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An exploratory approach for urban data visualization and spatial analysis with a game engine

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Abstract

The extensive use of Information and Communication Technologies and the consequent unprecedented generation of data have radically transformed the way we understand cities today. The vision of smart cities considers technology as an enabling force for the emergence of new forms of intelligence and collaboration, enhancing, thus, the problem-solving capacity of the city. Despite the wide range of applications aiming to improve urban systems and city governance, urban planning processes are rarely informed by online platforms and data generated by them lack comprehensive data visualization approaches. This research introduces an exploratory approach to exploit urban data through interactive visualization and game design, as a way to facilitate the access and understanding of such data. A novel methodology is proposed, leveraging on spatial data as an input source which drives the generation of three-dimensional environments and interactive applications supported by game engines. More specifically, this research builds upon existing tools and methods for geoprocessing and spatial analysis and embeds them in a 3D environment that employs game design elements. Three indicative visualization scenarios are designed, developed, and implemented to showcase the dynamics and flexibility of the proposed methodology, based on the registry of an urban reporting application in Thessaloniki.

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Notes

  1. https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2020-global-digital-overview (Access 06-01-2021).

  2. https://www.un.org/development/desa/en/news/population/2018-revision-of-world-urbanization-prospects.html (Access 03-09-2019).

  3. https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/urbandevelopment/overview (Access 04-09-2019).

  4. https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/21252030%20Agenda%20for%20Sustainable%20Development%20web.pdf (Access 03-09-2019).

  5. https://lisboainteligente.cm-lisboa.pt/lxdatalab/en/about/ (Access 17-09-2020).

  6. https://www.ucitylab.eu/index.php/2019/11/05/smartsantander-a-unique-city-scale-platform/ (Access 16-09-2020).

  7. https://ajuntament.barcelona.cat/digital/en (Access 16-09-2020).

  8. https://amsterdamsmartcity.com/ (Access 16-09-2020).

  9. https://scholar.google.gr/ (Access 16-09-2020).

  10. https://www.scopus.com/ (Access 16-09-2020).

  11. https://www.sciencedirect.com/ (Access 16-09-2020).

  12. “GIGO”: stands for “garbage in, garbage out” and describes the idea that flawed input data produce flawed output.

  13. The CRS defines a specific map projection that is used to locate geographical entities. These systems may be global, regional, national or local.

  14. The two-dimensional screen that captures a view of the three-dimensional space in a game engine is accomplished using Cameras. A camera, thus, is an object that defines a view in the scene space and simulates the human eye.

  15. https://www.qgis.org/en/site/(Access 4-10-2019).

  16. https://docs.mapbox.com/unity/maps/overview/ (Access 25-10-2019).

  17. OGR Simple Features Library is a C++ open source library providing read and write access to a variety of vector file formats including ESRI Shapefiles, and MapInfo mid/mif and TAB formats.

  18. Open data portal, Municipality of Thessaloniki. Source: https://opendata.thessaloniki.gr/el (Access 04-03-2019).

  19. For the city of Thessaloniki, this solution is quite appropriate, since the buildings’ limits usually coincide with the blocks’ limits.

  20. https://www.nngroup.com/articles/why-you-only-need-to-test-with-5-users/ (Access 06-01-2021).

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Acknowledgements

This research has been financially supported by General Secretariat for Research and Technology (GSRT) and the Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation (HFRI) (Scholarship Code: 2564). The authors would also like to thank the anonymous reviewers of the journal for their helpful comments on previous versions of this manuscript, as well as the people who participated in the usability testing for their insights.

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Funding

This research has been financially supported by General Secretariat for Research and Technology (GSRT) and the Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation (HFRI) (Scholarship Code: 2564).

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  1. Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece

    Artemis Psaltoglou & Athena Vakali

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  1. Artemis Psaltoglou
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  2. Athena Vakali
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Correspondence to Artemis Psaltoglou.

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Psaltoglou, A., Vakali, A. An exploratory approach for urban data visualization and spatial analysis with a game engine. Multimed Tools Appl 80, 15849–15873 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11042-021-10585-w

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