Interactive Multimedia and Geographical Information Systems

Flight of Fancy and ParcBIT

A Flight of Fancy: The Balearics was a project prototype in the framework of IMPACT2 programme of the European Commission. We started an original research line based on the combination of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and interactive multimedia: while traditional GIS data are based on maps, this project aimed at extensive use of multimedia data for supporting georeferenced information, wich special emphasis in the presenation and in supporting environmental impact assessment. On of the original aspects of the CD-ROM developed was its Video User Interface.

The CD-ROM known as ParcBIT (the acronym for Parc Balear d'Innovació Tecnològica) was produced as an information resource for the participants in an international competition to prepare master plans for the development of a new technology park in the island of Mallorca: the ParcBIT.  The eleven invited entrants included local teams, as well as many of the world's leading architectural practises. The Universitat de les Illes Balears was commissioned to produce a CD-ROM which would provide the architects with a substantial, easily accessed source of information about the environment in which ParcBIT would be located, replacing and enhancing the very substantial amounts of paper documentation which are normally produced on occasions such as these. It is thought to be the first time in which CD-ROM was used for such a purpose. The ParcBIT CD-ROM drew on the results of the project Flight of Fancy.

You can access:

The CD-ROM Atles de les Illes Balears

This atlas was promoted by the Conselleria d'Educació, Cultura i Esports del Govern Balear and «Sa Nostra» Caixa de Balears. The UIB was in charged of the development through the Departments Ciències de la Terra and Matemàtiques i Informàtica and the Laboratori de Sistemes d'Informació Geogràfica i Territorial. The CD-ROM is a versatile pedagogical tool for different student levels, high school and first undergratuate years. There are very few regional Atlas in multimedia format, and none of the Spanish ones are suitable for pedagogical or professional use.

As distinguished trait we can mention the multi-window web interface, and it can be used with a standard browser such as Navigator or Explorer. The programming is based on HTML and Javascript, while there is a lot of multimedia information in varied formats (photographs, video sequences,  panoramic views, 3D models). Dani Soto, in his project, describes the technical details, while Francesc Mateu deals mainly with an authoring tool allowing for authors to integrate material automatically in the data structure of the Atlas. The thematic navigation is the main one, but indexes and pedagogical applications add value in front of a paper based Atlas. A hypermedia development methodology was used, which is further described in the multimedia off-line research.

For more information, you can access: