has unique characteristics such as the use of Chinese character, and multi-track system with cross-company operation. With analysis of these examples, the research will gain a deeper understanding of the transit map design. Through theories study and case analysis, this research propose a set of rules for transit map design, which would provide its users with clear and convenience information. This research also look into how these rules implement on Taipei's MRT system.

碩士
國立臺灣大學
地理環境資源學研究所
102
With the progress of the mapping skill and the development of the information technology, graphical display has become more common. Information graphics （or Infographics） is to represent data, information and knowledge, illustrating simple graphics to express one or multiple concepts. Infographics is now wildly used in mass media and the Internet communities. Information graphics is to select and transform data into visualized graphics. And these graphics can communicate with complex ideas in the clear, precise, and effective ways. In this circumstance, spatial information grows rapidly. How to disseminate spatial data with efficiency became a crucial issue. This paper aims to introduce the concept of Infographics and its application in Cartography and map design. This study integrates the concept of Infographics and the design principle of Cartography. Using content analysis and textual analysis two approaches, investigate 50 Infographics maps from Google image search. To summarize the distinguishing feature of their design variables. Infographics maps now primarily use visual attributes such as color, shape and size. The use of symbol has become more specific and concrete. Combined with the concept of geo-visualization and the visual experience that Infographics provided, a map can be richer in information and be more interesting. Readers can see patterns of the data more efficiently.

碩士
中國文化大學
地學研究所地理組碩士班
101
The purpose of this study was to create a thematic map of the campus map for map design. This can be used as a reference to the mapmakers. Through format size selection, presented the map information selection, polygon and polyline simplification, change orientation, exaggerated, color symbolic, text notes and other map design factor of drawing and design process to elaborate finally organized into design rules. Based on this design rules for mapping a sample map and survey through questionnaires readers feedback. The feedback from the readers get information on the design rules be amended, hoping to achieve the best map of dissemination of results. Results of the questionnaire data via cross-comparison of the examination that: (1) There is no significant relationship between genders and map cognition. (2) The location of the campus, through this design rule, the reader can still correctly identify different location of the campus map. (3) Regarding map simplification, this research will be built based on object contour maps of different sizes, by keeping basic geometric shape of the building's outline feature points and within the outer gradual way to delete a secondary feature points, varying degrees of simplification. Besides, the polyline for gist of the road, the main road through the reservation form directional characteristics of the two endpoints, remove this feature among the secondary endpoint nodes, making the road showing the smoothed line. The result shows that the map which was designed is more readability than wasn't.

碩士
國立交通大學
交通運輸研究所
90
Vehicle navigation system has been developed for a long time and becomes more popular. However, the system is still restricted by the equipment function, e.g. difficult for updating electronic map, unable to consider the real time situation on roads. Therefore, it is inconvenient in using the system. Using a Server-Client framework to store electronic map and select the guided route at the server side and to sent the related data of the guided route to the client side through the wireless technology, this study wants to build a simplified route display system so that drivers can read the map easily. The study reviewed the wireless-communication, mobile equipments, positioning system, and GIS system, then chooses CDMA for wireless-communication, GPS for positioning technology, and Microsoft eMbedded Visual Basic 3.0 to design the PDA software, which contains the functions of “Map direction synchronized with the moving direction”, “Turning warning”, “Zoom in / out”, and et cetera. The result of this study has been proved using Taipei’s data and it conforms to what we expected. When displaying a route section on the screen with 5 nodes, each node needs a space of 58.2 Bytes on the PDA, there are plenty of memory spaces for other related information.

碩士
中國文化大學
地學研究所
97
Advertising map, as a form of propaganda, is mainly used to express the position of the location and the meaning of the graph itself. Therefore exaggeration and simplification is necessary for such map. However, over exaggeration and simplification often occurs in the map due to the subject of the map and the ability of the editor. This research aims to discuss the design characteristics of real estate advertising map, from the symbols, graphic designs to the audiences’ responds. This research analyzes and categorizes the characteristics of real estate advertising maps with the following features: the name of the map, scale, example and orientations (by Balchin), wording, coloring (Lin, 1991), and the use of color and words (by Robinson). Then, this research uses questionnaires to exam the responds of the audiences to those features. From the results of examining the questionnaires and the actual map samples, it is clear that the design of real estate advertising maps does not follow the rules and regulations of traditional map designs. Instead of demonstrating the actual geographic features, the real estate advertising maps are mostly being used as propaganda for the real estate companies. The goal for these maps is to tell the audiences the advantages of the real estate products, so exaggeration and machiavellian tactics are all to common in this kind of maps. The major audiences of real estate advertising maps are general publics. All the exaggerations, simplifications, and the use of special marks and symbols must gain the audience’s trust in order to convey its message. Yet the quality and ability of the map editors varies, and the effect of the map varies as well. This kind of maps still have to get rid of unnecessary symbols and enhancing the features of traditional map design to achieve the desired effectiveness.

碩士
國立中興大學
電機工程學系所
102
In recent years, automobile electronics becomes a popular topic. The main reason is that we hope driving can be safer and more convenient for drivers. There are two parts of automobile electronics, including inside and outside parts. The inside part for example: fatigue detection and road information. On the other hand, outside part contains lane departure warning, collision avoidance and so on…. This thesis focuses on the front end of collision avoidance which estimates the distance between object and camera on the car. Our system is designed to avoid the collision against object which includes horizontal displacement. Therefore, the target of the front end of system is to find out the position and movement of these objects. First, we use SOBEL edge detection to find out the edges as our features because the collision occurs on these vertical edges. Another reason is the disparity of these vertical edges is more reliable when we generate disparity map. Then we use pyramid scale image to match the point from left view and right view. It can save a lot of computational time by reducing the window size and search range simultaneously. Finally, we check if the disparity map of left view and the disparity of right view are the same. After this step we can get a more reliable disparity map. When disparity map is done, we can directly get the distance between object and camera with the disparity value and the parameter of camera. However, there are some differences in real situation so that we must correct the formulation by an experiment. Because of the long processing time by software, we design VLSI architecture to perform block matching which takes the most time to compute disparity map. The search range and window size of the block matching is 64 and 13x13, respectively, so we design 64 processing units which can be divided into 5 groups. Therefore, hardware can perform block matching for full search at the same time. The spec for block matching circuit is 30 frames per second, 1080P resolution and operating frequency at 62.21MHz. And we implement the chip using TSMC 90nm.

碩士
國立成功大學
測量及空間資訊學系碩博士班
93
At present, many organizations and institutions have established web-mapping systems to provide geo-information services through the internet. Generally, most of them used multi-representation databases as the technical kennel. In order to provide “smooth” and “seamless” map browsing quality, a large amount of preprocessed data should be saved in the database. This would increase the need of memory space and cause the problem of database maintenance. Furthermore the data to be saved in the database may not satisfy all requirements of the user. In contrast with the above method, web-mapping systems which use on-the-fly map generalization technique to provide multi-services can reduce the need of the memory spaces and improve the system use. However, on-the-fly map generalization still cannot be fully automated. Thus, it cannot satisfy all map service requirements. 　 　　This thesis presents the architecture of an on-demand web-mapping system which combines multi-representation database and on-the-fly map generalization to improve the drawback of existing web-mapping systems. A prototype of the on-demand web-mapping system based on commercial web-mapping software has been developed to exemplify the feasibility of this architecture. The result of our research shows that the prototype system can actually provide on-demand web-mapping and significantly improve the quality of map services.

碩士
國立臺灣大學
機械工程學研究所
90
Mechanical design is regarded as a mental activity. It is usually non-analytical work, such as layout establishment, reasonable design confirmation, etc. Therefore, it emphasizes the experience of a designer. An inexperienced designer usually doesn’t know how to rationalize or concretize his/her design. So a systematic method is needed to expand the scope of the designer’s knowledge and experience. The establishment of mechanical design map is thus helping the non-analytical design work. To make use of map-like conformation, the mechanical design map can express the relationship between mechanical elements or mechanical systems, and can assist designer in choosing and assembling, reasonably establishing the design layout also. This research attempts to establish the mechanical design map from the functions and attributes of the mechanical elements. First, the mechanical elements classified by their functions. Then the classification of function pairs with the relationship of the characteristic shapes between functions, and both of them are represented in the mechanical design map. Besides, comparing the characteristic attributes of each element, the discrimination of elements that has the same function can be obtained. The designer then chooses suitable elements based on suitable attributes. According to the relationship between elements, the designer uses the mechanical design map to search for next element and then establishing the whole mechanical system. Consequently, mechanical design map can assist designer in carrying out the work of layout design, so that the designer can show his design concepts systematically.

碩士
淡江大學
資訊工程學系碩士班
97
A knowledge map is a structural representation, which is consisted of nodes and links. Each node represents a concept in the domain of knowledge. Each link, which connects two nodes, is used to represent the relationship between them; that is, the relationship between the two concepts. Previous literature has shown its validity and reliability of assessing content understanding. But there is lack of computer-based customized-able content understanding assessment system with scoring function. The purpose of this research is to design a feasible content understanding assessment system. The teacher can use the Authoring tool to design the concept map assessment course for different content Then let student use it , The system will analyze and scoring the concept map which make by students ,These information will provide to teacher to understand the content understanding and learning direction of the students , Then revision the teaching strategy in the future.

碩士
國立臺灣師範大學
應用電子科技學系
98
The paper proposes a method by grid to constructed the map, here we called “Grid Map”. Our mobile robot installation the ultrasonic sensor to detects environment. Here we list some examples for state the environment for record below: Free space, Occupies space, Un-pass Space. Also, use electronic compass to detect magnetic properties and identify the direction. Therefore, the angle will be compensation when the robot is moving. The grid map is using feature point for clustering feature. And then, generalize feature point in grid of region. During this research, the “Grid Map” is using to solve the problem of high dip to cause the huge statistics, but also can be basis of guidance. To achieve the robot can move arbitrarily in the indoor environment. Therefore, the paper proposes state accuracy and reliability to evaluate.

碩士
朝陽科技大學
工業設計系碩士班
99
Narrative illustration map is an interface using to describe space information, not only its position, but also its characteristics. This study based on the point sets up the perspective view and the intent of main topics of the maps, and develops their visual elements, such as the outline of map, the words of topic and the picture frames, the compass, the situation illustration, the anthropomorphic characters, and the images of scenes. Thus, according to the analysis about the resource and its characteristics, the maps build up the specific situation story, and using pictures and words to describe the history of the place, and its present state. Therefore, narrative illustrated map is not only full of the function of overview, also with vivid illustrations inside it, and these details will raise up the level of the work and the cultural cultivation, which points out the resource and characteristics of one place, with the function of communication and education. The study is divided into four part： The first part discusses the documents and theory with maps, illustrations and the narrative design theory. The second part is the analysis of narrative illustrated map examples, with the cultural symbols, visual communication, and aesthetics of illustration, to build up the analysis and design methods of narrative illustrated map. The third part is the creation of narrative illustration maps of Yi-Lian Distillery, Bu-Dai Fields Salt, Chi-Gu Salt Fields, Xi-Hu Sugar Factory, Hu-wei Sugar Factory, Tsung-Yeh Sugar Factory, Hua-Lian Sugar Factory, and Tai-Tung Sugar Factory. The forth part analyzes the creation result, to compare the differences between the creations and ordinary illustration maps, and comes with conclusion and suggestions. The process and result of creation which exams the theory point will present the value of the study.

碩士
長庚大學
工業設計學系
101
Presenting visual information is a key task in designing a good service system. If service users can obtain the required information from visual elements such as signs or displays, the work load and numbers of manpowers needed may be reduced. In this paper, we propose the idea of “Visual Service Design” to specify the design issues of visual media used in a service delivery system. We demonstrate how one can scientifically evaluate a user’s viewing experience of a particular visual design for service purposes. Common service systems such as hospitals usually provide maps to support the patients and visitors in finding their ways around the environments. There seem to be a dominant use of 2D map in this regard, which may be adapted from the original CAD diagrams for designing and building the interiors. Using the map design as an example, we firstly carried out an eye-tracking experiment to investigate a user’s viewing patterns on the maps illustrating a hospital floor. We then used spatial memory tasks to evaluate the users’ performances on reading the maps. The maps were presented to the participants with different designs, including the traditional 2D diagrammatic approach and the 3D rendered scenes with varied levels of fidelity. The results from the eye movement analysis indicate that there may be a fundamental difference between viewing the maps designed as 2D diagrams and those designed as 3D rendered scenes. For the 2D maps, the participants exhibit a viewing pattern similar to reading texts or documents (i.e. top to bottom, left to right). For the maps drawn in 3D, however, the participants generally move their eyes from bottom to top, which means “from the near to the far sides of the scene” in the 3D perspective. The results from the spatial memory tasks are also in favour of the 3D maps. In addition, no interactional effect has been observed between the dimensional factor and rendering fidelities.

碩士
國立臺灣海洋大學
通訊與導航工程學系
101
In this thesis, we propose a new chaotic synchronization technique that is capable of processing signals with very low SNR level. Presently, synchronization of chaotic communications utilizes a technique mainly based on the master-slave subsystems. In our proposed method, by imposing chaotic-based pseudo-random bits on the master-slave systems, the performance (such as BER and SNR) of the synchronized signals can be greatly improved. Furthermore, by exploiting the properties of chaotic systems, a novel multiple accesses method is also introduced in this thesis.

The primary objective of this research is to develop a visual design process for gear trains with multiple stages of reduction and varying configurational architectures. One of the main challenges in the design of such gear trains is in the sizing of the individual gears such that high levels of performance are obtained in spite of constraints due to different gear configurations. Formal design procedures that successfully meet this challenge are developed. A key contribution of this research is the utilization of these design procedures to create sets of three-dimensional design maps. The design procedures help a designer manage more than 20 design parameters in designing for a broad range of gear train requirements (Rated torque capacity, Volume, Weight, Inertia, Responsiveness, Torque Density etc.) while accounting for assembly constraints. Each set of design maps corresponds to a given set of design parameters, some of which are held fixed and some of which are put in the hands of the designer. The latter set of design parameters are termed in this research as design knobs. They can be ‘tuned’ by a designer in order to generate new sets of design maps. The idea is that a designer, using the design information conveyed to him/her graphically through a given set of design maps, is able to then tune the design knobs to generate an updated set of design maps which reflect design solutions that are more desirable in terms of the application requirements. By adjusting the design knobs and looking at updated design maps, a designer is able to quickly assess the effect of his/her design decisions. The end result is that a single designer is empowered with the ability to quickly arrive at a preliminary design of a gear train that satisfies the design requirements. This preliminary design would be a good starting point for more detailed design development.
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