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Jianhua GONG,Wenhang LI,Yabing LI,Mingxiang HUANG, 2008. Networked Collaborative Virtual Geographic Environments: Design and Implementation. An International Conference on Developments in Visualization and Virtual Environments in Geographic Information Science, 7-8 January 2008, CUHK, HK.
Networked Collaborative Virtual Geographic Environments: Design and Implementation
Jianhua GONG,Wenhang LI,Yabing LI,Mingxiang HUANG
State Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing Science
Phone : +86-10-64849299 (O)
Email: jhgong@irsa.ac.cn
Abstract: Collaborative GIS, collaborative geovisualization, and geocollaboration are cutting-edge areas in geographic information science. This paper aims to explore the conceptual and technical framework for establishing a networked collaborative virtual geographic environment (CVGE) in terms of the hall for workshop of metasynthetic engineering for coping with complex systems and problems, as well as CSCW, mobile network and the Internet enabled virtual environments, and 3-D geographic information representation and analysis. We argue geocollaboration is involved in two major parts: collaborative modes and geo-problem representations. Interaction and dialogue among participants are highlighted in the paper. In view of overall framework of geocollaboration,
Keywords: Virtual Geographic Environments, Digital Earth, GeoCollaboration, Collaborative Visualization,
1. Introduction
3-D visualization and virtual reality are increasingly important in geographic information Science and play a great role in wide applications of geographic information technology to the public including managers, policy decisions, geo-teachers, children and so on (Benko et a. ,2003; Brodlie et al.,2004; Gong and Lin, 2001; Gore, 1998; MacEachren et al.,2001) . Up to now, Google Earth has been downloaded by about 0.2 billion times, and has widely been used in every daily life by hundreds of thousands of people (Google Earth,2007). On the other hand, in view of the requirement of geocollaboration by a group of users for dealing with complicated geo-problems such as geographic planning of regional sustainable development, impacts of global environment change, and emergence response, more and more efforts are placed on collaborative visualization and collaborative GIS (MacEachren et al.,2004; Gong and Lin, 2006; Wood et al., 1997). By considering the integration of network based 3-D geo-visualization like Google Earth and collaborative visualization, what are the forms of such new systems? In order to deal with open, huge, and very complex systems, Qian and Dai (2007) put forward the concept of hall for workshop of metasynthetic engineering to integrate group human intelligence and networked computing power. Based on the concept of virtual geographic environments(VGE) (Gong and Lin, 2000,2001) and hall for workshop of metasynthetic engineering, and on the geocollaboration and distributed virtual environments technologies (Singhal and Zyda, 1999), this paper addresses the basic conceptual framework of networked collaborative VGE (CVGE), and develops a prototype to illustrate the form and basic functions of the CVGE.
2. Virtual Geographic Environments and GeoCollaboration
2.1 Features of Virtual Geographic Environments
A virtual geographic environment (VGE) is defined as a shared virtual space into which digital geographic objects and environments, as well as 3-D avatars, representing users or people in the physical environments, are transplanted. Thus, a VGE has the following characteristics (Figure 1):
1) A 3D, virtual,void space firstly exist. The virtual space has two kinds: one is perceived or imagination space; the other is a mathematical world which may be unlimitedly large containing varied of 3D, digital objects. Therefore, according to a virtual, mathematical world, spaces occupied by digital geo-referenced objects and environments just represent some kinds of geo-spatial spaces. And there may be a number of no geo-spatial referenced spaces.
2) Avatars are focused. People are centered in virtual environments, and avatars depict the identities of the online users or observed people in real worlds. Virtual humans in the virtual space are obvious property of VGE.
3) A 3D portal for entrance to the virtual space and environments. A 3D portal is also the human-computer 3D graphical interface which give us basic and constant memory of the virtual worlds.