How do users interact with Virtual Geographic Environments? Users’ behavior evaluation in urban participatory planning

Thibaud Chassin,Guillaume Touya,Sidonie Christophe,Jens Ingensand

doi:10.5194/ica-proc-4-19-2021

Abstract

Abstract. For the past twenty years, the adoption of Virtual Geographic Environments is thriving. This democratization is due to numerous new opportunities offered by this medium. However, in participatory urban planning these interactive 3D geovisualizations are still labeled as very advanced means, and are only scarcely used. The involvement of citizens in urban decision-making is indeed carefully planned ahead to limit off-topic feedback. A better comprehension of Virtual Geographic Environments, and more specifically of users’ strategic behaviors while interacting with this medium could enhance participants’ contributions. The users’ strategic behavior was assessed in this article through an experimental study. A total of 107 participants completed online tasks about the identification of 3D scenes’ footprints, the comparison of buildings’ heights, and the visibility of objects through the scenes. The interactions of the participants were recorded (i.e. pressed keys, pointing device interactions), as well as the camera positions adopted to complete specific tasks. The results show that: (1) users get more efficient throughout the study; (2) interruptions in 3D manipulation appear to highlight difficulties in interacting with the virtual environments; (3) users tend to centralize their positions within the scene, notably around their starting position; (4) the type of task strongly affects the behavior of users, limiting or broadening their explorations. The results of this experimental study are a valuable resource that can be used to improve the design of future urban planning projects involving Virtual Geographic Environments, e.g. with the creation of personalized 3D tools.

Highlights

The world-wide presence of Google Earth1 and the development of highly realistic video games or Computer-Generated Imagery (CGI) place non-experts as regular consumers of 3D, considered as Virtual Geographic Environments (VGEs) (Lin and Gong 2001)
VGEs considered as 3D communication medium provide a valuable opportunity to fulfil the primary objectives of participatory approaches in urban planning, namely participants gaining knowledge and broadening their perspectives about the urban project (Joerin et al 2009)
We have found evidence suggesting that a better knowledge of user strategic behavior in interacting with VGEs can be beneficial for improving the design of interactive 3D tools for participatory approaches

Summary

Introduction

The world-wide presence of Google Earth and the development of highly realistic video games or Computer-Generated Imagery (CGI) place non-experts as regular consumers of 3D, considered as Virtual Geographic Environments (VGEs) (Lin and Gong 2001). VGEs are, gradually perceived as a tool not limited to expert usage. This shift inspires the design of several applications that are based on the participation of a broad, non-expert population. This interest is experienced by a large range of sectors (Biljecki et al 2015), including urban planning, where the benefits of 3D geo-visualizations have been acknowledged for twenty years (Al-Kodmany 2002). VGEs considered as 3D communication medium provide a valuable opportunity to fulfil the primary objectives of participatory approaches in urban planning, namely participants gaining knowledge and broadening their perspectives about the urban project (Joerin et al 2009).

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Results

Conclusion