Maps and Globes in Virtual Reality

Abstract

a) Exocentric globe (b) Flat map (c) Egocentric globe (d) Curved map Figure 1: Four interactive visualisations for geographic data in Virtual Reality (VR). AbstractThis paper explores different ways to render world-wide geographic maps in virtual reality (VR). We compare: (a) a 3D exocentric globe, where the user's viewpoint is outside the globe; (b) a flat map (rendered to a plane in VR); (c) an egocentric 3D globe, with the viewpoint inside the globe; and (d) a curved map, created by projecting the map onto a section of a sphere which curves around the user. In all four visualisations the geographic centre can be smoothly adjusted with a standard handheld VR controller and the user, through a head-tracked headset, can physically move around the visualisation. For distance comparison exocentric globe is more accurate than egocentric globe and flat map. For area comparison more time is required with exocentric and egocentric globes than with flat and curved maps. For direction estimation, the exocentric globe is more accurate and faster than the other visual presentations. Our study participants had a weak preference for the exocentric globe. Generally the curved map had benefits over the flat map. In almost all cases the egocentric globe was found to be the least effective visualisation. Overall, our results provide support for the use of exocentric globes for geographic visualisation in mixed-reality.

The Sound of Being There: Audiovisual Cartography with Immersive Virtual Environments

“…also Huang et al 2018). However, VR is currently defined and operationalized in ambiguous ways, e.g., as virtual globes (Yang et al 2018), VRGIS (Boulos et al 2017) or Virtual Geographic Environments (VGE;…”

Immersive Analytics of Large Dynamic Networks via Overview and Detail Navigation

“…Marriot et al [9] argue that egocentric data views, such as proposed by Kwon et al [8], [27], may increase user engagement. However, a study by Yang et al [28] showed that maps explored from an egocentric perspective led to lower performance than any other representation in VR (an exocentric view, a flat map view, and a curved map view). We share the belief that egocentric data views are a unique strength of virtual environments to provide a new perspective on the data that cannot be easily obtained on a desktop screen.…”

Origin-Destination Flow Maps in Immersive Environments

“…However, there has been little research into the effectiveness of such visualisation using modern head-tracked binocular HMDs. The most relevant study by Yang et al [65] compared task performance for three standard map reading tasks-distance comparison, area comparison and direction estimation-using different 2D and 3D representations for the Earth. They compared a 3D exocentric globe placed in front of the viewer, an egocentric 3D globe placed around the viewer, a flat map (rendered to a plane in VR) and a curved map, created by projecting the map onto a section of a sphere curved around the user.…”

“…The disadvantage of a globe representation is that the curved surface of the globe causes foreshortening and only half of the globe can be seen at one time. An alternative is to use a 3D egocentric representation for the globe in which the user is placed inside a large sphere [65][66][67]. This suffers from similar drawbacks to the exocentric globe: foreshortening and inability to see more than half of the Earth's surface.…”

“…Viewers could pick any location and drag it to a new position using the VR controller. This interaction (called geo-rotation) was presented in [65] and allows the viewer to bring the geographic area of interest to the centre of the visualisation. This changes the relative position of points and straight line flows on the flat map, thus providing some of the benefits that changing viewpoint provided for the 3D representations of flow.…”