From Cartography to Geovisual AnalyticsMenno-Jan Kraak

From Cartography to Geovisual Analytics

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• Introduction

• (Geo) Visual Analytics

• Detect the expected and discover the unknown

• Some examples

• Conclusions

Cartography

Geographic Data

visualization process

How do I say What to Whom, and is it effective?

Map

November 26

French troops

What happens in cartography?

[source: New York Times]

What happens in cartography? Cartographers and map makers

http://www.visualcomplexity.com/vc/

Cartographers and map makers Exploratory tools

A little history

200197 198 199

geovisualization

information visualization

KNOWLEDGE

geovisual analytics

visual analyticsREASONING

computer cartography

exploratory data analysis!scientific visualization!human computer interaction

INSIGHT

Increase in amount and diversity of data

cartographyINFORMATION

geography, design, art

Beyond Geovisualization: Visual Analytics

• The science of analytical reasoning facilitated by interactive visual interfaces (Thomas & Cook, 2005)

http://nvac.pnl.gov/agenda.stm

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Detect the expected and discover the unknown

Detect the expected and discover the unknown

• Alternative insight in performance

Running

2

2

1

1

21

Running Sense making

modellingknowlegde

visualization

data

transformation

mapping

data mining

model building

model visualization

parameter refinement

user interfaceb)

Working environment for visual exploration

Time space

Location space Attribute space

M A P D I A G R A M

T I M E G R A P H

Geovisual analytics

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• Geovisual analytics focuses on visual interfaces to analytical methods that support reasoning with and about geo-information – to enable insights about something for which place matters

(MacEachren, 2012)

Problem domain

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Human geographers

Understand the behavior of suburban dwellers

When… What…… Which……. How often………….

Data

Visualization environment

Problem

Question

User

User task

Design guideline

Visualization strategy

Cartographers and domain experts at work

source: Irma Kveladze

Tallinn data

Tallinn: Space and time Traffic jam?

a)

Explore Explore

Explore

d)

Maps?

• are effective because they present a selection from reality via a well design symbolization, but....

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• (many) of today’s maps show data complexity (geovisual analytics) or chaos (neo-geography)

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• Is it really problematic or is there a new generation of users with other visual ‘capabilities’?

• Do we need new maps / new principles?

Conclusions

• Maps are healthy

• However, constantly evaluate (and when necessary adapt) our mapping principles in new contexts