cosit'95 tutorials and workshops

COSIT Administrator (cosit@geoinfo.tuwien.ac.at)
Thu, 6 Jul 1995 11:41:12 -0100

COSIT'95
Tutorials and Workshops

All tutorials will be held on Wednesday, 20th September 1995.
Please find full descriptions below.

THE INTERACTIVE MAP - Cognitive and Geographic Applications of the
Voronoi Spatial Model.
By Christopher Gold and Geoffrey Edwards, Laval University, Quebec.
full day workshop

EXPERIENTIALISM
By David M. Mark, University of New York at Buffalo and Andrew U. Frank,
Technical University Vienna
morning session

HUMAN SPATIAL COGNITION : Experimental methods and procedures
By Stephen Hirtle, University of Pittsburgh
afternoon session

SPATIO-TEMPORAL INFORMATION SYSTEMS
By Michael Worboys, University of Keele
morning session

SPATIAL DATABASES
By Hanan Samet, University of Maryland
afternoon session

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Descriptions

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The Interactive Map - Cognitive and Geographic Applications of the
Voronoi Spatial Model.

By Christopher Gold and Geoffrey Edwards, Laval University, Quebec.

This workshop is intended for anyone interested in examining the
implications of the Voronoi spatial model for topological or
cognitive modelling of spatial relationships. The discipline of
Computational Geometry has found this structure to be basic to
many geometric algorithms, and work at Laval University an
elsewhere has suggested a wide range of issues in spatial analysis
where the approach is valuable.

The workshop will be organized in four parts: 1) Basic theory and
implementation, of both the static and the dynamic model. 2) Manual
exercises, both on paper and with computer demonstrations. 3) Examples
of current applications. 4) Brainstorming session on future
developments and applications.

The basic techniques involve the development of a fully interactive map,
in the sense that objects may be inserted and deleted in real time, with
immediate topological update. This allows the implementation of a 'robot
navigation' interface model, where the user is represented by a cursor
embedded in (and interacting with) the objects in the map space. The basic
system architecture, as well as the construction and query commands, will
be described. Current applications to be discussed include:

interpolation, navigation and robotics and flow modelling;
clustering, partitioning, map perception, comparison and image analysis;
and linguistic and sociological structures and queries.

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Experientialism

By David M. Mark, University of New York at Buffalo and
Andrew U. Frank, Technical University Vienna

Recent developments in cognitive sciences are changing the way we
understand human thinking about space and how it is expressed in languages.
Experiential Realism, or Experientialism, posits that our cognition is
shaped by the basic bodily and social experiences of all human beings. We
build meaningful concepts in abstract domains by projecting these concrete,
often spatial experiences through metaphors. An experiential stance has
influenced much of the advanced research in spatial information theory, for
example on spatial relations and user interfaces for GIS.

This tutorial presents the basic tenets of experientialism as contained,
primarily, in the works of George Lakoff, Mark Johnson, and Len Talmy. It
shows applications and consequences for user interfaces, query languages,
topological relations, and cross-cultural issues in GIS. Researchers and
developers with an interest in the conceptual foundations of space and
spatial information will receive an introduction to experientialism and
learn to assess its significance for their work. The documentation includes
an extensive reader with papers covering the foundations of experientialism
and its applications to geographic space.

David Mark is professor of geography at the State University of New York at
Buffalo. He has been one of the leading researchers in the National Center
of Geographic Information and Analysis (NCGIA) since its beginnings and is
currently its Associate Director at Buffalo. His main research interests
include cognitive and linguistic aspects of geographic space.

Andrew U. Frank is chair of the Department of Geoinformation at the
Technical University Vienna and a former Associate Director of NCGIA. His
main research interests are the modeling of spatio-temporal information for
GIS, considering cognitive, linguistic, and cultural aspects.

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Human Spatial Cognition: Experimental methods and procedures

By Stephen Hirtle, University of Pittsburgh

This workshop will examine experimental methods used in cognitive
psychology for understanding the mental representation of spatial
knowledge. The workshop will review both classes of data to collect
in psychological studies (e.g., distance and direction judgments,
sketch maps, reaction times, free-recall, memory experiments, and
survey methods) and methods to analyze data (e.g., cluster analysis,
multidimensional scaling, statistical methods). As many methods are
linked to the theoretical constructs, we will also examine in depth
several important theoretical advances, including spatial mental
models, spatial priming, and neural networks. The workshop will also
discuss the role of experimental generalization, how to choose
between real and artificial environments for study, and how the
concept of external validity is often misunderstood.

The workshop is intended for computer scienctists, geographers,
cartographers, and others without previous training in cognitive
psychology. By taking the workshop, one will learn how to conduct
human subject experiments and how to interpret exisiting studies.
It is hope that an appreciation for the role of human experiments
is gained by the participants.

Stephen Hirtle is Associate Professor and Chair of the Department
of Information Science at the University of Pittsburgh. He has most
recently had visiting positions with NCGIA at the University of Maine,
Orono, the Department of Geoinformation at the Technical University
of Vienna, and the Department of Computer Science at Molde College.
He has a PhD in Mathematical Psychology from the University of Michigan
and has published widely on hierachical structures in cognitive maps.

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Spatio-Temporal Information Systems

By Michael Worboys, University of Keele

Advances in hardware, database technology and graphics during the last
decade have made possible the development of systems which are capable of
powerfully supporting the handling of spatially referenced data. However,
there are many applications that require the additional handling of
temporal dimensions. In current systems, the temporal dimension often
plays a subordinate role, temporal variation being represented by a series
of static snapshots. The arguments in this tutorial are built upon the
premise that for such applications to be properly handled, systems must
support not only separate spatial and temporal analysis but a unified model
of spatio-temporal information.

The tutorial offers an introduction to spatio-temporal information systems
via motivating examples; requirements of a spatio-temporal information
system; relevant research on temporal databases; spatio-temporal data
models; models of human interaction with spatio-temporal systems;
performance questions; spatio-temporal reasoning; current research
projects and prototypes; and current research hot topics.

Instructor: Michael F. Worboys is senior lecturer in the Department of
Computer Science, Keele University, UK. Dr. Worboys leads a team
conducting research into the theory and practice of geographic databases.

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Spatial Databases

By Hanan Samet, University of Maryland

In this tutorial we review some of the most recent representations of the
underlying data in a spatial database and the type of operations that they
are designed to support. We also discuss methods of integrating spatial
and non-spatial data in conventional database management systems, as well
as examine some existing spatial database systems. Will include disk-based
file structures for spatial data, object-oriented spatial databases, and
implementations of typical GIS operations.

Instructor: Hanan Samet is a professor of Computer Science at the
University of Maryland, College Park. He is a member of the Computer
Vision Laboratory of the Center for Automation Research and also has an
appointment in the University of Maryland Institute for Advanced Computer
Studies.

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Registration fees for tutorials/workshops are:

ATS 1540 (US$ 140) full day
ATS 770 (US$ 70) half a day
ATS 770 (US$ 70) Students full day
ATS 440(US$ 40) Students half a day

Please register for workshops and tutorials well in advance by sending
email to cosit@geoinfo.tuwien.ac.at

Actual Information on COSIT can be found on our WWW-Server:
http://www.geoinfo.tuwien.ac.at/

COSIT'95 Administrator
Dipl.-Ing. Sabine Timpf
Phone: +43-1-58801-3791
Fax: +43-1-504-3535
cosit@geoinfo.tuwien.ac.at
http://www.geoinfo.tuwien.ac.at/

COSIT'95 Administrator
Dipl.-Ing. Sabine Timpf
Phone: +43-1-58801-3791
Fax: +43-1-504-3535
cosit@geoinfo.tuwien.ac.at
http://www.geoinfo.tuwien.ac.at/