Search

In the present paper we analyze the role that a dynamic user model may play in simplifying query formulation and solving in an existing audio-visual map interaction technique conceived for mobile devices. We have re-designed the system functionalities devoted to gain summary information about off-screen data and to suggest the best direction towards a target. We show that customizing a query on the basis of the current user profile may give the user the advantage of making queries simpler and may avoid similar steps meant to refine the results.

Maps provide people with the ability to visualize and analyze the world as they perceive it, in terms of geographic objects and relationships among them. However, when maps are delivered on mobile devices, where viewing a wide portion of the map may conflict with displaying features in a detailed manner, a complete and exhaustive evaluation of a region may become difficult. In the paper, we describe a visualization technique, named Framy, which exploits an interaction metaphor for painting frames, to provide hints about off-screen objects, in a mobile GIS application. In particular, we explain how Itten’s theory of colors has been taken into account to improve user’s visual perception of items on the mobile device interface.