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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...

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 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.

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.

The use of 3D visualization technologies has increased rapidly in many applied fields, including geovisualization, and has been researched from many different perspectives. However, the findings for the benefits of 3D visualization, especially in stereoscopic 3D forms, remain inconclusive and disputed. Stereoscopic “real” 3D visualization was proposed as encouraging the visual perception of shapes and volume of displayed content yet criticised as problematic and limited in a number of ways, particularly in visual discomfort and increased response time in tasks. In order to assess the potential of real 3D visualization for geo-applications, 91 participants were engaged in this study to work with digital terrain models in different 3D settings. The researchers examined the effectivity of stereoscopic real 3D visualization compared to monoscopic 3D (or pseudo 3D) visualization under static and interactive conditions and applied three tasks with experimental stimuli representing different geo-related phenomena, i.e. objects in the terrain, flat areas marked in the terrain and terrain elevation profiles. The authors explored the significant effects of real 3D visualization and interactivity factors in terms of response time and correctness. Researchers observed that the option to interact (t = -10.849, p < 0.001) with a virtual terrain and its depiction with real 3D visualization (t = 4.64, p < 0.001) extended the participants’ response times. Counterintuitively, the data demonstrated that the static condition increased response correctness (z = 5.38, p < 0.001). Regarding detailed analysis of data, an interactivity factor was proposed as a potential substitute for real 3D visualization in 3D geographical tasks.

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.

An increasing number of population brings increasing vulnerability of the society to different disasters and emergencies. The maps provide spatial information, which is useful on different levels of decision making during emergencies from strategic planning to single person decision making. To fit the user needs maps can be optimized for a particular user, user group, available technology or external conditions.Evacuation is a crucial part of the process dealing with most of the emergencies. In case of building the standard ISO 23601:2009, Safety identification – Escape and evacuation plan signs was developed to provide the guidelines for the design, materials, installation and other attributes of the evacuation plans. It is mostly based on the ISO 7010:2003, Graphical symbols – Safety colours and safety signs – Safety signs that are widely used in the buildings all around the world. The symbols were designed with the purpose to attract user attention under any circumstances and across the different cultural background. It can be a disadvantage in case of cartographic visualization, while the symbols on the map are not easy to identify the anchor point, increase the graphics clutter of the map (see figure 1).In our research, we have decided to focus on the evaluation of user’s abilities to use and understand of designed evacuation signs and plans. As the standard is intended to be used worldwide, we have designed study focused on the comparison of the understanding to the meaning of evacuation symbols in general and also in the form of cartographic visualization. We have designed the user study performed in the first step in Nanjing (China) and in Brno (Czech Republic) in order to verify the cross-cultural universality of evacuation symbols. There were about seventy participants in China and seventy participants in the Czech Republic, who performed similar tasks. The tasks consist of separate symbol meaning selection, a separate symbol meaning estimation, identification of a particular symbol on the map and basic interpretation of the map content. The original and modified map signs were used as stimuli in case of cartographic visualization. Results were statistically processed and discussed. The results bring a new perspective on the standardized cartographic visualization for purposes of building evacuation.

With the increasing number of large buildings and more frequent indoor activities, indoor location-based service has expanded. Due to the complicated internal passages of large public buildings and the three-dimensional interlacing, it is difficult for users to quickly reach the destination, the demand of indoor paths visualization increases. Isikdag (2013), Zhang Shaoping (2017), Huang Kejia (2018) provided navigation services for users based on path planning algorithm. In terms of indoor path visualization, Nossum (2011) proposed a “Tubes” map design method, which superimposed the channel information of different floors on the same plane by simplifying the indoor corridor and the room. Lorenz et al (2013) focused on map perspective (2D/3D) and landmarks, developed and investigated cartographic methods for effective route guidance in indoor environments. Holscher et al (2007) emphasized using the landmark objects at the important decision points of the route in indoor map design. The existing studies mainly focused on two-dimensional plane to visualize the indoor path, lacking the analysis of three-dimensional connectivity in indoor space, which makes the intuitiveness and interactivity of path visualization greatly compromised. Therefore, it is difficult to satisfy the wayfinding requirements of the indoor multi-layer continuous space. In order to solve this problem, this paper aims to study the characteristics of the indoor environment and propose a path visualization method. The following questions are addressed in this study: 1) What are the key characteristics of the indoor environment compared to the outdoor space? 2) How to visualize the indoor paths to satisfy the users’ wayfinding needs?

Human performance and navigation activity in virtual environments can be measured and assessed with the aim to draw specific conclusions about human cognition. This paper presents an original virtual geographic environment (VGE) designed and used for this purpose. The presented research is rooted in an interdisciplinary approach combining knowledge and principles from the fields of psychology, cartography, and information technologies. The VGE was embedded with user logging functionality to provide a basis from which conclusions about human cognitive processes in a VGE could be drawn. The scope of this solution is introduced, described, and discussed under a behavioral measurement framework. An exploratory research design was adopted to demonstrate the environment&rsquo, s utility in proof-of-concept user testing. Twenty participants were observed in interactive, semi-interactive and non-interactive tasks, their performance and individual differences were analyzed. The behavioral measurements were supplemented by Object-Spatial Imagery and a Verbal Questionnaire to determine the participants&rsquo, cognitive styles. In this sample, significant differences in exploration strategies between men and women were detected. Differences between experienced and non-experienced users were also found in their ability to identify spatial relations in virtual scenes. Finally, areas for future research areas and development were pinpointed.

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.