Immersive Technologies and GIS Integrating the Physical and Virtual

David Wortley FRSA

Senior Research Fellow

Immersive Technology Strategies

Leicester, United Kingdom

david@davidwortley.com

Abstract—This paper describes the trends in GIS Innovation

driven by the immersive technologies of video games, virtual

worlds and social networks and examines the potential impact of

these innovations on society

Keywords-component; immersive technologies, serious games,

GIS , personalisation, knowledge

I. INTRODUCTION

Immersive Technologies such as serious games, virtual

worlds and social networks are a very influential driver for

innovation because of their success in engaging the

discretionary time, attention and income of their users. This

investment in time, attention and money translates itself into

the commercial value of research and development of devices

and applications which better engage technology users and/or

make products and services accessible to the widest possible

consumer market. These devices and applications are shaping

our use of technology in ways which are developing highly

personalised relationships between users and various digital

devices such that the devices themselves provide a unique

interface experience to the user which increasingly requires

lower levels of skill and knowledge to access because the

domain knowledge is embedded in the device and/or

application.

These new types of relationships between humans and

computers are maturing rapidly and in the process, they are

breaking down the barriers between the physical and virtual

world. This paper and presentation will illustrate by example

some of the recent innovations in immersive technologies

which combine very natural, almost invisible interfaces with

artificial intelligence, image processing, sensor devices and

user profiling / personalisation tools.

II. HUMAN INTELLIGENCE AND MACHINES

A. Historical Perspective

In the early days of any new machine or technology designed and built by humans, the operation of that machine to optimum performance required operator skill, experience, understanding and intelligence. To a large extent, the skill and experience of the human operator compensated for deficiencies in the man-machine interface. In almost every sphere of human

activity, there has been a remarkable transformation in the level of operator skill, intelligence and knowledge required to make effective use of machines and technology. These are just a few examples.

B. Transport Technologies

Dashboard of Fiat 500 with Sat Nav

Transport technologies are one example of how humankind has sought to break down the barriers of time, space and state to enable people to travel further and faster. Where once humans harnessed the power of animals to achieve this goal, with the industrial revolution and steam power, mankind could operate a machine to transport people and goods to new places at faster speeds. The early steam engines and motor cars required a whole spectrum of human senses, intelligence and experience to operate efficiently and the necessary skills and/or knowledge could take years of training and practice to acquire. Without this skill, experience and knowledge the transport systems of yesteryear would not function at all.

Today, most of this skill and intelligence has been embedded in the vehicles themselves so that even budget cars such as the Fiat 500 have Satellite Navigation and a range of telemetry and sensor data which, coupled with the vastly improved reliability of modern cars means that drivers can just get into a vehicle, start it up and easily navigate to their destination. These GIS related technologies in cars, lorries, ships and planes substantially reduces the need for human skill and experience.

C. Computing Technologies

IBM 5120 Desktop Computer

The early computers used in businesses and homes were little more than sophisticated calculators and offered a “one size fits all” solution with no sense or intelligence of their own to be able to offer personalized services based on the location of the computer and/or the needs/characteristics of the user.

Today, tablet computers like the iPad with 64GB of solid state memory and smart phones all have incorporated technology that gives the devices the ability to recognize their location and also respond to the users’ behaviour.

These kinds of capabilities, when linked to cloud computing and sophisticated search and analysis functionality, mean that highly mobile devices have the ability to almost become an extension of the user, reflecting their interests, needs and desires to deliver a range of customized location based services.

III THE ROLE OF VIDEO GAMES AND INTERFACE TECHNOLOGIES

The global video games market size was estimated to be $60.4 billion in 2009 and is forecast to rise to over $70 billion by 2015. Video games generate more revenue than either the movie industry or the music industry and because of their commercial value, the market for video games is highly competitive and commands substantial investment in emerging technologies which provide competitive advantage to the developers.

It is this investment in the Research and Development necessary to find ever more engaging ways to immerse the user sufficiently that has led to the development of technologies and applications which address some of the most basic human needs. Human beings, uniquely of all living creatures have the desire and the ability to break the natural barriers of time, space and state that our physical make up constrains us to. We are motivated constantly to be able to travel anywhere in time and space at will and instantly. Virtual worlds like Second Life allow us to do this.

The Apollo mission in Second Life

The increasing fidelity of 3D visualization used in video games and virtual worlds means that we can replicate real-world physical spaces from the present, past and future in an immersive virtual environment that our avatar representations can freely navigate under our control and, in the future, will be able to live and act autonomously through the use of artificial intelligence.

IV IMMERSIVE TECHNOLOGIES, PERSONALISATION

AND GIS

In parallel with the innovations in video games and virtual worlds, social networking applications have also been driving developments in GIS and location based services. The success of the whole spectrum of immersive technologies evidenced by the number subscribers to social media sites like Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and Youtube is in no small way attributable to the ability of these applications to be personalised by the user. This personalisation gives the user control of how they are represented in these virtual spaces either through their personal profile or the design of the avatar alter ego.

Personal Relationships with computing technologies are a fast growing development area for location based applications. Computing in the areas of video games, virtual worlds and social networking has a strong emphasis on technology developments which recognise the user and dynamically shape the interface to the user according to the individual’s preferences, capabilities and interests. In this way, the technology is learning to mimic the nature of human to human

relationships in which our behaviour evolves and modifies over time as we get to know people.

Through devices like the Mirosoft Kinect with its voice and facial recognition technologies, as well as other proactive biometric security technologies, computing devices are getting better at being able to identify an individual and therefore self-configure according to the knowledge of that individual. In addition, once a user is “recognised” and logged-on, other background artificial intelligence technologies begin to monitor the way the individual uses the technology in order to shape the interface and content to the individual.

This phenomenon of personalisation and virtual representation of the user in a social networking application is now being successfully used in internet dating web sites and also many commercial internal knowledge networks that companies use to leverage their human resources. As these technologies continue to develop and mature, it is very conceivable that our avatars will use artificial intelligence to navigate these “mirror” worlds and autonomously build relationships with other virtual citizens that could deliver real-world benefits to their “owner”.

V. CONCLUSION

Breaking down the barriers of time, space and state has been a constant ambition since the dawn of time. Generations of citizens of this planet have used their senses, intelligence and skills to overcome the physical limitations of our bodies, aided by technology that can transport us to new places and new experiences in ever shorter timescales.

I believe that mankind has reached a “tipping point” at which we have embedded human-like senses, intelligence and judgement into the technologies that are becoming ubiquitous and accessible to almost everyone. The next phase of development, predicted in many ways by visionaries like Ray Kurtzweil, would be for human beings and technologies to increasingly merge in a combined physical/virtual environment in which the borders between the real and virtual ae almost invisible.