From: cyberoid@u.washington.edu (Robert Jacobson) Subject: REV-CONF: 1st Intl Conf on Spatial Multimedia and VR, Lisbon, Oct 95 Date: 2 Dec 1995 22:06:30 GMT Organization: University of Washington, Seattle From: cyberoid@u.washington.edu (Robert Jacobson) Copyright 1995 Robert Jacobson. Not for republication or redistribution without the author's permission, please. CONFERENCING IN THE THIRD DIMENSION: A REVIEW OF THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SPATIAL MULTIMEDIA AND VIRTUAL REALITY, LISBON, PORTUGAL, OCTOBER 1995 Dr. Robert Jacobson* Worldesign Inc. 5348-1/2 Ballard Avenue NW Seatle, WA 98107-4009 The first International Conference on Spatial Multimedia and Virtual (ICSMVR) Reality, hosted by the New University of Lisbon (UNL) and sponsored by the European Science Foundation and a number of other organizations, in some ways heralded the beginning of a new era in GIS. That the conference was held in Lisbon, Portugal, stereotypically regarded as the moribund capital of a backward nation, only added to the sense of wonder experienced by this participant. The ICSVMR was hosted by Antonio da Sousa Camara, professor of computer science and geography at UNL, and organized by a committee of European and American GIS scholars including Jonathan Raper (Birkbeck College), Henk Scholten (Free University of Amsterdam), Mike Shiffer (MIT), Ralph Bill (Rostock University), Manuel Prospero dos Santos (UNL), David DiBiase (Pennsylvania State University), and Josep Blat (Universidad Islas Baleares). (Another was the chief conference coordinator, Fatima Correia of UNL.) Sponsored by the European Science Foundation's GISDATA Programme and Eurographics, however, the ICSMVR resisted a purely academic focus. Practical applications of GIS did not suffer for exposure. The projects that excited the most attention, in fact, were of a very practical nature: charting critical beachfront terrain, anticipating and countering forest fires, visualizing new urban developments, and tracking schools of birds and fish whose preservation has become a holy crusade in much of Europe -- graphically, and often in three or more dimensions. The conference also showcased UNL's own pioneering research in spatial GIS. Faced with a lack of graphics supercomputers (like those that sit idly in many North American laboratories (prices for this technology are incredibly inflated in Europe!), UNL's faculty and students have innovated using PCs and the few small workstations available to them. (One thinks immediately of the inventive Russian and Chinese computer scientists who stuggle on with 1970s-era technology, discovering new methods because they have to. For the same reasons, the Portuguese are just as inventive.) More of a cooperative endeavor than a traditional academic hierarchy, the UNL team benefits from strong student involvement and the cooperation of Portugal's larger institutions including local governments, energy companies, and the military. Portugal the nation is experiencing intense economic growth buoyed by European Union funding; simultaneously, it is confronting unprecedented modernization. Both the style and intensity of the UNL students reflects this fact. And always there is Lisbon, with its old ferries and fatal taxis, its fadas in the Almada, but changing not so subtly, seemingly awake both day and night. The conference venue itself was a metaphor for transition: one evening we were guests at a reception floating on the reservoir in a centuries-old water tower; the next day, watching videos in a state-of-the-art multimedia center. The ICSMVR was opened without a formal charge, leaving the first presenters somewhat at a loss, unsure of how to build their specific work into a more general theme. There was a logical progression to the talks apparent in the formal agenda, but it was lost almost immediately among their sheer number and the rapid-fire pace with which they were given in order to adhere to a tight schedule. The Museum of Water, a working museum of municipal hydrology that had been renovated for events such as the ICSMVR, was filled each day of invited attendees and local interested parties. The conference had an electric air of urgency that seemed somewhat out of time, given the lazy sunshine outside. On the other hand, the organizers' careful management of time and events provided many opportunities for socializing over food and drink. Perhaps in these moments we got closer than ever to the real value of the Portuguese lifestyle, for more post-conference projects were organized during of these social respites than during the formal program. What of the main issue, spatial GIS and its more extreme virtual worlds manifestation? The ICSMVR was touted as the first professional gathering to examine this singular topic and in large part succeeded in achieving this purpose. Many of the presentations, though hampered by awkward and sometimes balky presentation technology, undeniably described projects on the cutting-edge. It was difficult to know which of the research trends would be most significant, however, since many were just getting underway or were still in a formative stage. But several projects appeared to be breaking new ground, presaging a different approach to representation than the conventional (and often tired) cartographic conventions that have stymied most GIS users to date. Professor Jose Encarnacao of Damstadt University and the Fraunhofer Institute provided the opening address, a discussion of current research issues in scientific visualization. Encarnacao, a Portuguese national long resident in Germany, became something of a local hero in the Lisbon press, though his presence was short due to responsibilities in Germany, to which he quickly returned. The research topics then covered in seven panels included: * Visualization * Multimedia GIS * Virtual Reality * Education Projects * Simulation In this short report it is impossible to cover each of the 30 diverse presentations. Almost without exception, each was conceptually provocative; many also featured excellent technical implementations (this in the opinion of a seasoned conference attendee who has heard too many less than adequate papers in his career.) Following is a summation of presentations that captivated me. They were indicative of the overall cutting-edge quality of the ICSMVR. * "Temporal Tracking of Spatial Data," Julia Seixas, Pedro Goncalves, Joao Pedro Silva, and Nelson Neves (UNL). A qualitative method of evaluating air pollution in the Lisbon region used morphing techniques commonly associated with film production to show the time pattern distribution of NO gases. Morphing proved to be a highly satisfactory method of illustrating temporal change, better than conventional plots and models that conceal as much information as they portray. * "Digital Video Applied to Air Pollution Emission Monitoring and Modeling," Francisco C. Ferreira (UNL). Emissions from smokestacks and other sources of gases and particulates were videotaped from more than one location. The video images captured are then digitized and used to calculate, then represent, the procession of actual plumes over time, a method more effective for visual analysis than models created from nonvisual data collected at traditional monitoring sites. (Seeing the actual plumes being generated was impressive.) * "Landscapes of the Past: Seeing is Believing," Ingemar Bengtsson and Stefan Ene (Stockholm University). Contemporary multimedia techniques are applied to terrain data collected from historical records -- apparently Sweden is awash in old maps and new -- to portray landscapes as they were in the past and as they have evolved over time. These landscapes feature both natural terrain and human habitations. We can travel through these 3D environments and see places that no longer look as they did before. * "Spatial Applications of Virtual Reality," Ken Pimentel (Sense8 Corporation, USA). Pimentel was the only representative of a leading VR company to attend the conference (which was one of the ICSMVR's few disappointments, but one that was profound). He described the many ways in which Sense8's customers and Sense8 itself, in its service capacity, are applying virtual worlds to GIS problems. Perhaps most influential among these applications will be Computer Associates's use of a virtual worlds front-end, to control its forthcoming network management tool. * "Virtual GIS Room: Interfacing Spatial Information in Virtual Environments," Nelson Neves, Pedro Goncalves, Joaquim Muchaxo, Luis Jordao, and Joao Pedro Silva (UNL). This integrative research project is the UNL's centerpiece. In a "room" is generated from a computer database, various phenomena can be portrayed -- for example, a plains fire raging over a grassy field, with both terrain and fire portrayed in three dimensions, over time. * "When Four Dimensions are Not Enough: Addressing the Human Experience of Space and Time Using Virtual Worlds," Robert Jacobson (USA). I discussed the changing metaphorical landscape (no pun intended) in which GIS is being implemented. I proposed a series of spatial concepts that are poorly defined by current GIS axioms and which become even more problematic in a virtual world where normal rules of perception are exaggerated and everything is malleable. * "Spatial Simulation by Sketch," Edmundo M.N. Nobre and Antonio S. Camara (UNL). Live Sketch is a software methodology for rapid visual evaluation of complex geophysical interactions (the example of an oil spill was given). Objects are represented as vector arrays that evolve through time following behavior and interaction rules. Underlying vector fields change the visual variables of the objects. * "Legal Aspects of Multimedia Spatial Datbases," David Rhind (UK Ordnance Survey). Rhind, director of the Ordnance Survey, provoked the audience with a far-ranging overview of emergent issues in the legal domain, especially the liability of GIS producers for decisions made using their results. The presence and active participation of Rhind, who is the highest ranking GIS official in the UK governmental hierarchy, was something of a coup. But as David related over a beer, nothing could be more appropriate at this time. High praise indeed! * "Augmenting Transportation and Related Environmental Review Activities Using Distributed Multimedia," Michael Shiffer (MIT, USA). In an entertaining presentation (welcomed after the breakneck pace of the presentations that took on a somber tone), Shiffer demonstrated how multiple forms of multimedia could be used in conjunction with each other to fully illustrate a real-world problem set. This technology actually makes it easier for laypersons to understand real-world complexities and intelligently comment upon them. * "Coastal Management with Aerial Photograph-Based Mosaics," Teresa Romao and Antonio S. Camara (UNL), and Mathilde Molendijk and Henk Scholten (Free University of Amsterdam). In what was probably the most ambitious of projects described during the ICSMVR, CoastMAP was described and demonstrated -- a hypermedia system that arrays aerial photographs to produce a continuous, scalable image of the Dutch coast. Morphing and other multimedia techniques are employed to smooth the transition among adjacent photo tiles. * "Development of Intelligent Spatial Agents," Armanda Rodrigues (UNL), Jonathan Raper (Birkbeck College, UK), and Miguel Capitao (UNL). Spatial intelligent agents were represented as the next generation of geospatial information retrieval and data analysis tools, including advanced interfaces. An array of currently available spatial IAs were discussed and analyzed from the standpoint of GIS developers and users. * "Spatial Data Libraries," Michael Goodchild (UC Santa Barbara, USA). The Library of Alexandria project funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation envisions a distributed library, including collections of geographic data often remote from any central repository. Goodchild, for the NCGIA, reported on progress being made to put maps online and otherwise make them accessible to to users anywhere there are suitable access devices. * "Geographical Scenarios for Multimedia," Vladimir S. Tikunov (Moscow State University). In a deceivingly understated presentation, Tikunov convincingly explored the use of multimedia-based scenarios for public education on global issues. A subtext evident to everyone present was the Russian scientists' continuing ingenuity in the application of information technology that, in the West, would be seen as obsolescent or even obsolete. * "Virtual Learning Environments," Niels Einar Veirum (Datacentralen Geodata A/S, DK). The use of integrated multimedia environments for public education was demonstrated using MUSTER, a Danish software product for training that displays the subject geography (including human constructions) in three or more dimensions. The map thus produced has attributes linked to objects, for easy reference by "participants" (users of interactivity). The conference, which was complemented by tours to CNIG, the new Portuguese national GIS institution; UNL's evolving GIS laboratory; and the ancient urban sector, the Almada, Lisbon's Old Quarter. The meeting ended with a show of videos at the ultra-modern Marconi Center and an all-day feast in a typical Portuguese fishing village. The conference,which in all other respects was excellent, an intriuing melange of historical Portuguese hospitality and post-modern technoculture, suffered only by the absence of participants from regions other than Europe and North America. One imagines that there are many GIS laboratories, especially in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, working on similar topics. Their absence was not remarked upon. As the hot summer finally abated, I waited in vain for a report on the many other laboratory activities taking place around the world that will contribute to tomorrow's GIS. It was not forthcoming. All in all, however, the ICSMVR was a true success, intellectually and culturally. A modest planning committee has been established and a follow-up conference tentatively scheduled for early 1997, to enable the field to mature. Local activity at UNL is paced to coincide with Expo 98, a forthcoming world fair in which multimedia and VR applications will figure heavily. Proceedings are being made available in print and online; and a CD-ROM is being burned in for easy reference to the presentations described above and the many others being perfected at CNIG and the UNL. For more information about the conference and , send email to Dr. Antonio Camara at this address: acs@mail.fct.unl.pt ______ * Bob Jacobson is president and CEO of Worldesign Inc., an information design studio and software development house in the historical Ballard neighborhood of Seattle. Worldesign's "WorldSpace" product is now in the process of being patented: it permits anyone to quickly and accurately create a multidimensional representation of the natural and manmade environments.