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Proceedings of the 21st International Cartographic Conference (ICC) Durban, South Africa, 10 � 16 August 2003�Cartographic Renaissance� Hosted by The International Cartographic Association (ICA)ISBN: 0-958-46093-0 Produced by: Document Transformation Technologies
EXPLORATION OF THE POTENTIAL OF USING THECONCEPT OF THE GEOEXPLORATIRIUM FOR
FACILITATING ACQUISITION OF GEOGRAPHICALKNOWLEDGE: FIRST CUT
Cartwright, W.1 and Williams, B.2
1Department of Geospatial Science, RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria.2Command and Control Division, Defence Science and Technology Organisation, Edinburgh, South Australia.
E-mail: [email protected] and [email protected]
ABSTRACT
The demands for access to geographical information that has integrity, currency and comprehensibility now mean thatthe traditional formats of information delivery need to be addressed, assessed and evaluated for their effectiveness asconduits that inform. The plethora of information that is gathered, stored and disseminated can mean (geo)informationoverload, rather that a better information resource. Too much information without real means of access and �digestion�(of that information) can result in insufficient information realisation or, in the worst-case scenario, disinformation.
A current research and development program is addressing this problem by developing a (geo)information realisationresource based on the concepts of the GeoExploratorium. It has as its main goal to provide tools for GeographicalKnowledge building. This paper reports on the concepts behind the project design and the development of the initialprototype.
1. INTRODUCTION
This paper provides an overview on the current stage of a series of multimedia applications that have been developed toexplore different ways for providing graphical access to spatial information. It leads-on from an interactive prototypelaserdisc to evaluate the effectiveness of the medium for disseminating information in the early 1980s. Thissubsequently led to the development of the concept of the GeoExploratorium, which are being applied in this project..The concept of the GeoExploratorium was developed by Cartwright (1996c; 1997a; 1997b; 1997c; 1997d, 1998) as asystem for providing access to Rich Media through the use of a metaphor �suite� that could aid the building ofGeographical Knowledge. Further explorations formalized how multimedia might be employed for enhancing map-delivered geographical information (Cartwright 1995; 1996a; 1996b; 2000; 2001; 2002; Cartwright and Heath, 2002,Cartwright and Hunter, 1995; 1996; 2001; Cartwright, Gartner, Riedl and Uhlirz., 2001). This project builds upon theseconcepts.
This paper begins by providing information about the underlying concepts behind the project: The Literate Traveller,the Map Shop Cartwright�s Sage concept and William�s SAGE proposal. It then outlines the research programme thathas been embarked upon to apply ideas related to the GeoExploratorium and realised through the building of a virtualMap Shop, a facility that provides Geogaphical Briefing for strategic decision-making.
2. UNDERLYING THEORY: LITERATE TRAVELLER, GEOEXPLORATORIUM, MAP SHOP, SAGEAND SAGE
2.1 Literate TravellerUsers of geographic information resources are usually adequately provided with paper and electronic mapping artifactswith which to plan and undertake certain tasks. The manipulation of these resources demand of users that they have anunderstanding of the area they are working with or the terrain they will travel through. Considering that the generalpublic use maps in different ways and for different purposes, and their needs in using those maps differ according to theindividual user and their particular task, by focussing on one particular spatial information-gathering task makesdescription clearer. Traditionally, the literate traveller would assemble a wide range of paper and digitally derived mapsand travel guides to help the trip go smoother. But, nowadays, with access to wide-ranging information sources,including maps and their complementary partners from various publishing houses, all of which can be enhanced byaccessing on-line information, the literate traveller can be armed with the tools for voyage planning before setting footoutdoors.
The provision of information that has currency and credibility is now a matter of how far a user really wants to go inunearthing resources and the money willing to be spent. But the way in which the user �learns� about geographicalspace is generally limited to the use of information resources that are provided via the traditional map metaphor. Ifmethods and means were developed to enable the user to �experience� geography in other ways and through othermethods, in association with, or by completely excluding (in some cases) the use of maps, a better �picture� ofgeographic reality could be assembled and experienced.
2.2 Map ShopA (virtual) Map Shop, complete with the many information resources, as well as the conventional map resources, couldgive many alternatives to the spatial information seeker. Imagine yourself in a map shop. In the drawers and on theracks are maps of places and countries throughout the world. They range from general interest map, to tourist map toroad map. It seems as if almost every map that was ever produced is there. But there also are atlases, globes, city plans,political and thematic maps, airline route charts and nautical charts. The �layout� of the Map Shop is illustrated inFigure 1.
Figure 1. Map Shop concept.
2.2.1 Using the Map shopMove to another part of the map shop and you will find books, written as both factual accounts and fictionaltravelogues, with descriptions of exotic (and not so exotic) countries and places. Titles include personal travelexperiences and travel that fictional or real voyagers have made recently or in the past. They include biographies ofinteresting travellers and their thoughts as they moved through the countries that the corresponding map collectioncover.
Move over to the �artifacts� section and you�ll find �how to� tourist guides giving information about customs,accommodation, travel tips and general information about what to see and do in the countries that you intend to visit.Here are collected essays and letters of travellers to places you might wish to visit (from either intrepid travellers, ortitled expedition members on a 19th century global tour). Journals and travel diaries can be found here - items that giveinsights into the inner thoughts of fellow (virtual) travellers and provide an insight into the trials and tribulations thattook place in journeys that would normally only appear as a sketched line on a world map.
Go along to the magazine area. Look at the rows of glossy publications produced by commercial houses and societies.Pour over the text, illustrations and photographs in The National Geographic Journal and the Geographical Journal, orread travel stories in popular magazines like International Traveller or Vogue Living. Here are internationalnewspapers and news bulletins from around the globe that provide access to current stories and background �briefings�about what is happening at home and abroad.
Move to the video storage shelves. Here on display are travelogues and presentations from publishers like LonelyPlanet and Rough Guides, as well as specialist movies made by travel entrepreneurs. Feature movies can be found here,as some people may prefer to be told a story on film so as to aid their personal methods of visualising faraway placesbefore they actually go there.
Some titles show that what is on offer is also historical footage, as both documentaries and movies portraying fictionalcharacters. The �travel tool� publications also stock the shelves, as are English-French-English dictionaries,phrasebooks for Spain and 1001 useful tips for backpacking in Thailand. You can listen to some of the audio tapes thatprovide the means of learning other languages and use them to mimic the way in which the locals ask for directions andorder meals.
This fictional map shop is what would be an ideal place for prospective travellers to gain access to a wide range ofgeographical information sources before actually beginning their journey. The useful adjuncts to 'mainstream'publications available can be viewed as invaluable �assistants� that make the other �mainstream� travel publicationsactually work. They can select the combination of artifacts that best provides tools for preparing themselves for theirvoyage of �geographic discovery�.
2.2.2 The On-line Map ShopNow imagine the walls of the map shop were removed and that resources beyond the physical room were available. Bymaking the map room accessible through the use of electronic digital communications it no longer has to be therepository of geographic discovery tools that are frozen in time. Links to other map collections, databases, filmarchives, news services, map publishing houses and related information providers expands the scope of the map roomwell beyond the limitations imposed by the physical presence of walls and existing resources to one that can act as botha storehouse of geographic information within the Map Shop and links to useful resources without. The Map Shopwould now have access to both discrete and distributed multimedia services. Figure 2 illustrates the typical linksbetween discrete and distributed resources.
Figure 2. Multimedia, hypermedia and links to other packages and distributed media.
Links could be provided to update discrete resources available within the Map Shop, like map collections and atlases onCD-ROM, to show other paper maps of the same series or complementary series that exist in other map rooms and mapcollections or those available from commercial and government mapping agencies. Connections to the databases ofnumerous national geographic information providers gives access to digital map files and information regarding theproducts they currently market. Map and guide-publishing houses could give details of updates of their maps anddirectories, making current existing publications between issues. Access to book publishers� databases and the meansto conduct searches on books in print would enable users of the map shop to find travel stories, biographies, historicalnovels and factual accounts of adventures that are directly related to the parts of the world about which information isbeing sought. Geographically related games like SimCity that would normally only be made available for individualgameplay could be expanded and made more relevant if other players, from anywhere in the world, could participate. Ifadditional players could be found who lived in the part of the world about which information was being sought, thenpersonal insights into how individual citizens of countries around the world viewed their own could be collected. Aneven better discovery scenario could be painted if both, or many, participants in their own geographical game couldmutually benefit from the interactive nature of finding out about each other�s part of the globe.
This on-line Map Shop would provide tips for the intrepid traveller by providing publications and �marked-up maps�that were previously used by other customers in the shop. Some of the products could physically reside in the maproom, whilst others could be provided through on-line connections. E-mail would be an ideal communication mediumfor establishing links between expert travellers and the newcomer. Willing experienced voyagers could make theirservices available (even for a fee) to give insightful information about places that they are most familiar with or aboutthematic aspects of certain areas about which they have expert knowledge.
2.3 GeoExplortoriumThe GeoExploratorium is regarded to be a virtual space that would enable users of the Map Shop to explore geographicinformation using different metaphors. Many of the components of the on-line Map Shop would be duplicated in theGeoExploratorium, but they would be able to be used in combination with the metaphors provided within theGeoExploratorium. It uses a metaphor set and the links to external resources that provide �reality links�. As well asproviding access to multimedia, hypermedia and interactive maps, the GeoExploratorium would provide links to other�world wide� resources. The requirements of the Literate Traveller outlined earlier depended upon mostly tactilemultimedia products. By applying the concept of the GeoExploratorium provisions for the pre-journey deliberationsand decisions could be assembled from tactile, discrete and distributed resources. If these resources were madeavailable along the lines proposed in the GeoExploratorium, a composite and comprehensive collection of �at hand�, oncomputer and on-line interactive tools could be assembled.
2.4 SageNot everyone can be an expert. Every spatial information user cannot hope to know every answer, or have easy accessto experts in specialised fields. New mapping technology, providing access to wider information sources usingdistributed multimedia, can be used to enable a mapping systems to be utilised to make provision for a more holisticview and therefore better appreciate the make-up of reality better than only if parts were only visible. The expert, whenproviding information, draws upon extensive experience during re-telling or informing and takes a �story� beyond meredescription by providing authority (Jach, 1996). Life-long experience of farmers can provide knowledge about soils,crops and effects of the weather that graphics may fail to impart, workers involved in deprived urban areas can paint alucid picture of what it is like to be poor and expert geologists can enhance a picture of subterranean structures. TheSage injects experience and expert knowledge into the telling. Multimedia can contain elements of oral, print andelectronic expert storytelling. Multimedia mapping packages enable The Sage to provide audio descriptions of static ordynamic maps and to appear in videos that elaborate on the underlying facts behind the phenomena being depicted(Cartwright, 1997e).
2.5 SAGE (Specialist Adviser on geography and the Environment)The availability and access to geographic and environmental information is growing at a staggering pace; a pace whichfar outstrips our ability to use it credibly for, not only the planning and conduct of operations and routine activities, butfor strategically more important purposes such as strategic national development, homeland defence and security, andso on. We now need to consider the concept of designing and creating virtual advisers or artificial agents. One suchconcept might be that of a Specialist Adviser on Geography and the Environment � a SAGE. However, if we embracethe concept of an artificial agent then we need to investigate the scope and context of the world in which the SAGEwould function.
It seems intuitive that the SAGE would need to know about the past. The SAGE would need to have available acomprehensive knowledge of the sciences, technologies and disciplines of the past and the implications to presentdatabases and archives. The SAGE would also need to know about previous studies and reviews, previous initiativesand activities; and the SAGE should have access to documentaries, narratives, histories, and so on. In addition, it seemsthat the SAGE would need access to a plethora of policy guidance documents, agreements, memoranda, etc.
The SAGE needs access to the nation�s geospatial information infrastructure (the ASDI) via accredited portals, etc. Theknowledge base needs also to include white papers, and a comprehensive range of scientific and technical sourcessuitable to both naïve and expert users.
Furthermore, it seems that the SAGE needs a visionary component. The knowledge and vision of domain experts needsto be elicited and this information organised into capability development strategies. Such strategies need to be cognisantof acquisition processes and scope the near, mid and long terms acquisition programs of an organisation. Overall, theconcept for the SAGE can be shown in the illustration below.
Figure 3. Concept of the SAGE (Specialist Adviser on Geography and the Environment) (Williams, 2002).
3. APPLICTION - GEOGRAPHIC INTELLIGENCE
Technological advances in computer systems over the past two decades have provided mapmakers and land resourcemanagers with capabilities to perform increasingly sophisticated mapping and geographic analysis functions. For muchof this period development has followed two distinct streams; one concerned with automating the map-making processand favoured by the traditional mapping organisations, and one focusing on environmental analysis and land planningfunctions preferred by regional planners, asset and facilities managers, etc.
We have now reached the time when we now have a range of technologies and these technologies are enabling thefusion of the two trends. However, the World Wide Web, the e-phenomena, and society�s desire to be better informednow mean that the simple fusion of the existing capabilities from those two traditional trends is no longer adequate. Wenow need to know far more about our environment than ever before and we need to make decisions far more quicklythan ever before. We need to embrace the concept of a geospatial information infrastructure and geographicintelligence.
The success of any technological development depends on an effective capability development and acquisition process.The outcome of this process should be an information infrastructure in which the innovation resides. As such the[future] SAGE needs to be a part of an organisation�s Geospatial Information Infrastructure (GII).
A Geospatial Information Infrastructure can be defined as �an enabling infrastructure to meet the needs of thecommunity for geospatial information. The infrastructure is the collection of people, doctrine, policies, architecture,standards, and technologies necessary to create, maintain, and utilise a shared geospatial framework.A Geospatial Information Infrastructure:! Establishes a framework for acquiring, producing, managing, and disseminating geospatial information;! Provides the supporting services needed to ensure information content meets user needs, is easily accessible, and
can readily be applied to support operational information requirements; and! Ensures the supporting infrastructure components (including policy, doctrine, training and force/organisation
structure) are in place to optimise the use of the geospatial information, products, and services provided.
An operational architecture needed to achieve a Geospatial Information Infrastructure is shown in the image below:
Figure 4. Geospatial Information Infrastructure
Figure 5. Operation needs for Geospatial Information
The operational needs for knowledge of geographic and environmental information are pervasive. The user communityextends from senior policy makers to [future] robots and as such the determination of information content, context andintended use is a major research area. The complexity can partially be demonstrated in Figure 5 when we looks as thedetail and complexity of the topics and items shown in Figure 4.
4. PROTOTYPE � TOWNSVILLE GEOKNOWLEDGE PROJECT
The Townsville prototype is being developed to incorporate both multimedia and GIS elements, accessed through theappropriate use of metaphors, in the first instance incorporating Cartwright�s Sage metaphor with William�s SAGEconcept. The prototype was designed for World Wide Web browser delivery, requiring minimal plug-ins � for Flashand QuickTime movies. As this is being used as a test bed for the GeoExploratorium two access interfaces have beenprovided as part of the initial interface, a �map� of information resources and a 3D Information Landscape that the usercan move through. The initial access interface is shown in Figure 6.
Figure 6. Initial access interface
If users choose to use the map interface they are presented with a �map� of the information (figure 7). Once a particularresource type is �clicked� the user is moved to a HTML page that provides links to other, online information (figure 8).
Figure 7. Information map.
Figure 8. Map resources link from information map.
The VRML components of the Information Landscape are designed to provide a World where users can browse and�walk� through the information access �space�, that is a virtual terrain built on information availability, rather thatphysical or human geographical information. Similar concepts have been applied for accessing news stories (Sparciano,1997) and building DTMs of �likeness� of news stories that can be analysed through standard GIS applications(Fabrikant, 2003). Testing will evaluate whether users prefer the traditional 2D map interface or the InformationLandscape (See Figure 9).
Figure 9. VRML Information Landscape.
Using the Information Landscape users can move about the �terrain� and move into areas of (information) interest to�prospect� for geographical information related to pre-determined areas of need, or merely browse through the space.The VRML World contains links to information that includes videos and audio that are able to be activated by clickingon the image (which is an active �running� video) (figure 10) or audio logo that appear on the �walls� of areas ofinformation availability �buildings�. The appropriateness of this method and whether users access this information in anintuitive way will be evaluated as part of this research program.
Figure 10. Access to videos via �live� video �walls� on VRML access interface.
Accessing photographs is done via an interactive map produced using Macromedia Flash. �Hot Spots� were insertedinto the map to facilitate users choice related to location and the type of imagery required � image, interactive image orpanorama. The Flash map interface is illustrated in Figure 11.
Figure 11. Interactive photograph collection interface.Once the user �clicks� on one of the hot spots they are presented with a choice of images of the city (figure 12a and 12b)and the option to undertake a �Surrogate Walk�(figures 13 and 14), along the general concepts developed in theDomesday videodisk (Openshaw and Mounsey, 1986), a concept that the authors argue is still sound, as demonstratedon the BBC/Philips/Acorn computers product almost two decades ago that portrayed �snapshots� of everyday life in theUnited Kingdom.
Figure 12a. Images of the city. In this example a panorama image exists and the user is able to choose between aninteractive panorama or to view the images that compose that panorama, as in this example.
Figure 12b. Panorama created with Pixaround.
Figure 13. Surrogate walk in Townsville. Initially a map interface is provided to allow users toselect which photograph they wish to start the �walk� with.
Figure 14. Surrogate walk in Townsville. At each street intersection users can choose to move left, right, lookbackwards, or move forward to the next street intersection and associated photograph set.
5. FURTHER DEVELOPMENT
Work continues on this project and an overall 3D Map shop VRML interface is being �built�. This will provide anintuitive way in which users can initially gain �entry� into the virtual map shop. Also, a documentary and photographicarchive is being sourced. This will be used to provide �non-cartographic� artifacts to explore the information space.Also, an associated and complimentary product is being developed as part of this overall project. The use of this type ofgeographical information resource is being evaluated for both ease of use / acceptance of use and the type of
geographical �mental image� built with a product like this, compared to conventional mapping products in isolation.Also, What if scenario modelling, using GIS to provide projected scenarios to assist decision-making is underway. It isproposed that this product will be used in conjunction with the multimedia product.
6. CONCLUSIONS
Geographic and environmental cognition environments may be directly experienced, learned about, or imagined.Geographic and environmental cognition refers to essentially large-scale environments, from nation and geographicregions down to cities and spaces between buildings, to both built and natural environments, and to the entire range ofphysical, social, cultural, political, and economic aspects of man�s world. Cognition of these environments implies notonly what individuals and groups have information and images about the existence of these environments and theirconstituent elements, but also that they have impressions about their character, function, dynamics and structuralinterrelatedness, and that they imbue them with meaning, significance and symbolic properties�. Overall, this cognitioncould be viewed as being geographic intelligence.
But, what geographic information is important, and why? How do we arrange and organise geographic information intoelectronic virtual libraries. How do we communicate the assembled knowledge to learned and naïve communities? Andhow do we create an information infrastructure to make it all happen? This research project has been instigated toexplore these concepts. A prototype has been built on the concepts of the Literate Traveller, the GeoExploratorium, theSage and the SAGE. Evaluation of the prototype will ascertain, initially, if this concept is sound.
7. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This research is supported through a research grant from the Department of Defence, Australia, and particularly theCommand and Control Division, Defence Science and Technology Organisation, Edinburgh, South Australia.
8. REFERENCES
[1] Cartwright, W.E., 1995, �New maps and mapping strategies: contemporary communications / contemporarycommunications�, SUC Bulletin, vol. 29, no. 1, pp. 1 - 8.
[2] Cartwright, W. E., 1996a, �New metaphors for user access to multimedia and hypermedia mapping /geographical information systems products�, paper presented at the ICA Seminar - Electronic Atlases - a NewWay of Presenting Geographical Information, The Hague, The Netherlands: International Geographical Union.
[3] Cartwright, W.E., 1996b, �Map products and mapping processes for the new millenium�, proceedings ofMapping Sciences �96 Conference, mapping Sciences Institute, Australia, pp. 99 � 115.
[4] Cartwright, W.E., 1996c, �New metaphors for user access to multimedia and hypermedia mapping / geographicalinformation systemsproducts�, paper presented at the 28th International Geographical Congress, Symposium 11:Electronic Atlases - a new way of presenting geographical information, The Hague, the Netherlands.
[5] Cartwright, W. E., 1997a, �The GeoExploratorium and the �Discovery� of Geographic Information�, paperpresented at The Global University: A 21st Century View Conference, Melbourne: RMIT University. 10 pp..
[6] Cartwright, W. E., 1997b, "On-line GeoExploratorium for Geographical Discovery", paper presented at the On-Line Teaching and Developments @ RMIT Forum, December.
[7] Cartwright, W. E., 1997c, �The use of the Web and multimedia to provide a Spatial Information'GeoExploratorium'�, Symposium on GIS and the WWW, University of Melbourne, April.
[8] Cartwright, W. E., 1997d, "A metaphor set for user access to multimedia mapping products", proceedings of theSeminar on Electronic Atlases II, Köbben, B., Ormeling, F. and Trainor, T. eds., Enschede, The Netherlands:International Cartographic Association Commission on National and Regional Atlases, pp. 41 - 56.
[9] Cartwright, W. E., 1997e, �The Application of a New Metaphor Set to Depict Geographic Information andAssociations�, proceedings of the 18th International Cartographic Conference, Stockholm, Sweden: InternationalCartographic Association, June, pp. 654 � 662.
[10] Cartwright, W.E., 1998a, �The development and evaluation of a Web-based 'GeoExploratorium' for theexploration and discovery of geographical information�, proceedings of Mapping Sciences �98, Fremantle:Mapping Sciences Institute, Australia, pp. 219 - 228.
[11] Cartwright, W.E., 2000, �Looking Back and Looking Forward: The Development of Multimedia Cartographyand the Evolution of a Unique Geographical Information Presentation�, The Globe, no. 49, pp.41 - 56.
[12] Cartwright, W. E., 2002, �Building a Better Mousetrap: design Considerations for the Provision of AppropriateInterfaces for Enhancing the Access to and Use of Geographical Information�, Cartography, vol. 31 no. 1, pp. 77� 86, Mapping Sciences Institute, Australia.
[13] Cartwright, W. E., Gartner, G., Riedl, A. and Uhlirz, S., 2001, �GeoMultimedia and Multimedia Cartography�,proceedings of CORP 2001, Wien, Austria:Technischen Universität, pp. 245 � 251.
[14] Cartwright, W. E. and Heath, G., 2002, �Geography as Seen from the Window: Findings About Viewpoint-Specific Images of Geography Defined by Tools of Visualization�, Cartography, proceedings of the 2002Conference (refereed papers) Mapping Sciences Institute, Australia, under review.
[15] Cartwright, W.E. and Hunter, G.J., 2001, �Towards A Methodology For The Evaluation Of MultimediaGeographical Information Products �, Geoinformatica, Vol. 5, No. 3, pp. 291 � 315.
[16] Cartwright, W.E. and Hunter, G.J., 1996, �Design and Authoring of Interactive Map Products�, Geomatica, vol.50, no. 2, pp.59 - 68.
[17] Cartwright, W.E. and Hunter, G.J., 1995,�Beyond Maps: Using Multimedia To Enrich the Use Of GeographicInformation�, proceedings of URISA �95, San Jose, Texas: Urban and Regional Information SystemsAssociation, pp. 420 - 433.
[18] Fabrikant, S. I., 2003, �Spatialization: Charting the sea of information�, paper presented at GepCart�2003,Taupo, New Zealand: New Zealand Cartographic Society.
[19] Jach, A., 1996, personal correspondence.[20] Openshaw, S., and Mounsey, H., 1986, �Geographic information systems and the BBC�s Domesday interactive
videodisk�, proceedings Auto Carto London, vol. 2, pp. 539 - 546.[21] Sparciano et al., 1997, City of News, http://flavia.www.media.mit.edu/~flavia/CityOfNews.html[22] Williams, R. J., 2002, �Geographic Intelligence: The Key to Information Superiority�, paper presented at the
AURUSA
EXPLORATION OF THE POTENTIAL OF USING THECONCEPT OF THE GEOEXPLORATIRIUM FOR
FACILITATING ACQUISITION OF GEOGRAPHICALKNOWLEDGE: FIRST CUT
Cartwright, W.1 and Williams, B.2
1Department of Geospatial Science, RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria.2Command and Control Division, Defence Science and Technology Organisation, Edinburgh, South Australia.
E-mail: [email protected] and [email protected]
Biography
William Cartwright is Associate Professor of Multimedia Cartography in the Department of Geospatial Science atRMIT University, Melbourne, Australia, where he specialises in the application of New Media technologies toCartography. He joined the University after spending a number of years in both the government and private sectors ofthe mapping industry. He holds undergraduate qualifications in Cartography and graduate qualifications in education,media studies, information and communication technology education and graphic design.
He is a member of the International Cartographic Association's Commission on Visualization and Virtual Environmentsand the Commission on Web Cartography. He has been an active supporter if the ICA activities over many years andhas attended numerous ICA workshops, conferences and Commission meetings.
