a2maps - Presenting Spatiotemporal Information in Animated Maps with Sound
We assume that the need for visualizing spatiotemporal information will further increase, e.g. for change detection and analysis. This information is often displayed in animated maps, but the problem with animated maps is that the users' working memory might not be able to process the incoming stimuli if the amount of information is high, which is likely in maps. Also the fact that our attention can only be directed to small parts of a map to follow the animation and thus to recognize the change in the map shows that the concept of animated maps has to be reconsidered.
Therefore we suggest integrating sound into animated maps. The usage of sound for displaying quantitative information leads to a multimodal communication of map content. We assume that it facilitates a more comprehensive and flexible communication of geoinformation and helps to overcome so called “change blindness“.
We aim at exploring possibilities to convey quantitative information as sound. Hence we develop prototypes that take into account different concepts, such as varying pitch or timbre. The examples will be discussed and tested to obtain insights about the suitability of our concept.
This project is funded by GiN e.V.
