Elevating Streets in Urban Topographic Maps Improves the Speed of Map-Reading
ISBN 978-85-88783-11-9
Authors
1Edler, D.; 2Dickmann, F.
1RUHR-UNIVERSITY BOCHUM Email: dennis.edler@rub.de
2RUHR-UNIVERSITY BOCHUM Email: frank.dickmann@rub.de
Abstract
A fast and accurate reading of maps is relevant for many human orientation, navigation and wayfinding tasks. Computer and television in-dustries have established new devices that enhance the opportunities to represent graphics, such as autostereoscopic displays. These displays can visualise depth illusions in True-3D and allow mapmakers to use the depth axis as an additional cartographic design parameter. This new design pa-rameter has only hardly been considered in empirical usability studies in cartography. A previous study provided first evidence that the distribution of map information over different depth layers could bring advantages for the speed of map-reading. These results need to be further investigated. Research from cognitive psychology demonstrated that the cognitive proc-essing of map information could be enhanced by using linear features of the map graphics that subdivide the map into different sections (“spatial chunks”). These spatial chunks provide map readers with an additional ori-entation pattern that supports information processing. Spatial judgements, for instance, can be made faster when spatial chunks are present in a map. It still remains an open question whether the True-3D accentuation of chunking features, such as dominant street representations in complex ur-ban maps, can produce additional advantages for an efficient transfer of map information. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of True-3D accentuated streets for map-reading efficiency. To achieve this aim, an empirical study including the performances of 66 participants was carried out. In this study, a streets-in-True-3D condition (3D-Streets) was compared to a streets-in-2D condition (2D-Streets). Following previous research, map-reading efficiency was measured as both the mean percent-age of correct counting tasks (hit rate) and the mean response time to solve a counting task correctly (speed). It was shown that the 3D-Streets condition significantly improved the speed, but not the hit rate of the counts. These results underline the potential of True-3D visualisation for a faster communication of map information.
Keywords
3D cartography; empirical cartography; information processing