TITLE:
Using GIS Data to Build Informed Virtual Geographic Environments (IVGE)
AUTHORS:
Mehdi Mekni
KEYWORDS:
Geographic Information System (GIS); Informed Virtual Geographic Environments (IVGE); Multi-Agent Geo-Simulation (MAGS)
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Geographic Information System,
Vol.5 No.6,
December
24,
2013
ABSTRACT: In this paper, we propose a novel
approach to automatically building Informed Virtual Geographic Environments (IVGE) using data provided by
Geographic Information Systems (GIS). The obtained IVGE provides 2D and 3D geographic
information for visualization and simulation purposes. Conventional VGE
approaches are generally built upon a grid-based representation, raising the
well-known problems of the lack of accuracy of the localized data and the difficulty
to merge data with multiple semantics. On the contrary, our approach uses a
topological model and provides an exact representation of GIS data, allowing an
accurate geometrical exploitation. Moreover, our model can merge semantic
information, even if spatially overlapping. In addition, the proposed IVGE contains
spatial information which can be enhanced thanks to a geometric abstraction
method. We illustrate this model with an application which automatically
extracts the required data from standard GIS files and allows a user to
navigate and retrieve information from the computed IVGE.