Revista Brasileira de Cartografia (Apr 2006)
AVALIAÇÃO DE VARIÁVEIS GRÁFICAS PARA A REPRESENTAÇÃO CARTOGRÁFICA TRIDIMENSIONAL
Abstract
The technological development of the last decades has enabled to extract geographical data in order to model three-dimensional elements of the earth surface. Besides the feasibility of obtaining these data, graphics computer techniques also enable to represent them. Visual techniques and the interaction between user and computer enable new alternatives to represent the environment. However, the 3D thematic cartography and methods to depict spatial data in a 3D representation is still in the initial efforts. Cartographic principles, such as those used in bidimensional cartography, must also be proposed and followed in 3D modeling, so that the user is able to recognize the information displayed on the map and the knowledge of the user can be enriched by the visualization. Within the scope of this problem, this work discusses some relevant issues related to user’s visual perception, in order to propose in the future guidelines for generating a 3D map. For this purpose, three-dimensional models were built and they were used in a test. In the test, graphical variables, such as texture, view angle and distance, lightness, color and the use of a coordinate grid were systematically changed. The results of the test were used to draw conclusions about the effect of the graphical variables and about the preference of the users. This is a preliminary test and more effort must be dedicated to the problem in future studies, in order to propose guidelines for the construction of 3D cartographic representations.
