Geographic Data Visualization on Mobile Devices for User’s Navigation and Decision Support Activities

Users who operate in the field (e.g., maintenance personnel, geologists, archaeologists, tourists, first responders) bring often with them paper sheets (e.g., city maps, forms, technical plans, object descriptions) containing data needed for their activities. Even when this data is available in digital form, the mobile condition of these users makes them prefer more portable and manageable solutions (such as paper) to potentially more powerful and flexible ones (such as laptop computers). For example, it is easier to handle and look at a paper map rather than a digital laptop map while on the move. However, the increasing availability of small and powerful mobile devices (PDAs and Smartphones) is opening new opportunities. At first devoted to manage user’s personal information, these devices can now be employed to assist users in carrying out different tasks in the field. Unfortunately, the design of effective applications for mobile scenarios cannot rely on the traditional techniques devised for desktop applications due to a number of issues: