Advantages of the Voronoi Spatial Model

In an attempt to escape some of the limitations of traditional GIS data structures, the Voronoi diagram was selected as an attractive alternative. It is a space-filling topological structure, eliminating problems of the line-intersection spatial model. It has been extensively studied by experts in computational geometry. Various versions have been developed in differing dimensions and metrics, for various types of spatial queries. Finally, these structures may be made dynamic both in that they may be maintained through any set of insertions and deletions, and also because they may be maintained through point movement. This provides the basic tools for a truly interactive system, where the user and the map are involved in a “conversation”. The implications of this are illustrated by describing interactive spatial decision support system requirements, robot navigation, map updating and ‘the map as a movie”.