3DMOVER 2.0 – LOW-COST APPLICATION FOR USABILITY TESTING OF 3D GEOVISUALISATIONS

Abstract

Three-dimensional (3D) visualisations of geospatial data have become very popular in the last years. Various applications and tools are based on interactive 3D geovisualisations. However, the user aspects of these 3D geovisualisations are not yet fully understood. While several studies have focused on how users work with these 3D geovisualisations, only few studies focus directly on interactive 3D geovisualisations and employ usability research methods like screen logging. This method enables the objective recording of movement in 3D virtual environments and of user interactions in general. Therefore, we created a web-based research tool: a 3D Movement and Interaction Recorder (3DmoveR). This tool is based on the user logging method, combined with a digital questionnaire and practical spatial tasks. The design and implementation of this tool follow the spiral model, and its current version is 2.0. It is implemented using open web technologies such as PHP, JavaScript, and the Three.js library. After building this tool, we verified it through load testing and a simple pilot test verifying accessibility. We continued to describe the first deployment of 3DmoveR 2.0 in a real user study. The future modifications and applications of 3DmoveR 2.0 are discussed in the conclusion section. Attention was paid to future deployment during user testing outside controlled (laboratory) conditions.