SELF-ADAPTIVE VISUALIZATION STRATEGY IN HYPERMEDIA ELECTRONIC MAP

Z.L. Cai, G. Cheng, Q. Du

School of resources and environmental science, wuhan university, P.R.China

zhongliangcai@gmail.com

Electronic map may be stored in computer, spread by means of CR-ROM, networks etc, and offer users in the form of desktop computer, touch screen computer, or embedded device. Because the product of electronic map integrates visual function of digital cartography technology, searching data and analyzing function of GIS technology, information expressive means of multimedia technology and visual reality technology, and the role of spreading technology of modern electronic map, the appearance attracts immediately social wide interests, particularly governmental departments, section of enterprises management and the people. Hypermedia electronic map is based on electronic map, employs hypermedia technology to organize and manage complicated map objects and relationships between objects.

But until now, electronic map products are still affected or limited by traditional cartographic thinking. So the electronic map is not flexible and not adaptive to user interface design, map content design, dynamitic data organization, dynamitic representation, data search and analysis. The Self-adaptive visualization in electronic map specifies that it can actively adapt well to the variable situation like software and hardware, through dynamitic changing user interface, map content, map representation style.

This paper will discuss the self-adaptive visualization strategy in hypermedia electronic map, and focus on 4W and 2H questions. The 4W questions specify: Where need self-adaptation? Why use self-adaptation? When is it self-adaptive? and What is it self-adaptive to?. And the 2H questions specify How can it help? and How do the self-adaptive visualization strategy work? The paper will give some strategy to answer these questions.

At last, a hypermedia electronic map system which has multifunction of self-adaptive visualization will be given to validate the result.