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Introduction to the Special Section on Hypermaps
Journal of Visual Languages and Computing (1997) 8, 1
Introduction to the Special Section on Hypermaps GUEST EDITORS’ FOREWORD HYPERMAPS, short for cartographic hyperdocuments, were created several years ago in order to fill the gap between hyperdocuments and spatial information [1]. Knowledge pertaining to several kinds of applications can be organized in a very elegant and efficient way by means of anchors linking words to spatial zones and vice versa, or by linking literal information to coordinates (x, y, and also z ). Examples of applications include urban and environmental planning, architecture and mechanical designs, building maintenance, archaeology and tourism. However, the predominant applications are actually found in the field of geographic information systems. Presently, we can see the emergence of new kinds of decision-support systems not based on operation research, but on hyperdocument navigation. At local authority or planning management levels, decision-makers can now tap those new tools based on the hypermap concepts. Indeed, it is possible to integrate voice, image and video into hypermaps taking the user’s cognitive aspects into account in order to create fresh software products. In the visual arena, hypermaps are very challenging due to the collision of two kinds of metaphors, namely the map metaphor and the set-based metaphor (such as Venn diagrams). This can imply both desirable consequences and ambiguities in the way they are presented to operators [2]. Consequently, new ideas must emerge in order to enrich our domain. Some time ago, JVLC decided to organize a special issue on hypermaps. Several papers were received, but at this point only one has been accepted, transforming the special issue into a special section. The selected paper entitled ‘Maps as a Metaphor in a Geographical Hyermedia System’ was written by Julien Caporal and Yann Vie´ mont from the Universite´ of Versailles, Saint Quentin, France. The other papers will be published when ready. I would like to acknowledge the referees Werner Kuhn (Vienna, Austria), Franca Garzotto (Milano, Italy) and Mike Shiffer (Cambridge, Mass) who helped us in examining the received papers. Robert Laurini References 1. R. Laurini & F. Milleret-Raffort (1990) Principles of Geomatic Hypermaps. Proceedings of the 4th International Symposium on Spatial Data Handling, June 23–27, Zurich, Switzerland, pp. 642–651. 2. M. A. Aufaure-Portier (1995) A high level interface language for GIS. Journal of Visual Languages and Computing 6, 167—182.
1045-926X/97/010001#01 $25.00/0/vl960025
( 1997 Academic Press Limited
Introduction to the Special Section on Hypermaps GUEST EDITORS’ FOREWORD HYPERMAPS, short for cartographic hyperdocuments, were created several years ago in order to fill the gap between hyperdocuments and spatial information [1]. Knowledge pertaining to several kinds of applications can be organized in a very elegant and efficient way by means of anchors linking words to spatial zones and vice versa, or by linking literal information to coordinates (x, y, and also z ). Examples of applications include urban and environmental planning, architecture and mechanical designs, building maintenance, archaeology and tourism. However, the predominant applications are actually found in the field of geographic information systems. Presently, we can see the emergence of new kinds of decision-support systems not based on operation research, but on hyperdocument navigation. At local authority or planning management levels, decision-makers can now tap those new tools based on the hypermap concepts. Indeed, it is possible to integrate voice, image and video into hypermaps taking the user’s cognitive aspects into account in order to create fresh software products. In the visual arena, hypermaps are very challenging due to the collision of two kinds of metaphors, namely the map metaphor and the set-based metaphor (such as Venn diagrams). This can imply both desirable consequences and ambiguities in the way they are presented to operators [2]. Consequently, new ideas must emerge in order to enrich our domain. Some time ago, JVLC decided to organize a special issue on hypermaps. Several papers were received, but at this point only one has been accepted, transforming the special issue into a special section. The selected paper entitled ‘Maps as a Metaphor in a Geographical Hyermedia System’ was written by Julien Caporal and Yann Vie´ mont from the Universite´ of Versailles, Saint Quentin, France. The other papers will be published when ready. I would like to acknowledge the referees Werner Kuhn (Vienna, Austria), Franca Garzotto (Milano, Italy) and Mike Shiffer (Cambridge, Mass) who helped us in examining the received papers. Robert Laurini References 1. R. Laurini & F. Milleret-Raffort (1990) Principles of Geomatic Hypermaps. Proceedings of the 4th International Symposium on Spatial Data Handling, June 23–27, Zurich, Switzerland, pp. 642–651. 2. M. A. Aufaure-Portier (1995) A high level interface language for GIS. Journal of Visual Languages and Computing 6, 167—182.
1045-926X/97/010001#01 $25.00/0/vl960025
( 1997 Academic Press Limited