Graphical information portals - The application of smart maps in GEoNET 4D
This paper presents a new brand of portals that elevates the concepts of information portals to a new level of interaction and navigation means. The graphical information portal is built upon the concept of smart maps for information visualization and exploration. Smart maps serve as navigational hub by indicating the existence of information carrying relevance for a specific location, by relating distributed multimedia information to a location on a map. of interest, and by categorizing information for easier orientation in subjects. Main advantage of a map-based information portal lies in the intuitive information presentation, navigation, search and retrieval. Representative usage scenarios include facility management, information kiosks, and environmental information systems. Groupware functions for collaborative visualization and interactive editing on maps are added on top in order to migrate the concept of graphical information portals to further, domains, such as concurrent engineering, risk management, and the like. An implementation of a geographical information portal has been designed and implemented in project GEoNET 4D, focussing on facility management for portuary zones.
graphical information portals smart maps information visualization