Well I came back from my three month stint in the Solomon Islands, was back for only a few weeks and was sent back again. Four weeks later I’m back in Oz again but have missed sending you another VirtualGeography. For this I apologise. I’ll endeavour to be more timely next month. The Land Administration gig in the Solomons was an awesome experience. Made a lot of new friends and hopefully made a bit of a difference with respect to land and the tracking of who owns what in a troubled quarter of the globe.

VirtualGeography is a collection of interesting snippets from all over the shop, dealing with industry issues concerning the computer based visualisation of geography and a few other associated (or otherwise) interesting bits and pieces. You are receiving this either because you subscribed to VirtualGeography or you have had recent dealings with VizMAP Pty Ltd. If you do not wish to receive further instalments of VirtualGeography, just click on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of this e-mail. 

A new VirtualGeography is pushed out about once per month, towards the end of the month, which shouldn’t be too big a drain on your mailbox if you’re not already subscribed (of course it won’t be a drain on your mailbox if you ARE subscribed, either ). If you know of anyone who might like to get VirtualGeography, feel free to forward this to them and ask them to subscribe. By the way, subscription and unsubscription details are at the bottom (click here).

So, g’day to all you enthusiasts requiring to visualise and simulate both urban and rural geographic information (GIS), cartography, photogrammetry, remote sensing, digital elevation modelling (DEM) and general mapping.

By the spelling of "Visualisation" you may have already guessed that we’re not US based – that’s a good thing, or at least not a bad thing. This comes to you from Mooloolaba on the Sunshine Coast of Queensland, Australia, where it’s beautiful one day and perfect the next. The link between visualisation and mapping may seem a little esoteric if this is your first encounter with this sort of stuff, but let me tell you, the bond is significant… but enough of that: on with the show… I hope you like it. Any feedback you might have is highly appreciated. E-mail me here to make your comments. Enjoy… Graeme Brooke VizMAP Pty Ltd

P.S. You’ll need an active internet connection to view any images that are in the content. We’ve done it this way to keep the size of the e-mail to a minimum.

The 3D film was written, produced, and visually realized by Lightspeed, and will educate the public about Continental’s innovative safety technology, Electronic Stability Control (ESC).

Eye-popping 3D movies have caught the public’s attention again, with viewers rushing to see everything from Hollywood’s "Spy Kids 3-D" to James Cameron’s IMAX documentary "Ghosts of the Abyss."

Marketing companies are also catching on to the sizzle created by high-quality 3D films, as proven by the success of Continental’s "Safely There" mobile exhibit and marketing campaign. A 3D high-definition film by Lightspeed Design Group (http://www.LightspeedDesign.com) is now crisscrossing the country in an 85-foot mobile exhibit.

"Today’s consumer audience is rightfully cynical and demanding. Disney and others have created a legitimate expectation of excellence in info/entertainment messaging. Continental’s ESC exhibit will typically be only one of many competing attractions for the consumer in each of its national tour markets," said Mike Adams, account executive for H.B. Stubbs Company in Warren, Michigan, charged with building out the tractor trailer exhibit. "We enthusiastically supported our client’s preference for 3D with motion as a way to bring their messages effectively to a larger audience. It generates a buzz all unto itself."

The realism of the film is heightened by Lightspeed’s proprietary 3D technology, which immerses viewers in an eye-opening 3D world that seems lifelike and natural. "We’ve been refining 3D technology for ten years, working on everything from precision computer graphics to live action shots," said Lightspeed President Chris Ward.

In his landmark 1974 novel, Robert Pirsig delved long and deep into the questions posed in the above paragraph taken from the book’s opening chapter. And while Pirsig was grappling with the notion of quality on deeper, metaphysical levels, our task in 3D graphics is, relatively speaking, a much simpler one. Who draws the best-looking pictures? 

Image quality is one of those ballyhooed subjects that often pits one 3D high priest against another in forums, where arguments about image quality minutiae often dissolve into religious shin-kicking contests. For most users, this is a big yawner. Then again, focusing just on frame rate and ignoring image quality also misses the forest for the trees. Drawing a lot of crappy pictures faster than the next guy doesn’t deliver great results either. 

The goal should be to strike a balance between two competing considerations: the best image quality at a frame rate that delivers the best possible overall experience. 

Maps are mundane, that’s for sure. And yet rebuilding Iraq without good ones has been a nightmare. During Saddam Hussein’s reign, only high-level loyalists had access to maps that showed where roads, hospitals, and sewers were located. And those maps were 10 years out of date, says Shawn Messick, senior analyst for the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation’s Information Management & Mine Action Programs (iMMAP) in Iraq. Each international aid organization used its own version of the inaccurate maps, which often resulted in duplication of effort. 

For instance, four humanitarian aid groups discovered that each had done damage assessments of the same hospitals, says Messick. And two other organizations repaired the same school building. That’s why Messick, who since May has worked out of Basra and then Baghdad, is spearheading an effort to create a database of locations and conditions of buildings and infrastructure that can be shared by aid organizations. The database would generate detailed digital and paper maps using technology called GIS (geographic information systems) — and possibly speed up Iraq’s reconstruction by months.

That’s just one example of why computer mapping is becoming one of the most popular technologies used by nonprofits and governments to help solve social problems. A recent study by the environmental think tank World Resources Institute (WRI) in Washington has shown that mapping a cholera outbreak in South Africa in 2002 reduced the mortality rate from the usual 10% of those infected to 0.2%, says Dan Turnstall, a program director at WRI. South African health authorities used GIS maps to predict where the virus might spread — and then began preventive measures, such as instructing people to boil water and milk. Many agencies have even discovered that the colorful illustrations that track a disease can increase their chances of getting donations. "We use GIS as a carrot," says Messick. "Many organizations now understand that [mapping] can make them look [more] like they know what they’re talking about. It’s also a great tool for showing progress."

GIS has been used by both the military and mining companies for 30 years. But until recently, the technology was prohibitively expensive — and so complex that it took a PhD to run. But prices of computers, storage, and servers have fallen by as much as 75% in the past two years, as have prices for global positioning systems (GPS), which, in combination with GIS, can help pinpoint exact locations of buildings or disease outbreaks. Also, mapping software has become cheaper and less complex — enough so it can be be used by just about anyone. And GIS has started to run on smart phones powered by Microsoft’s (MSFT ) Windows CE operating system as well as on personal digital assistants — a major plus for agencies that require mobility to do their field work.

Whilst in the Solomon Islands, I managed to take a couple of hundred digital photographs of facades of buildings in the main streets of Honiara (Guadalcanal) and Gizo (Western Province) in the hope that I might one day have the opportunity to make a "virtual Honiara" and a "virtual Gizo". My return to sunny Queensland coincided with the deployment of the Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI) by the Australian Govenment. My photographs proved valuable to Australia’s Defence Imagery and Geospatial Organisation (DIGO). I secured a number of maps which I turned into HTML pages with hyperlinks to all the photographs to help, both in Australia and in the Solomon Islands in command and control, reconnaissance and surveillance. 

The photographs were supplied to DIGO at full resolution but "webbable" versions can be found on the VizMAP website at Honiara and Gizo.

Sample images from the hyperlinked maps are displayed here. An active internet connection is required to be able to view these images.
 

Gizo
Honiara

Set in the picturesque surroundings of colorful deserts and dense forests, Bridge It challenges players to strategically design and construct a variety of engineering masterpieces. Once a bridge is built, players watch in eager anticipation as the game tests the soundness of their designs as unsuspecting motorists, heavy freight trains, and tourist riverboats approach their bridge. Will the bridge hold or come crashing down? Adding to the challenge are environmental effects, such as earthquakes, and an intelligent scoring system that rewards players both for strength in design and for watching their budgets! 

"With Bridge It we have created a game that will surely become a favorite to many for its hard-to-master gameplay and superb graphics. Using the Auran Jet® 3D engine and running on NVIDIA’s latest GeForce™ FX hardware, we have also been able to create a host of real time effects that surpass many pre-rendered scenes," said Andrew Edelsten, Producer of Bridge It.

Bridge It takes full advantage of the newest NVIDIA GeForce FX graphics processing units (GPUs) to achieve a new level of visual quality in simulation gaming. Designed with the newest software tools and graphics hardware, Bridge It is one of the first games of its kind to incorporate cinematic shading and lighting effects to create a realistic 3D world.

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1. Smash forehead on keyboard to continue.
2. Enter any 11-digit prime number to continue.
3. Press any key to continue or any other key to quit.
4. Press any key except… no, No, NO, NOT THAT ONE!
5. Press Ctrl-Alt-Del now for IQ test.
6. Close your eyes and press escape three times.
7. Bad command or file name! Go stand in the corner.
8. This will end your Windows session. Do you want to play another game?
9. Windows message: "Error saving file! Format drive now? (Y/Y)"
10. This is a message from God Gates: "Rebooting the world. Please log off."
11. To "shut down" your system, type "WIN."
12. BREAKFAST.SYS halted… Cereal port not responding.
13. COFFEE.SYS missing… Insert cup in cup holder and press any key.
14. CONGRESS.SYS corrupted… Re-boot Washington D.C? (Y/N)
15. File not found. Should I fake it? (Y/N)
16. Bad or missing mouse. Spank the cat? (Y/N)
17. Runtime Error 6D at 417A:32CF: Incompetent User.
18. Error reading FAT record: Try the SKINNY one? (Y/N)
19. WinErr 16547: LPT1 not found. Use backup. (PENCIL & PAPER.SYS)
20. User Error: Replace user.
21. Windows VirusScan 1.0 – "Windows found: Remove it? (Y/N)"
22. Welcome to Microsoft’s World – Your Mortgage is Past Due…
23. If you are an artist, you should know that Bill Gates owns you and all your future creations. Doesn’t it feel nice to have security?
24. Your hard drive has been scanned and all stolen software titles have been deleted. The police are on the way.