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Digital technology has shaped the way humans interact with information and create knowledge. These conditions have in turn shaped a generation of people who experienced virtual environments very early in their lives and are often referred to as digital natives. This group of people has a particular way of communicating and interacting. It characterizes their affinity spaces and the many experiences with virtual worlds and digital games. In digital games, the separation between entertainment and learning is becoming less pronounced. Many game titles have been used for educational purposes. An iconic example is Minecraft, which has been used formally in some schools to teach topics on the environment. However, studies on formal topics in Geography are conspicuously absent, and we therefore selected Minecraft to understand how digital natives learn about Geography given the character of its virtual environment. To this aim, we developed a learning task scenario for global climate zones. The scenario was tested in two pilot studies with two different groups of participants. The results indicate that participants already share some degree of knowledge about the game environment, despite differences within the digital native group. Using the results of several pilot studies, we discuss the design choices to engage players in the game’s learning activity.

The map of Moravia (1569) by the renowned Vienna scholar, Paulus Fabricius (ca. 1528-1589), is still considered to be the oldest known cartographic representation of Moravia. This paper focuses on the cartographic analysis of the map with the aim to identify possible methods of its construction with regard to some known circumstances of its origin. The author of the map mentions in the appended texts that he travelled through Moravia several times. The methodology of the work is based on selected spatial analyses of the positional and height aspects of displayed settlements. The achieved results are compared and discussed in the context of other information sources, especially the existing settlement structure and contemporary communication network. The conclusions reveal a correlation between the density of the depicted settlements and the proximity of a modelled communication network. The orographic conditions of Moravia have a significant influence on the map content. The plains are covered in detail, hilly lands and highlands are rarely and randomly mapped, whereas the mountains are not described at all. In the peripheral parts of the area of interest, the author probably worked only with data from travel itineraries. With regard to achieved results, it can be assumed that there is potential to apply the established procedures to the analysis of old maps of similar type. Unlike later maps, they are based on the author's travelling experiences and impressions, rather than on complex measurements of geographical coordinates.

The study evaluated the degree of comparability of human behaviour exhibited during an evacuation scenario conducted in two environments, one real and the other virtual. For this purpose, we created a precise 3D model (digital twin) of a real campus building. In both the experimental (virtual environment) and control (real environment) groups, the participants were all first-time visitors to the building. The groups were instructed to locate a target room where they would subsequently be required to complete a simple task, at which point an evacuation alarm would be set off. We evaluated three types of data collected during their quest to find a way out of the building: an eye-tracker logged gaze hits on various objects (e.g., navigation signs), recorded the locomotion and trajectory of the participants, and logged a combination of these parameters (e.g., points along the path where participants sighted certain objects). The sample was composed of 73 participants (35 for the real environment, 38 for the virtual environment). We analysed and confirmed the results and concluded that despite certain aspects of human behaviour differing during the simulated evacuation, the locomotion behaviour exhibited by the participants in both environments was generally comparable. To improve the potential use of these findings in practice, we selected easily accessible hardware and excluded expensive devices such as treadmills, etc.

During evacuation, individual navigation behavior is often dictated by the legibility of evacuation signs and the environmental setting itself. People tend to follow previously-used and known route...

The royal charters and chronicles present a unique historical source for researching power distribution and administration of the medieval kingdom. This paper presents an attempt to progress in the analytical approaches presented by German historians from the 1980s and 1990s to study the governance of the medieval kingdom. Inspired by the use of newly acquainted digital methods in humanities, we compare the analytical metrics implemented on the Přemysl Otakar II (1251-1278) activity itinerary dataset to study the identification of primary centers of his government. The data for the study were collected based on the historical research of available sources and transformed and cleaned into a data table of king's activities and a list of geocoded localities. To study the king's movement in spacetime, we also needed to reconstruct the travel routes and the corresponding travel time estimation. In the next step, we selected and implemented twelve metrics ranging from fundamental statistical analysis, and geostatistics, to network analysis to evaluate the dataset and identify the primary centers of the reign of the king. Further, we provided the comparison of all used metrics in the sense of visual analysis, methodological point of view, and from the perspective of their historical interpretation. In addition to providing a methodological extension to the research of historical itineraries, the outcomes of the analyses brought a new contribution to the historical research of the administration of the medieval kingdom.

This article presents and offers Toggle Toolkit, which is an original collection of Unity scripts designed to control various aspects of interactive 3D experiments. The toolkit enables researchers in different fields to design, conduct and evaluate experiments and include interactive elements in immersive virtual environments. This was achieved by using the internal functionalities of the Unity engine and solutions of our own design. The structure of Toggle Toolkit allows triggers and toggles to be allocated to existing virtual objects and throughout the Unity scene. Once a trigger is executed (with a pre-described action, such as colliding with a virtual object, pressing a key, gazing at an object, etc.), the toggles associated with the trigger are activated and then change the attributes or behaviors of linked objects. All interactive behavior is logged and made available for further statistical analysis. Examples of applications in research are presented and discussed. The Toggle Toolkit's utility lies in its simplicity and modularity. The Toolkit was especially produced for experimenters with few coding skills and high customization requirements in their experiments. The tool is freely available for use in research and can be enhanced with custom scripts. A video tutorial is provided to facilitate use of the tool. The paper aims to not only introduce beginners to experimentation with VR but also offers more experienced researchers who are potentially interested in using and adjusting the features the Toolkit a deeper insight into its structure.

Technology, in its various forms, mediates encounters between individuals and the lived time–space. Mobile phones, internet, navigation systems, and advanced transport technologies dramatically cha...

Many university-taught courses moved to online form since the outbreak of the global pandemic of coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Distance learning has become broadly used as a result of the widely applied lockdowns, however, many students lack personal contact in the learning process. A classical web-based distance learning does not provide means for natural interpersonal interaction. The technology of immersive virtual reality (iVR) may mitigate this problem. Current research has been aimed mainly at specific instances of collaborative immersive virtual environment (CIVE) applications for learning. The fields utilizing iVR for knowledge construction and skills training with the use of spatial visualizations show promising results. The objective of this study was to assess the effectiveness of collaborative and individual use of iVR for learning geography, specifically training in hypsography. Furthermore, the study’s goals were to determine whether collaborative learning would be more effective and to investigate the key elements in which collaborative and individual learning were expected to differ–motivation and use of cognitive resources. The CIVE application developed at Masaryk University was utilized to train 80 participants in inferring conclusions from cartographic visualizations. The collaborative and individual experimental group underwent a research procedure consisting of a pretest, training in iVR, posttest, and questionnaires. A statistical comparison between the geography pretest and posttest for the individual learning showed a significant increase in the score (p = 0.024, ES = 0.128) and speed (p = 0.027, ES = 0.123), while for the collaborative learning, there was a significant increase in the score (pES = 0.333) but not in speed (p = 1.000, ES = 0.000). Thus, iVR as a medium proved to be an effective tool for learning geography. However, comparing the collaborative and individual learning showed no significant difference in the learning gain (p = 0.303, ES = 0.115), speed gain (p = 0.098, ES = 0.185), or performance motivation (p = 0.368, ES = 0.101). Nevertheless, the collaborative learning group had significantly higher use of cognitive resources (p = 0.046, ES = 0.223) than the individual learning group. The results were discussed in relation to the cognitive load theories, and future research directions for iVR learning were proposed.

The aim of this study was to compare the performance of two bivariate visualizations by measuring response correctness (error rate) and response time, and to identify the differences in cognitive processes involved in map-reading tasks by using eye-tracking methods. The present study is based on our previous research and the hypothesis that the use of different visualization methods may lead to significant cognitive-processing differences. We applied extrinsic and intrinsic visualizations in the study. Participants in the experiment were presented maps which depicted two variables (soil moisture and soil depth) and asked to identify the areas which displayed either a single condition (e.g., “find an area with low soil depth”) or both conditions (e.g., “find an area with high soil moisture and low soil depth”). The research sample was composed of 31 social sciences and humanities university students. The experiment was performed under laboratory conditions, and Hypothesis software was used for data collection. Eye-tracking data were collected for 23 of the participants. An SMI RED-m eye-tracker was used to determine whether either of the two visualization methods was more efficient for solving the given map-reading tasks. Our results showed that with the intrinsic visualization method, the participants spent significantly more time with the map legend. This result suggests that extrinsic and intrinsic visualizations induce different cognitive processes. The intrinsic method was observed to generally require more time and led to higher error rates. In summary, the extrinsic method was found to be more efficient than the intrinsic method, although the difference was less pronounced in the tasks which contained two variables, which proved to be better suited to intrinsic visualization.

Navigation in a complex indoor environment can be difficult, and pedestrians may find themselves disoriented. As the featured objects of an environment, indoor landmarks play an important role in navigation. A review of the existing literature in outdoor landmark evaluation methods, however, shows that they cannot be fully applicable in any indoor environment. In this paper, an instance-based scoring system is proposed for analyzing the indicators that influence the salience of spatial objects from visual, semantic and structural aspects. An Analytic Hierarchy Process was applied to calculate landmark weights using these indicators. Two types of indoor scenes were employed as instances to verify the validity of this method, the Dongchenghui shopping mall (Nanjing, China) using a subjective questionnaire and interview method, and the headquarters of Masaryk University (Brno, Czechia) using an objective eyetracking method. Be result of the two instances showed that the proposed method was feasible.

This study presents surface mass balance of two small glaciers on James Ross Island calculated using constant and zonally-variable conversion factors. The density of 500 and 900 kg·m–3 adopted for snow in the accumulation area and ice in the ablation area, respectively, provides lower mass balance values that better fit to the glaciological records from glaciers on Vega Island and South Shetland Islands. The difference between the cumulative surface mass balance values based on constant (1.23 ± 0.44 m w.e.) and zonally-variable density (0.57 ± 0.67 m w.e.) is higher for Whisky Glacier where a total mass gain was observed over the period 2009–2015. The cumulative surface mass balance values are 0.46 ± 0.36 and 0.11 ± 0.37 m w.e. for Davies Dome, which experienced lower mass gain over the same period. The conversion approach does not affect much the spatial distribution of surface mass balance on glaciers, equilibrium line altitude and accumulation-area ratio. The pattern of the surface mass balance is almost identical in the ablation zone and very similar in the accumulation zone, where the constant conversion factor yields higher surface mass balance values. The equilibrium line altitude and accumulation-area ratio determined for the investigated glaciers differ by less than 2m and 0.01, respectively. The annual changes of equilibrium line altitude and the mean values determined over the period 2009–2015 for Whisky Glacier (311 ± 16 m a.s.l.) and Davies Dome (393 ± 18 m a.s.l.) coincide with the values reported from Bahía del Diablo Glacier on Vega Island but differ from the glaciological records on South Shetland Islands.

The article examines cross-cultural differences encountered in the cognitive processing of specific cartographic stimuli. We conducted a comparative experimental study on 98 participants from two different cultures, the first group comprising Czechs (N = 53) and the second group comprising Chinese (N = 22) and Taiwanese (N = 23). The findings suggested that the Central European participants were less collectivistic, used similar cognitive style and categorized multivariate point symbols on a map more analytically than the Asian participants. The findings indicated that culture indeed influenced human perception and cognition of spatial information. The entire research model was also verified at an individual level through structural equation modelling (SEM). Path analysis suggested that individualism and collectivism was a weak predictor of the analytic/holistic cognitive style. Path analysis also showed that cognitive style considerably predicted categorization in map point symbols.

The presented study aspires to utilize the gradually validated immense potential of collaborative immersive virtual environments (CIVEs) in higher education when designing and conducting geography lessons. These particular lessons focused on hypsography. A Research through Design approach and relevant qualitative methodology were used as we engaged two groups of domain experts (experienced geography teachers) to validate both the learning scenarios and the virtual environment we used. The lessons were administered via eDIVE—a novel platform for collaborative learning and teaching in virtual reality of our own design. The teachers underwent a hypsography virtual lesson and were randomly divided into two groups to be compared, which differed in the level of structure given to the lesson (one group received detailed instructions on what task they were to solve, while the other was given a free hand in exploring the environment and activities it afforded). The teachers’ experiences were then summarized in a post-lesson reflection and a subsequent focus group following the tasks. The participants’ expertise allowed insights to be gained into their first-hand experience as students, as well as their expert view of the lesson from an educational point of view. Virtual reality’s implementation into teaching practice was the key topic of the discussion.

The form of visual representation affects both the way in which the visual representation is processed and the effectiveness of this processing. Different forms of visual representation may require...

Various widely available applications such as Google Earth have made interactive 3D visualizations of spatial data popular. While several studies have focused on how users perform when interacting with these with 3D visualizations, it has not been common to record their virtual movements in 3D environments or interactions with 3D maps. We therefore created and tested a new web-based research tool: a 3D Movement and Interaction Recorder (3DmoveR). Its design incorporates findings from the latest 3D visualization research, and is built upon an iterative requirements analysis. It is implemented using open web technologies such as PHP, JavaScript, and the X3DOM library. The main goal of the tool is to record camera position and orientation during a user’s movement within a virtual 3D scene, together with other aspects of their interaction. After building the tool, we performed an experiment to demonstrate its capabilities. This experiment revealed differences between laypersons and experts (cartographers) when working with interactive 3D maps. For example, experts achieved higher numbers of correct answers in some tasks, had shorter response times, followed shorter virtual trajectories, and moved through the environment more smoothly. Interaction-based clustering as well as other ways of visualizing and qualitatively analyzing user interaction were explored.

This article reports on an empirical study investigating cultural differences in the visuospatial perception and cognition of qualitative point symbols shown on reference maps. We developed two informationally equivalent symbol sets depicted on identical reference maps that were shown to Czech and Chinese map readers. The symbols varied in visual contrast with respect to the base map. Our empirical results suggest the existence of cultural influences on map reading, but not in the predicted direction based on the previous cross-cultural studies. Our findings stress the importance of considering the cultural background of map readers, especially when designing reference maps aimed for global online use.

Three-dimensional geovisualizations are currently pushed both by technological development and by the demands of experts in various applied areas. In the presented empirical study, we compared the features of real 3D (stereoscopic) versus pseudo 3D (monoscopic) geovisualizations in static and interactive digital elevation models. We tested 39 high-school students in their ability to identify the correct terrain profile from digital elevation models. Students’ performance was recorded and further analysed with respect to their spatial abilities, which were measured by a psychological mental rotation test and think aloud protocol. The results of the study indicated that the influence of the type of 3D visualization (monoscopic/stereoscopic) on the performance of the users is not clear, the level of navigational interactivity has significant influence on the usability of a particular 3D visualization, and finally no influences of the spatial abilities on the performance of the user within the 3D environment were identified.

A small ice-dammed lake, which developed along the margin of Nordenskioldbreen on the northern coast of Adolfbukta, (central Spitsbergen, Svalbard) has been studied by a combination of facies analysis, ground penetrating radar, analysis of photos and satellite imagery, and by surface mapping by Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (drone). The lake existed between the years 1990–2012 and occupied two partial depressions in the bedrock, separated by a bedrock ridge for the dominant period of its history. Whereas the eastern depression was almost completely infilled due to direct fluvial input, the western depression revealed only thin sedimentary cover and was dotted from the eastern depression by an outflow of surficial waters. Gilbert delta deposits with typical tripartite zones of topset, foreset and bottomset were recognised in the eastern depression. Topset was comprised by deposits of a braided river. Foreset is formed by deposits of sediment gravity flows (turbidity currents and debris flows). Bottomset is represented by alternating suspension deposits and deposits of hyperpycnal underflows (low-density turbidity currents). The ruling factors of the evolution of the delta were glacier retreat, bedrock morphology, both affecting the relative lake level, and the rate of sediment delivery. Glacier retreat over stepped and inclined bedrock morphology led to delta prograding and downstepping. The recognised fluvio-deltaic terraces revealed four lake level falls followed by fluvial downcutting, erosion and redeposition of the older deltaic/lake deposits, the shifting of the lake's position towards the damming glacier and the transition of the sediment input in the same direction. The termination of the lake was a result of further glacier retreat and the opening of subglacial drainage.

Current social needs emphasize the education of a person with creative thinking, capable of not only finding problems but also solving them. Different strategies are applied in the educational process according to the society's requirements for an educated individual. On this basis, the appropriate content of education, organizational forms, didactic methods and the use of the latest didactic techniques are also determined. One way to achieve this is to introduce other teaching methods, such as inquiry-based teaching, into the teaching process. Inquiry-based learning aims to make science lessons more effective, especially at primary schools, and at the same time seeks to attract students to study them. It has an irreplaceable role in new, modern and successful ways of teaching science. The aim of the paper is to design methodological sheets in the 5th year of elementary school in terms of inquiry-based learning and their application to the teaching process.

In this study, we focus on the usability of pseudo-3D thematic maps (static perspective views) compared with their conventional 2D equivalents. A total of 105 study participants were divided into two groups (12–19 years old and 20–27 years old). A Perspective Taking Test measured their spatial abilities and each participant solved 15 tasks using four thematic maps. We compared map variants to determine which is more suitable for individual tasks. We then examined the differences between the two age groups and tried to find any relationship between the user’s spatial abilities and the number of correct answers. We observed a significant difference regarding the map’s visualization dimension only in one particular task and significant differences between the age groups when they worked with 2D maps. We found a positive correlation between the participant’s level of spatial ability and the number of correct answers.

From the user perspective, 3D geospatial data visualizations are one of the bridges between the physical and the digital world. As such, the potential of 3D geospatial data visualizations is frequently discussed within and beyond the digital twins. The effects on human cognitive processes in complex spatial tasks is rather poorly known. No uniform standards exist for the 3D technologies used in these tasks. Although stereoscopic geovisualizations presented using 3D technologies enhance depth perception, it has been suggested that the visual discomfort experienced when using 3D technology outweighs its benefits and results in lower efficiency and errors. In the present study, sixty participants using 3D technologies were tested in terms of their ability to make informed decisions in selecting the correct position of a virtual transmitter in a digital twin and a digital terrain model, respectively. Participants (n = 60) were randomly assigned into two groups, one using 3D technology engaging stereoscopic shutter glasses and the second working with standard computer screen-based visualizations. The results indicated that the participants who used shutter glasses performed significantly worse in terms of response time (W = 175.0; p < 0.001, r = −0.524). This finding verifies previous conclusions concerning the unsuitability of stereoscopic visualization technology for complex decision-making in geospatial tasks.

The growing use of geographic information systems (GIS) and geographical analyses in different areas of the digital humanities highlights the need for geocoding, i.e. assigning geographic coordinates to records in a dataset. Such spatially-referenced datasets are a precondition for any spatial analysis and visualization. While GIS in general is a dynamically evolving branch of software development, there is a need for specialized applications which would assist researchers in geocoding datasets in history, archaeology, and the digital humanities. Therefore, we developed the “Historical Geocoding Assistant”, an open-source web tool that meets the specific needs of historical research and brings a solution to geocoding historical data in a convenient, fast, and reliable way.

A drought of exceptional severity took place in Central Europe in 1947, with marked socio-economic consequences and far-reaching political responses in the Czech Lands. A rich body of meteorological observations from the Czech Lands is drawn upon to construct a comprehensive picture of the various direct and indirect factors that led to this extreme event and to describe its impacts across a range of spatiotemporal scales. In terms of the Czech Lands in their entirety and the full 1804-2014 period of instrumental measurements, the 1947 drought, which lasted from April to October, may be expressed as very low monthly values of Standardised Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index for 1 month (SPEI-1), Standardised Precipitation Index for 1 month (SPI-1), and Palmer’s Z-index. Independent evidence from mean monthly patterns of sealevel pressure suggests it originated in an anticyclone over Central Europe and ridges of high pressure extending over the area. Duration and deficiency volumes recorded at selected Czech hydrological stations indicate that the 1947 event was one of the 3 most important hydrologic drought episodes since the late 1880s. Severe agricultural drought was reflected in a low to extremely bad harvest of cereals and other agricultural crops. A critical lack of cereals was remedied by ‘brotherly help’, i.e. relief shipments from the Soviet Union given for reasons that were far more political than altruistic. The whole process received considerable attention in the national media, influencing public opinion for decades. It also led to various administrative responses and decisions at local, regional and even state levels. This study demonstrates that the 1947 drought was a significant climatic anomaly of great spatial extent, and with wide-ranging socio-economic consequences.

The use of both 3D visualization and devices with touch displays is increasing. In this paper, we focused on the Web technologies for 3D visualization of spatial data and its interaction via touch screen gestures. At the first stage, we compared the support of touch interaction in selected JavaScript libraries on different hardware (desktop PCs with touch screens, tablets, and smartphones) and software platforms. Afterward, we realized simple empiric test (within-subject design, 6 participants, 2 simple tasks, LCD touch monitor Acer and digital terrain models as stimuli) focusing on the ability of users to solve simple spatial tasks via touch screens. An in-house testing web tool was developed and used based on JavaScript, PHP, and X3DOM languages and Hammer.js libraries. The correctness of answers, speed of users’ performances, used gestures, and a simple gesture metric was recorded and analysed. Preliminary results revealed that the pan gesture is most frequently used by test participants and it is also supported by the majority of 3D libraries. Possible gesture metrics and future developments including the interpersonal differences are discussed in the conclusion.

This article addresses the measurement and assessment of response times and error rates in map-reading tasks relative to various modes of linear feature visualization. In a between-subject design study, participants completed a set of map-reading tasks generated by approaches to a traffic problem. These entailed quick and correct decoding of graphically represented quantitative and qualitative spatial information. The tasks first involved the decoding of one graphic variable, then of two variables simultaneously. While alternative representations of qualitative information included colour hue and symbol shape, the quantitative information was communicated either through symbol size or colour value. In bivariate tasks, quantitative and qualitative graphical elements were combined in a single display. Individual differences were also examined. The concept of cognitive style partially explains the variability in people’s perception and thinking, describing individual preferences in object representation and problem-solving strategies. The data obtained in the experiment suggest that alternative forms of visualization may have different impacts on performance in map-reading tasks: colour hue and size proved more efficient in communicating information than shape and colour value. Apart from this, it was shown that individual facets of cognitive style may affect task performance, depending on the type of visualization employed.

We tried to verify the concept of Structure from Motion method for measuring the volume of snow cover in a grid of 100×100 m located in Adventdalen, Central Svalbard. As referencing method we utilized 121 depth measurements in one hectare area. Using avalanche probe a snow depth was measured in mentioned 121 nodes of the grid. We detected maximum snow depth of 2.05 m but snowless parts as well. From gathered depths’ data we geostatistically (ordinary kriging) interpolated snow surface model which we used to determine reference volume of snow at research plot (5 569 m3). As a result, we were able to calculate important metrics and analyze topography and spatial distribution of snow cover at the plot. For taking photos for Structure from Motion method, bare pole in hands with a camera mounted was used. We constructed orthomosaic of research plot.

Human-computer interaction has entered the 3D era. The most important models representing spatial information — maps — are transferred into 3D versions regarding the specific content to be displayed. Virtual worlds (VW) become promising area of interest because of possibility to dynamically modify content and multi-user cooperation when solving tasks regardless to physical presence. They can be used for sharing and elaborating information via virtual images or avatars. Attractiveness of VWs is emphasized also by possibility to measure operators’ actions and complex strategies. Collaboration in 3D environments is the crucial issue in many areas where the visualizations are important for the group cooperation. Within the specific 3D user interface the operators' ability to manipulate the displayed content is explored regarding such phenomena as situation awareness, cognitive workload and human error. For such purpose, the VWs offer a great number of tools for measuring the operators’ responses as recording virtual movement or spots of interest in the visual field. Study focuses on the methodological issues of measuring the usability of 3D VWs and comparing them with the existing principles of 2D maps. We explore operators’ strategies to reach and interpret information regarding the specific type of visualization and different level of immersion.

Landmarks play an important role in navigation especially when people in the familiar and unfamiliar environment. These landmarks are usually used for expressing their spatial knowledge. This prior knowledge is related to the spatial familiarity that the spatial knowledge is acquired by individuals as a function of their experience in the environment (Gale et al., 1990). Individuals prefers to take into highly account their familiar route within the environment. Furthermore, the route descriptions include the differed types of landmarks in familiar/unfamiliar routes (Lovelace et al., 1999). The user’s level of spatial familiarity for people is a key factor of how they navigate in the environment (Savage et al., 2012). In human navigation or wayfinding, the dependency on familiar landmarks is the highest priority (Golledge, 2003).Landmarks are more distinguishably salient and prominent than the another spatial features (Sorrows and Hirtle, 1999). Therefore, the landmark salience refers to how easily this prominent spatial feature can be regarded as a landmark (Raubal and Winter, 2002). The landmark salience mainly divided into visual, structural (important location), and cognitive (semantic). Visual salience refers to the visual characteristics of spatial features such as color contrast with surroundings. Some visual characteristics include facade areas, shapes, colors and other properties. Semantic salience refers to the spatial knowledge related features such as a cultural importance of building. Structural salience refers to the spatial features play an important role in the structure of the spatial environment.The level of spatial knowledge of the individual also an important factor in landmark selection (Nuhn and Timpf, 2018). Hamburger and Röser (2014) investigated landmark semantics and showed that famous buildings were better recognized than unfamiliar ones. Quesnot and Roche (2015) found that the familiar individuals prefer the semantic landmarks in environment while the unfamiliar individuals prefer the landmark with the prominent visual and structural. In contrast, people unfamiliar with an environment prefer landmarks with outstanding visual and structural characteristics.The existing literature studies the method that landmark indicators to be considered are not comprehensive while can’t reflect on the landmark characteristics. The reason is that the method of calculation and extraction for landmarks can’t conform the individual preference needs of navigation. Compared with the traditional subjective evaluation method, the eye-tracking method provide objectivity and reliability. For example, a mobile eye tracking system was used by Kiefer et al. (2014) to investigate the process of self-localization. They discovered that test persons directed their attention longer on landmarks on the map and aligned them with objects in the surroundings during successful localization of their own position. Schwarzkopf et al. (2013) used fixed and mobile eye tracking devices to study that participates selected the navigation landmarks in the virtual environment and the real-world of the airport. In general, there are an only limited number of works related to the influence of spatial familiarity on landmark by using eye tracking method.At present, many navigation systems are providing users with route directions under different travel modes. These navigation systems have the "distance-to-turn" method in route directions, however the landmark knowledge has not been conformed to user's habits and spatial cognitive in wayfinding. In order to solve these problems, this paper aims to study the characteristics of the user’s spatial familiarity and landmark salience evaluation method in navigation. The following questions are addressed in this study: 1) What’s the relationship between the spatial familiarity with the landmark selection in navigation for individuals? 2) What is the quantitative evaluation model to connect between the spatial familiarity with the landmark salience by using the eye-tracking data?In our experiments, we will use eye tracking to explore the influence of spatial familiarity on landmark salience. The experimental path is part of the campus area of Nanjing Normal University. The subjects are divided into novice students and senior students from Nanjing Normal University as unfamiliar and familiar groups respectively. The procedures are divided into two parts, namely, the subjects should walk the experimental path within the fixation time and then they are asked to wear VR eye tracking module a Glass DK II special for HTC view (China; https://www.7invensun.com/) to do three types of tasks about landmark picture with the characteristics of visual, semantic and structural. With this research, we expect to establish a landmark salience evaluation method through eye movement data and analyse the landmark selection rules of groups with different spatial familiarity. It is helpful to design the pedestrian navigation system based on landmarks, improve the pertinence and reliability of navigation services and reduce the cognitive load for users.

The issue of uncertainty as a generic phenomenon in the natural world has been at the centre of both the cartographic and GI communities since the beginning of geographic data quality research. In accordance with the development of theoretical aspects of cartographic visualization and methods of uncertainty propagation in models, the generally accepted opinion is that uncertainty has to be presented to users in an unambiguous and understandable way. Despite reasonable amounts of work done in the field of uncertainty visualization methods (MacEachren1992, Leitner and Buttenfield 2000) and the testing of impact of visualization on decision making (Senaratne et al. 2012; Kinkeldy et al. 2015), there is still a wide gap between the uncertainty visualization theory and widely accepted use of uncertainty representation within decision making process. MacEachren et al. (2012), Fabrikant et al. (2010) initiated the discussion towards optimization of uncertainty visualization regarding visual semiotics and use of specific representations of uncertainty within complex mapping compositions and application context. However, their studies left also some open questions to be solved regarding the international audience of users.The presented study focused on two unresolved topics, namely how would users perceive the uncertainty point map signs within a complex map field and what would be the appropriate visualization in case if there is a need to combine value and uncertainty together. Moreover, we performed the testing in two different cultural environments in Brno (Czech Republic, Europe) and Nanjing (China).

The origin and nature of seal carcasses scattered around the Ulu Peninsula, James Ross Island, is examined using robust and novel multidisciplinary analysis. Spatial distribution analysis indicates their predominance at low elevations and on surfaces with negligible slope. The seals died throughout the last century. Dental cement increments indicate that the seals died in late winter, and we interpret this to show an influence of the persistence and break-up of sea ice and the appearance of pools/cracks in the northern Prince Gustav Channel on death. Specifically, after being trapped by a late winter freeze-up the seals search for open water, become disoriented by snow-covered flat valleys and move inland. Carcasses from all age groups of crabeater seal are found on land, but inland movement is less notable for Weddell and leopard seals. Although most carcasses appear to have remained unchanged during the last 10 years due to the cold and dry conditions, a few carcasses that are located in sites of snow accumulation and subsequent melting have undergone enhanced decay. Decaying seal carcasses represent loci of nutrient release in a nutrient deficient environment and are colonized by algae, cyanobacteria, lichens and mosses. This research suggests further useful studies for the future.

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) have technical capabilities to extended usage in various fields ofscience. The existing UAVs are to be relatively easily accessible in the near future. It is possible to equip them with different sensors but there are still some usage limitations. This paper focuses ondemonstrating UAVs usage for research in polar regions. The research in polar regions is very specific and, due to harsh climate, limits the field work with UAVs. The options and limitations are presented in a case study performed in the Nordenskiöldbreen area, Svalbard Archipelago. In the end some derived products suitable for further analysis are presented.

In this study, a GPS method was used to measure moss-dominated vegetation areas located at northern part of James Ross Island. Several small-scale (above 400 m2) areas were selected for the measurements of their shape, total area, boarder line, mean slope, and exposition as well as biodiversity of mosses. The areas of interest were located particularly in neighbourhood of the Big and Small Lachman lakes and northern slopes of Berry Hill mesa. Typically, the mossdominated areas were supplied with melt water from neighbouring snow fields formed in previous austral winter season. Specimens of mosses were collected from each site so that dominating species forming community structure could be evaluated. Individual areas differed in species richness, however, Bryum pseudotriquetrum and Hypnum revolutum dominated most of them. Sanionia uncinata was found at the only one of the investigated areas and might be considered as rare species for James Ross Island. In the paper, shape location and area of moss-dominated spots at James Ross Island is reported and discussed in relation to morphological characteristics of particular sites as well as water availability during austral summer season. Práce přináší výsledky mapování vegetačních oáz severní části ostrova Jamese rosse, Antarktida. In this study, a GPS method was used to measure moss-dominated vegetation areas located at northern part of James Ross Island. Several small-scale (above 400 m2) areas were selected for the measurements of their shape, total area, boarder line, mean slope, and exposition as well as biodiversity of mosses. The areas of interest were located particularly in neighbourhood of the Big and Small Lachman lakes and northern slopes of Berry Hill mesa. Typically, the mossdominated areas were supplied with melt water from neighbouring snow fields formed in previous austral winter season. Specimens of mosses were collected from each site so that dominating species forming community structure could be evaluated. Individual areas differed in species richness, however, Bryum pseudotriquetrum and Hypnum revolutum dominated most of them. Sanionia uncinata was found at the only one of the investigated areas and might be considered as rare species for James Ross Island. In the paper, shape location and area of moss-dominated spots at James Ross Island is reported and discussed in relation to morphological characteristics of particular sites as well as water availability during austral summer season.

This study explores the influence of stereoscopic (real) 3D and monoscopic (pseudo) 3D visualization on the human ability to reckon altitude information in noninteractive and interactive 3D geovisualizations. A two phased experiment was carried out to compare the performance of two groups of participants, one of them using the real 3D and the other one pseudo 3D visualization of geographical data. A homogeneous group of 61 psychology students, inexperienced in processing of geographical data, were tested with respect to their efficiency at identifying altitudes of the displayed landscape. The first phase of the experiment was designed as non-interactive, where static 3D visual displayswere presented; the second phase was designed as interactive and the participants were allowed to explore the scene by adjusting the position of the virtual camera. The investigated variables included accuracy at altitude identification, time demands and the amount of the participant’s motor activity performed during interaction with geovisualization. The interface was created using a Motion Capture system, Wii Remote Controller, widescreen projection and the passive Dolby 3D technology (for real 3D vision). The real 3D visual display was shown to significantly increase the accuracy of the landscape altitude identification in non-interactive tasks. As expected, in the interactive phase there were differences in accuracy flattened out between groups due to the possibility of interaction, with no other statistically significant differences in completion times or motor activity. The increased number of omitted objects in real 3D condition was further subjected to an exploratory analysis.

The contribution deals with methodological issues connected with the evaluation of cartographic materials. A new research design for map evaluation comes from an extensive cooperation between cartographers and psychologists. Contrary to strictly quantitative approaches, we propose a mixed research design, combining the quantitative and qualitative methods, because also the qualitative exploration of the corresponding cognitive strategies is in some cases necessary for an in-depth interpretation of the results. Proposed research design is demonstrated by a sample experiment concerning comparison and evaluation of suitability of two different cartographic approaches to avalanche hazard visualization. The quantitative analysis enables to detect potential differences in the compared visualization methods in the sense of their effectiveness and efficiency, and the qualitative analysis of the eye-movement data might improve our understanding of the ways different cognitive strategies are applied. The experiment was carried on the newly developed interactive assessment tool MUTEP, which substantially increases the reliability of experiments in cognitive cartography. MUTEP enables easy data collection and effective evaluation of the results which could be subsequently analyzed.

This work addresses the impact of a geovisualization&rsquo, s level of realism on a user&rsquo, s experience in indoor navigation. The key part of the work is a user study in which participants navigated along a designated evacuation route previously learnt in a virtual tour or traditional 2D floor plan. The efficiency and effectiveness of completing the task was measured by the number of incorrect turns during navigation and completion time. The complexity of mental spatial representations that participants developed before and after navigating the route was also evaluated. The data was obtained using several qualitative and quantitative research methods (mobile eye tracking, structured interviews, sketching of cognitive maps, creation of navigation instructions, and additional questions to evaluate spatial orientation abilities). A total of 36 subjects (17 in the &ldquo, floor plan&rdquo, group and 19 in the &ldquo, virtual tour&rdquo, group) participated in the study. The results showed that the participants from both groups were able to finish the designated navigation route, but more detailed mental spatial representations were developed by the &ldquo, group than the &ldquo, group. The participants in the virtual tour group created richer navigation instructions both before and after evacuation, mentioned more landmarks and could recall their characteristics. Visual landmark characteristics available in the virtual tour also seemed to support the correct decision-making.

The article is focused on issuing of the permanent stabilisation of geodetic points in the periglacial environment. Periglacial environment of ice-free areas of northern James Ross Island is characterised by specific geomorphological processes connected with freezing and thawing and mass movement processes in the superficial part of the ground. Variable intensity of periglacial processes creates main limitations for traditional methods of permanent geodetic point’s stabilisation. This article describes periglacial processes with regards to the traditional stabilisation methods and suggests alternative solutions, which were practically applied and verified on the ice-free area of Ulu Peninsula, northern James Ross Island.

In accordance with the development of theoretical aspects of cartographic visualization and methods of uncertainty propagation in models, the generally accepted opinion argues that uncertainty has to be presented to users in an unambiguous and understandable way. Studies published in psychological literature prove that users react to presented information differently depending on the presentation method, the specific task and its context. The presented paper describes the process of test development for selected methods of cartographic visualization of positional uncertainty, the utilization of multivariate testing software tool for test processing, and its consequent evaluation. Results of testing are further discussed in comparison with similar studies which have been published.

This paper presents a research that was established by interdisciplinary cooperation of psychologists and cartographers. The research is focused on influence of graphic design of map symbols on perceptual structure. Two different sets of map symbols were presented on identical topographic background. Each of the symbol sets was created by different authors and particular symbols vary in size, structure or colour shades. An influence of cognitive style of respondents was observed too.

The main motivation for this study was to enable paragliding pilots to use Augmented Reality features during flight. For orientation in the air, paragliding pilots use a map as the main source of information. It is therefore important that the information is presented in the most easily accessible way. The aim of the present study was to investigate the needs of paragliding pilots with respect to maps and the way maps provide them with information about the environment. The participants were three professional paragliding instructors with different amounts of experience. The methods employed involved a semi-structured interview and a practical, real-flight test involving AR glasses; the test was done by only one of the pilots. Two categories of data were identified, with the first involving data related to geographical terrain and the other to the pilot’s immediate surroundings. Our results suggest that an optical see-through display would be more suitable for use in the air than the video-based glasses we utilized. If an optical see-through display were used, the terrain could be seen through the glasses, with terrain-related information displayed in the map. AR could be used to present flight-related information as well. Our findings suggest that the way in which information is presented to pilots should be chosen based on the category of the information, namely, whether it is terrain-related or flight-related. In addition, it was found that the small display in the right corner of the pilot’s field of view is rather distractive and insufficient to fulfill the pilots’ needs. Our results also showed that future AR applications should be designed to be transferable between different platforms: glasses, mobile phones, and tablets.

Sediment profiles from the floodplain of Morava River in the Czech Republic have been collected from exposed river banks (4–6 m long sections) and cores (2–4 m deep) and investigated using a set of geochemical proxies validated by granulometry and conventional geochemical analysis, outlined in our previous paper. The work was conducted to evaluate the increase in sedimentation rate during Medieval and modern time periods. Correlation of sediments along the current channel belt allows identification of two most important synchronous changes in the channel structure over the past 1300 years: in the 13th century and at the end of the 16th century. These changes could be related to central European climatic extremes rather than to land cover/land use practises. Analysis of the pollen record in peaty deposits at the floodplain edge allows excluded dramatic deforestation in Medieval times. Maps of the area from the last five centuries revealed direct and indirect signs of past avulsions and clearly show how the original multichannel system was transformed into a single meandering channel in the early 20th century. The extrapolated aggradation rate (net vertical accretion of floodplain fines except for levee sediments) increased from 0.2–0.3 cm/year in 700 AD to 0.3–0.4 cm/year in 2000 AD depending on the grain size of the sediment. This is the smallest yet reported enhancement of siliclastic deposition, although Morava River watershed has been intensively used for agriculture and its land cover has changed in a manner similar to west and central European rivers.

Cartography has become an important tool for supporting decision-making processes in the field of crisis management. Maps (or GIS) can be used for solving various problems, e.g. the localization of accident site, the delimitation of endangered areas, the formulation of evacuation plans and others. People involved in decision-making processes use various procedures to solve these problems. However, a suitable and efficient form of cartographic support for particular situations and crisis management cycle stages is still missing. The main goal of the experiment was twofold. First, we wanted to assess the interdisciplinary (cartography–psychology) web-based testing environment and achieve the first usability results. Second, the use of different cartographic base map representations was analysed in order to judge the efficiency for specific situations. Testing was focused on various types of tasks, e.g. simple sign selection, the possibility of memorizing important information from the map and the choice of the optimal evacuation route. The overall testing was performed within the interactive web environment, based on predefined templates, automatically recorded and calibrated against the evaluation of the pretest users’ abilities. Preliminary testing results provide valuable inputs concerning the usability of selected base maps for supporting decision-making processes during various crisis situations.

Early in the Ptolemaic era, Egyptian cults, particularly those of Isis and Sarapis, spread successfully to ports across the ancient Aegean Sea. Leading researchers in the field claim that the spread of these cults was influenced by multiple factors, ones that were mainly economic or political in character. However, the question of which factors had more weight or impact than others in the process of the early spread of Egyptian cults has not yet been answered in academic discussion. This could be related to the fact that the issue of the spread of religious innovations in the ancient Mediterranean has been addressed mainly by established historiographical methods such as the collection and critical analysis of archaeological and literary sources. Hypotheses and conclusions derived from these methods are, however, often unable to reflect the complexity of historical processes. A possible solution can be found in supplementing this established methodological apparatus by formalized methods, e.g. the coding of relevant datasets, statistics, geospatial modeling, and network analysis. To be able to compare the possible impacts of different factors on the spread of Egyptian cults in the Aegean Sea region, we 1) constructed a model of the ancient maritime transportation network as a platform for quantitative analysis, 2) transformed selected factors of possible influence into georeferenced parameters of the network, and 3) defined a mathematical model that allowed us to determine which parameters of the network explain the spatial dissemination of archaeological evidence connected to Egyptian cults. The results suggest that the most significant correlation is between the placement of Ptolemaic garrisons and the distribution of Egyptian temples and artefacts in the early Hellenistic Aegean Sea region. The interpretation would be that Egyptian military forces potentially played a significant role in the spread of Egyptian cults.

The paper concerns a possible method for evaluating cartographic visualizations, with the emphasis on the perspective of the individual differences. Empirical usability testing of a newly proposed cartographic visualization is always an important step in the map-making process. This paper proposes an experimental design for testing the usability of selected cartographic visualizations by using a blank map. A standard topographic map and a specific context map proposed for transport-related tasks were used for the pilot study to examine the proposed testing methodology. An interactive experiment was designed to test differences in perception between both map variants. During the experiment, designed with the MUTEP application, two randomly chosen groups of users were asked to perform several tasks with a map related to object localization or wayfinding. In the final part of the study, respondents were asked to mark a number of locations on a blank map. All information regarding the responses was entered into a database. In the second phase, the same test was conducted using an eye-tracking tool to observe the elementary cognitive strategies of the respondents. Differences in problem-solving strategies were found with respect to both tested visualizations.

Kniha sestava ze dvou hlavnich casti. V prvni casti jsou představeny teoreticke koncepty ve vztahu k individualnim rozdilům uživatelů a výzkumu uživatelske přivětivosti. Druha caast je zaměřena na představeni software Hypothesis

This chapter summarizes the results of an experiment performed as basic research on the three-dimensional (3D) display of geographical information using two alternative control devices (a Wii remote controller and a mouse). The aim was to explore the influence of a specific type of visualization on the human understanding of depicted geographical information and to discover which type of display—real 3D or pseudo-3D combined with a Wii remote controller and a computer mouse—can be considered better for working with geographical bases. The research was set up as an exploratory analysis and examined the performance of 17 participants. As expected, there were differences in the results between the types of visualization and devices used. Real-3D visualization appeared faster but less suitable for the successful management of tasks than the pseudo-3D visualization. We found no significant differences based on the controlling device when elaborating tasks, but we believe the Wii remote controller device to be a promising device for future studies.