Virtual and Augmented Reality in Spatial Visualization

Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3 KN - Jou nal o Ca og aphy and Geog aphic In o ma ion (2021) 71:221–222 h ps://doi.o g/10.1007/s42489-021-00094-z EDITORIAL Vi ual andAugmen ed Reali y inSpa ial Visualiza ion DennisEdle 1 · ThomasP.Ke s en2 Published online: 30 No embe 2021 © The Au ho (s) 2021 In ecen yea s, he po en ials o i ual and augmen ed eali y (VR/AR) ha e a ac ed a g owing in e disciplina y communi y o in e na ional esea che s and use s. Nume ous p ojec s exis in esea ch ields, such as cul u al he i age and a chi ec u e, u ban and egional planning, cons uc ion plan- ning and p oduc de elopmen , aining simula ions (e.g., escue se ices) and educa ion. While AR is commonly unde s ood as an ex ension o obse able eali y h ough he combina ion o eali y and i uali y, VR is associa ed wi h he isualiza ion and simul aneous eal- ime pe cep ion o eali y and i s physical cha ac e is ics wi hin in e ac i e i ual en i onmen s. In he VR and AR communi y, he yea 2015 is o en associa ed wi h he ee elease o he Un eal Engine, a o - me ly p op ie a y game engine used in he compu e gaming indus y. The ee a ailabili y o es ablished game engines has gi en a powe ul impulse o mode n isualiza ion dis- ciplines. As game engines a e bound o an unde s anding o ‘wo ld-building’, he e e ence o geog aphic space (con- ce ning i ual ep esen a ions o eal physical o ic ional en i onmen s) is inhe en . The e o e, i is no su p ising ha he e is a i id and s eadily ongoing in e na ional esea ch deba e on how o use he po en ials o i ual en i onmen s and augmen ed spaces o a use -o ien ed ca og aphy and spa ial isualiza ion. Mo eo e , hese i ual o augmen ed spa ial media can se e as ‘ i ual labs’ which a e used o empi ical esea ch wi h s anda dized p ocedu es and o isual analy ics. The possibili ies o game engines u he bene i om he a ailabili y and compa ibili y o mass media ha dwa e sys ems, such as head-moun ed displays (HMDs) o sma - phones. These echnical de ices s eng hen he eeling o imme sion in o hese solely i ual o i ually ex ended en i onmen s, which leads o new capabili ies o expe ienc- ing a ealis ic 3D en i onmen om an ego-pe spec i e in a simula ed 1/1 scale. The demand o a high ealism also bea s po en ials o he in eg a ion and ans o ma ion o a- di ional and new geospa ial da a esou ces, such as emo ely sensed da a, 3D ci y models as well as hema ic asse s c e- a ed by p o essionals o ‘home b ewe s’. This special issue is a collec ion o cu en esea ch p ojec s showing he po en ials o AR and VR, wi h a spe- ci ic ocus on he isualiza ion o spa ial in o ma ion. I is pa o he wo k o he DG K/DGPF join commission on “Vi ual and Augmen ed Reali y” ( ounded in 2019): Ian Lochhead and Nick Hedley (Bu naby, BC, Canada) de eloped a p o o ype o an imme si e i ual GIScience da a isualiza ion space called “IVEVA”. In hei a icle, hey p esen a collec ion o 3D da a-d i en geo isualiza- ion case s udies based on he IVEVA VR in e ace. Thei examples and esul s show he po en ials o VR in e aces o imme si e isual analy ics. Thomas P. Ke s en, Daniel D enkhan and Simon Deggim (Hambu g) add ess he opic o pe o mance o smoo h eal- ime VR isualiza ion. Using a case example in he ield o cul u al he i age, he Fo ess Al Zuba ah in Qa a , hey conduc and discuss a pe o mance analysis o eal- ime isualiza ion in VR. Claudia Lindne , Anne e O wein, Kilian S aa and And eas Rienow (Bochum) p o ide insigh s on how VR and AR echniques se e o isualize ex a- e es ial da a. These VR and AR applica ions a e de eloped o educa ional pu - poses and deal wi h case examples on Ma s. Tymo eusz Ho biński and K zysz o Zaga a (Poznań, Poland) add ess he meaning o ca og aphic symbols used in he Video Valheim. The se o symbols used in his game adap he his o ical con ex o he Viking e a. Using an online su ey, he au ho s empi ically in es iga e in e p e- a ions o he ca og aphic symbols. * Dennis Edle Dennis.Edle @ uh -uni-bochum.de Thomas P. Ke s en Thomas.Ke s[email p o ec ed] 1 Ruh -Uni e si ä Bochum, Geog aphisches Ins i u , AG Geoma ik, Uni e si ä ss . 150, 44801Bochum, Ge many 2 Labo ü Pho og amme ie andLase scanning, Ha enCi y Uni e si ä Hambu g, Henning-Vosche au-Pla z 1, 20457Hambu g, Ge many 222 KN - Jou nal o Ca og aphy and Geog aphic In o ma ion (2021) 71:221–222 1 3 F ank Dickmann, Julian Keil, Paula L. Dickmann and Dennis Edle (Bochum) gi e an o e iew o impo an isualiza ion p ope ies o cu en AR echniques. Thei po en ials and limi a ions o ca og aphic applica ions a e discussed. Ola Kühne (Tübingen) links cu en de elopmen s o VR and VA wi h ca og aphic heo y o ma ion. Based on Ka l Poppe ’s heo y o h ee wo lds, he discusses he ela ion o a amewo k o neop agma ic explo a ion wi h VR and AR isualiza ions. We hope you enjoy eading he a icles o his special issue, and we a e looking o wa d o mee ing all VR/AR in e es ed people a he nex DG K and DGPF e en s and con e ences. Funding Open Access unding enabled and o ganized by P ojek DEAL. Open Access This a icle is licensed unde a C ea i e Commons A i- bu ion 4.0 In e na ional License, which pe mi s use, sha ing, adap a- ion, dis ibu ion and ep oduc ion in any medium o o ma , as long as you gi e app op ia e c edi o he o iginal au ho (s) and he sou ce, p o ide a link o he C ea i e Commons licence, and indica e i changes we e made. The images o o he hi d pa y ma e ial in his a icle a e included in he a icle's C ea i e Commons licence, unless indica ed o he wise in a c edi line o he ma e ial. 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