GIS

Maps are all around us and more and more people rely on them every day. We use them on the web, on mobile devices, on navigation systems, in analysis and planning tools, for information visualization, or in gaming. Whatever they are used for, it is often not only about just displaying static geo-information, but also about finding, accessing, adding, or editing geo-information. We want to inspect relationships between entities, navigate through large result sets, and identify potential solutions for specific problems. In order to do this, we need to express our goals and needs in such a way that the computer can select the right algorithms and data to provide the answers we seek. Surprisingly, working with maps is often quite awkward. Even simple queries can require many steps of interaction, and the formulation of complex queries may necessitate learning dedicated query languages. This is all the more surprising if we consider that we know more about users, their context, and the task they try to achieve than ever before.

With MapInteract 2014 we want to continue to explore the future of maps as fully interactive interfaces. The program we have assembled thus covers several key areas of relevance: perceptual and cognitive aspects, interacting with geo-visualizations, and algorithms for interactive maps. The topics of the selected contributions range from new ways of sketches routes and presenting instructions, algorithmic approaches for labelling maps, to interactive exploration and visualization tool and frameworks. In addition to examining the theoretical background and discussing experiences gathered in user studies, the workshop also incorporates a demo session so that participants can get first-hand experiences with some of the proposed methods and approaches. By combining theoretical and practical aspects from different perspectives and backgrounds into a one-day event, we hope to contribute towards sketching a research agenda and foster new collaborations for shaping the future of truly interactive maps.