User Interface Studies in the Virtual Map Environment

Abstract

With the acceleration of interactive virtual map use and the proliferation of such mapmaking software, we need to learn much more about how interactive electronic media and animated map environments influence the communication of cartographic information. When assessing the communicative value of maps in any given environment where animation and other virtual maps are used, I argue that the interface itself becomes a significant factor in the use of the map, or map sequences. We need a revitalized and expanded role for a user-oriented or a userinterface form of research, not too dissimilar to the shifts in research emphasis undertaken by cartographers with the first wave of automation.