Research Directions in Cartography
Research Directions in Cartography
QuickTime VR: A New Cartographic Medium?
About QuickTime VR
When you view a panoramic image on the internet, it is often called a "panoramic scene", and when you look at it, you can pan horizontally, either to the left or to the right.
Unlike scenes, in which you navigate a single panoramic image, QTVR objects are composed of a number of images. Each image shows the object from a slightly different angle. As you turn the object or tilt it up and down, the software responds to your movements, displaying the images as a QuickTime movie. In other words,
QuickTime VR objects are navigable movies.
"How do they do that?"
When we view a QTVR movie, what we are seing are a series of panoramas or scenes, which are created by using photographs, digital images, video stills, or computer generated maps or landscape. Apple believes that the most realistic images are created by using still photographs.
When a developer creates a QTVR scene by using photographs, a typical set up would have the photographer using a standard 35 mm camera with a 15 mm lens mounted on a tripod. Then, the photographer would proceed to capture a series of pictures, turning the camera 30 degrees after each exposure. By rotating these 30 degrees, it allows the pictures to have some overlap on each side. (This will be important later.) After gathering the images, the photographer could either manually scan his photos into digital form after they have been developed or, they could be developed directly onto digital media like the Kodak PhotoCD.
When taking a vacation, have you ever tried to take 3 or 4 photgraphs in succession of the beach or the mountains, trying to make a panoramic image of your entire view? When you put the pictures together, you probably notice that the edges don't evenly match up. They don't blend smoothly. To overcome this problem, QuickTime VR warps and bends the images. Then it automatically maps the overlapping features and stitches the images together. Warping makes the stitching possible, but it also creates distortion. Straight lines become curved--everything looks bent.
But hey, this is not a problem, this is Apple Computer!
When you open up a QTVR movie, the QTVR Player adjusts and corrects the distortion and unwarps the part of the image which you are seeing in your viewer wondow. As you pan throughout your image, the QTVR player keeps up with your movements, unwarping and correcting your view of the movie "on the fly." Wow!
As we near the year 2000, we continue to see greater and greater advances in technology every day. It seems that no matter what discipline one is in, there is no escape from the furthering of use, technology and knowledge. Cartography is not immune to this and in face, cartography is thriving because of this.
In the not too distant past, we often would wonder at the marvel of what these "new" computers could do--now it seems that we are often disappointed at what a computer can not do. Now that we have been given a glimpse of what is possible, we want more. Again, that is the case in cartography.
A research objective of mine is to look more closely at how QuickTimeVR can be used to add interaction to cartographic animation. I feel strongly about interactive cartography and I believe that Apple's QTVR (which is available for a number of different platforms) can serve as a medium to deliver cartographic work into another level.
A map on its own is an interactive piece. Depending on the use of the map and even more importantly, depending on the individual user, a map of any shape and size takes on different characteristics for different individuals. Although we usually only think of a map as being just a static piece of paper, in reality, every map tells a story. QTVR can be used effectively to tell a story better.
The two main advantages of QTVR are its ability to pan 360 degrees and also the function of linking "hot spots" within the image. With panning, a map of the inside of a cathedral could be produced, allowing visitors to see what lies in all directions inside the church. Another example would be to create a map centered on top of a mountain peak or perhaps a glacier, possibly allowing the map user to evaluate any number of environmental issues. With panning, you can make a good map better by being able to examine what is around you on the map. With a paper map, two roads might seem as if they are only one mile apart--however, with a QTVR map, the user now might be able to see that while these roads are only a mile apart "as the crow flies," in actuality, there may be a mountain or another impassable physical feature between them. QTVR maps allow the user to see the relationships between his or her location and their surroundings.
The second feature of QTVR which makes the map even more interactive is that of linking. With linking, the cartographer is able to define and create "hot spots" on a map, perhaps on a tunnel or a physical or cultural feature, which allows the map user to "go" to another place on the map. Examples of linking are shown in the "House of Blues" QTVR file located elsewhere on this page. The cartographer now can create any number of different maps, with an unlimited linking possibility. This feature really is advantageous when and if you would like to show someone how to go "from here, to there, then to there..." Instead of telling them how to go somewhere, you can show them how to get there....from here.
I believe that interactive maps are the future of cartography and that mapping is entering a new interactive age. QuickTimeVR and cartography have an unlimited potential together and soon we will be treated to a whole new world of interactive maps which are both easy to use..and also easy to create.
Virtual cartography has begun.
Here are some popular QTVR movies to view.
Note: You must have the Apple QTVR plug-in installed in order to view these movies. If you don't, you will need to GET what you need to view these images! Download these and you are ready to go.
The Apple Computer research and development campus
Fort Point and the Golden Gate Bridge
Inside the "House of Blues"
Alcatraz
Mail to: Cliff Todd
This page last updated on December 31, 1996.