InViTo: An Interactive Visualisation Tool to Support Spatial Decision Processes

Background

Within the field of visualisation, there is a specific branch dedicated to spatial data visualisation, known as geovisualisation. It finds its deepest roots in cartography, but has developed together with computer science as a field of research and application since the eighties. In 1995 the International Cartographic Association (ICA) stated a Commission on Visualisation and Virtual Environments, after renamed Commission on Geovisualisation, establishing geovisualisation as a science which studies, by definition, the exploration and analysis of spatial information through interactive visual interfaces (http://icaci.org/commissions).

Geovisualisation, and more generally visualisation, is indeed considered a scientific discipline because it is not just a means of communication, but an instrument to build a path for arriving to knowledge (Van den Brink et al., 2007). Experience demonstrates that visualisation increases the assessment capability and the comprehension of urban dynamics during the decision process (Simao et al., 2009). It can enable forms of intuitive knowledge and can be a fruitful method to engage citizens and decision makers and make them aware of the elements under discussion (Kwartler & Longo, 2008).