“Contrary to early predictions that the internet will render geography obsolete, the discipline is increasingly gaining importance. In a 1998 speech at the California Science Center, former US Vice President Al Gore, called for replacing the prevalent desktop metaphor with a “multi-resolution, three-dimensional representation of the planet, into which we can embed vast quantities of geo-referenced data” (Gore 1998). After the successful introduction of virtual globes such as NASA World Wind, Google Earth and MS Virtual Earth, achieving the vision of a Geospatial Web seems more realistic than ever. By integrating cartographic data with geotagged knowledge repositories and environmental indicators, the Geospatial web will revolutionize the production, distribution and consumption of media products.
Thanks to human space exploration, most users will instantly recognise our planet and find it an intuitive and effective metaphor to access and manage geotagged information. The appearance of geobrowsers in mainstream media coverage, further increases public acceptance of geospatial technology and results in keen competition between software and media companies. The underlying platforms are evolving quickly, gaining new functionality, data sources and interface options in rapid succession. Yet the currently available applications only hint at the true potential of geospatial technology. The Geospatial Web will have a profound impact on managing individual and organisational knowledge. It will not only reveal the context and geographic distribution of different types of location-based resources and services, but will also act as a catalyst for virtual communities by matching people of similar interests, browsing behaviour or geographic location.” Continue reading The Geospatial Web – Blending Physical and Virtual Spaces by Arno Scharl, receiver magazine #21: Space is the place!