with the big players in the tourism industry and how can they make themselves ..... already has his own homepage presenting the products, and thus chooses to.
Multimedia Geoinformation in Rural Areas with EcoTourism: the ReGeo-System Iris Frech and Barbara Koch, Department Remote Sensing and Landscape Information Systems Albert-Ludwigs-University, Germany {iris.frech, barbara.koch}@felis.uni-freiburg.de Abstract Rural regions, such as the national and nature parks involved in the ReGeo project, are often dependent on the tourism sector and thus show a high degree of interest in eco-tourism issues. How can such areas attract new visitors, how can they compete with the big players in the tourism industry and how can they make themselves known to a broad public? The following article presents the ReGeo project, which aims to help rural areas find solutions to these issues by working with modern technology. For most rural regions the solution is to set up an attractive Internet site presenting the region, establish a network of local information points and perhaps even provide information on CD-ROMs and for mobile and PDA devices. It has been proven that such tourist information systems are becoming more and more popular and attractive to the user (Pröll and Retschizegger, 2000). Such systems can be improved through the use of photographs, maps and animation. ReGeo also uses GISfunctions, a central interactive map and remote sensing data system, which not only improves the attractiveness but also the usability of an Internet-based tourist information system. It also emphasises the necessity of adapting this system to different devices. The ReGeo-project pays special attention to the specific problems of rural regions, including the lack of a central institution with the ability to administer such a system. Last but not least, ReGeo intends to act not only as a tourist information service, but rather as a multi-purpose digital geo-data service through which the test regions is attractively presented to a broad audience. Keywords: GIS function; interactive map; virtual database; multimedia
1
Introduction
The majority of tourist information is spatially related. This means that nearly all information can be located somewhere on earth: A hotel is located in a certain place on a certain street. Hiking routes lead from one point to another. Spatial data are most likely to be analysed and presented in a Geographic Information System (GIS) format. The GIS system allows for the combined presentation of various types of tourist information, such as hotels, hiking trails and the location of events, and allows the user to determine the distances between various points of interest (Frech, 2001). On the other hand, tourist information nowadays is generally presented in digital form - most likely in the Internet on semantic web pages. This means that the information is presented in the form of descriptive text and perhaps photographs. Hotels are described with their name and address, the number of rooms etc. It is mentioned where and when events are taking place. Hiking routes are described from start to end, and information about sight seeing spots is perhaps added. But how should one find out if a chosen hotel is near a preferred hiking route? In order to solve this problem, some newer Internet sites try to combine semantic descriptions and map based representations of an area. One example of this is the web page of Berchtesgaden, Germany (http://www.info-bgl.de [October 3, 2002]). A central aim of the ReGeo project is not only to add completed 2D maps to every represented location, e.g. hotels, but to include a map where different services and attractions of the region can be combined interactively and shown together. Analytical functions enable users to answer questions such as ‘what is near by?’. In this way the map becomes more interactive and is no longer purely a navigation tool. Objects like hotels, for example, can be shown in their spatial position, enabling tourists to make more informed choices. It can easily be checked, for example, if a preferred hotel is located near the train station or near the diving school where the tourist has booked a course. If the tourist is interested in sight seeing, he or she can add this to a search request and nearby events or hiking routes can be shown on the map. Of course, a main principle of the project is that such maps should be accessible and able to be used easily, without any special (i.e., GIS) knowledge. The visual attractiveness of such a tourist information system can also be improved through the use of advanced visualisation technologies. ReGeo aims to open a new world of possibilities by integrating remote sensing data in two
dimensional (2D) form and three dimensional (3D) presentations. Results of such integration range from a 2D map on the base of satellite data to interactive 3D maps for biking tours or a virtual flights over the region. The ReGeo system is adaptable to different devices including the Internet, CD-ROMs, local info-terminals and PDAs (personal digital assistants). The content of the system differs in relation to the advantages and disadvantages of each device. Due to the existence of special problems in rural areas, the basis of the system is a virtual decentralised database. This means that the various data in the system remain mainly at their places of origin (i.e. the PC’s of different administrations) and are maintained there. In rural areas, one of greatest difficulties in establishing systems such as ReGeo is to find someone who is willing to maintain a central database for all other parties. This problem of information system administration is one of the main differences between rural areas and bigger towns or cities, where central data administrators are easily found. This initial introduction of the ReGeo system shortly comes to an end, but first it is important to consider one more thing. Once ReGeo has succeeded in establishing, or, in some cases, improving existing tourist information systems for the regions involved in the project, why should the infrastructure, and especially the geo-data, not be used on other levels as well? Let’s have a look what is described above. Until now the ReGeo system consists of a virtual decentralised database maintained by different parties in the region. This database contains and connects different digital geo-data. These data can be used to access tourist information from various different devices. However, ReGeo goes further than the tourist market. The ReGeo system is able to be used for various purposes by different administrations in the regions, including administrators of local places, small towns and national or nature parks. Different access rights to the different data is also managed by the database, and special interfaces are in place to enable the connection between administration and database. The following paper is organised in three more sections. In section two the basic technical background of the project is discussed. Section three provides detailed information on how the user will see the ReGeo system, and emphasises, through the help of scenario examples, why GIS and tourist information systems should meet. The paper concludes in section four.
2
Basic Concept of the Technical Design
The introduction gave a short overview of the main ideas of the ReGeo system. From a technical point of view the single goals is listed in this section. 2.1
Main goals
The main technical objectives of the project are to: · develop a decentralised virtual geo-multimedia database and exchange infrastructure · apply to existing tourist information systems new and improved ways of customising presentations for both offline and online devices, including the use of advanced visualisation techniques · development of mobile applications to realise a location based service · open the database for use by local or natural park administrations · realise the whole system for four different regions in Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic and Poland
Distributed Information
Virtual Geodatabase
Geo-Multimedia Applications pre-trip planning
ReGeo
Offline + Online Access
Virtual Database
Multimedia Tools on-trip information
..
Fig. 1. The basic system idea
In the left part of Figure 1 it is outlined that the data for the system mainly comes from separate and distributed sources. Some data comes from the tourism sector of the region, some from local administrations or natural parks and some from private enterprises. Not all required data is available through these sources. Additionally advanced visualisation techniques are used to create new kinds of geo-multimedia objects, such as 2D- or 3D visualisations of the region (Nischelwitzer and Almer, 2000). All data, that is, the geomultimedia content of the system, is collected and aggregated. They are made available through the virtual geo-multimedia database. Principally, the data in this database is not maintained by a central institution. The parties giving access to their data also continue to maintain their own data as they did in the past and are responsible in this way for the actuality of the database content.
Single parties in the region, however, not purely act as data providers. Rather, some of these parties have the possibility to use the database for their own purposes. Interfaces are implemented to this effect. The right part of Figure 1 outlines the workings of the tourist information system. Applications for different themes such as general tourist information, hiking and biking are designed. Innovative in this part of the project is that all are presented in the form of geo-referenced data. In this way all information is available not only in descriptive text form but can also be loaded into a map and be compared (geographically) to other (geo-) information. The different applications designed for the ReGeo system is described in section 3.
The following benefits can be expected from the ReGeo concept: 1. The combination of geo data, networking, and multimedia enables new applications for administrations, visitors, and enterprises by enabling: · Improved use of existing data · Optimal access to information · Better planning and presentation capabilities 2. All provided information are geographically referenced and presented in an attractive way: e.g. interactive 3D visualisation of trails and routes (Figure 2). 3. Multimedia presentation by online and offline devices allow access from anywhere and at any time. 4. Mobile devices such as PDAs (personal digital assistants) and GPS devices provide a location-based access point to the information services. With such a visitor guide, tourists are able to be better aware of the fragile ecosystems in national park areas. (Figure 2).
Fig. 2. Screenshot from an interactive 3D representation of a biking route and tourinformation on PDA produced by Joanneum Research, Graz (A) during the former BIKE-project (http://dib.joanneum.ac.at/Reportwebsite/index.html [October 3, 2002])
2.2
Main points in the technical design
Data: The data for the geo-multimedia database mainly come from existing remote databases. Missing data are collected or generated. To avoid high costs, or legal problems, remote sensing data are used as central data source instead of bought maps. Objects are extracted automatically. Therefore newest technology and remote sensing data types are applied. Database and Interfaces: The virtual multimedia geo database is built from different geo-enabled data sources or services which are able to be accessed through so called Web Services. This means that the sources communicate with each other using XML over HTTP. The interfaces to the virtual geodatabase conform to the standards of the OpenGIS Consortium (OGC), to be found on http://www.opengis.org [October 3, 2002]. Producers of the geomultimedia content can plug into the ReGeo virtual database by using special multimedia metadata standards and/or OGC conform geo data exchange access, such as GML. Application design: In the ReGeo system, there are client/server applications as well as offline systems. The client application processes the user input in a message format which complies to both the structure of the data base and the communication infrastructure of the networked servers holding the data base. The client/server application is also responsible for proper messaging and display of information sent from the servers in reply to these user requests. The server side application passes the aforementioned massage(s) to the appropriate database(s), processes the database output, render graphical 2D and 3D content, and sends the content back to the client. A WebGIS system is part of the application and provides geo-referenced information. In contrast to the Internet based Client/server systems, which have limited bandwidth, the geo-multimedia-data also are stored on CD-ROM, storage devices of PDA’s and PC’s used as information terminals in the region. For CD-ROM and information terminals, there is a bigger emphasis on visualisation tasks. Applications for PDA’s and GPS devices are implemented especially for the themes hiking and biking. Visualisation tasks: The innovative presentation of geographically oriented information includes 2D and 3D visualisation techniques based on current standards like Web3D, VRML, Shockwave 3D, MPEG-4 and includes also interactive 2D and 3D-maps and Quick Time VR objects to provide
panoramic views. 2D maps are generated anew every time a new request is given into the system. Remote sensing data play a big role, as is demonstrated in several 3D animation projects of the Joanneum Research Institute in Graz (http://dib.joanneum.ac.at/fe_proj_home.html [October 3, 2002]).
3
User Scenarios
This section describes some scenarios in which the ReGeo system could be used in order to shed some light on what potential system users can expect to see. 3.1
General Tourist Information on Web
A family is looking for accommodations in a rural area. They want to prepare a one-week holiday. In the Internet there is a lot of information about hotels, a descriptive list of events and suggestions of places to go with children. In a region using the ReGeo system the family could easily load all relevant information into one central 2D map and be able to compare the location of hotels and events. First of all, the family is looking for a hotel. A semantic web page gives the possibility to look for family hotels with horse riding. They then load the result into a map. The map allows for other themes to be loaded too. Using a sight seeing search, the family can find out about day trips and places to go with the children. On the map they can also see, for example, if there is a lake nearby to one of the hotels or the locations of restaurants and shops. As all of the information is presented on one interactive map, the decision of where to go is easy. One month later, at the family hotel, they find a computer giving access to the tourist information system. Here they can spontaneously look for information, for example if any events or festivals are taking place near their planned destination for the day. They can also search for a handicraft shop along the way, since they want to take a present to grandma who is looking after the house during their trip. 3.2
Hiking Tourist
A hiking tourist wants to go on a weekend trip, hiking one day on one of her favourite routes and discovering a completely new route on the next. She uses the Internet as a search engine for hiking information in the region. Since she is often in this region, she has saved a individualised user profile and doesn’t need to type in her special request. The list of her favourite routes appears and she can decide where to go this time. She is able to see the chosen route on a map and can look for a small hotel to stay in for the night at the end of the
trail. She also requests for information about handicrafts to be shown in the map and decides to visit a cheese factory and a wine cellar the next day. There is no described hiking route from her hotel to these two points, so she is uses the route-query functions of the system to plot an interesting route for herself. At the end of the planning phase the hiking tourist downloads the appropriate information into files for her PDA. She then has a map showing the routes, a route description and 3D-representations of the hiking areas saved in her PDA. 3.3
Cross country skiing
Five young students like the location of their university, especially in winter, since it is not far to drive to the mountains where they can indulge in their favourite fitness training: cross country skiing. Before heading out, they first log into the Internet. On a map they can see which parts of the region have enough snow for skiing, since the system incorporates weather information and snow depths are represented by different colours. 3.4
Selling regional products with the aid of the ReGeo system
Two farmers from a particular region want to start to sell their products independently. The ReGeo system provides a possibility for them to become widely known and also acts as an access point to the market outside of their region. They are registered at the tourism administration centre of the region as interested in using the ReGeo system and have therefore received restricted access rights to the database. The farmers can enter data into the database with an easy to use management tool. Here they have to type in the name of their farms, the address and their products. To geo-reference their location they have to mark the point on a digital map, where they are located. Every time their products or their prices change, they can update this information by themselves. One of the farmers already has his own homepage presenting the products, and thus chooses to establish a link to his homepage rather than re-entering all of his data.
4
Conclusions
This paper describes a work in progress of an international research consortium working together in an European IST project (ReGeo). The first prototype has already been designed and is being implemented for the tourism and the nature park administrations in the Thuringian Forest, Germany. This prototype will be intensely evaluated.
The second prototype will run in all four test sites of the ReGeo project – in Germany, as well as in the Thayatal national park in Austria, the Podyji national park in the Czech republic and the Konzienice landscape park in Poland. The implementation work in this stage of the project will concentrate on solving problems resulting from the different infrastructure in the different nations. The final evaluation will show the success of implementing the system in the different nations. The project team must also be aware of problems other than differing national infrastructures. One problem with presenting information in map format on the Internet is the often slow transfer rate. With rates averaging only five kilobytes per second during times of high net-frequency, users have problems with interactive maps and 3D-Animations. A goal of the project is therefore to seek out the best possible solutions to this problem. It is also necessary to remember that the ReGeo system is also accessible through other devices. Distribution of information in the test areas by CD-ROM is especially important to reach customers with Internet problems. The system is realised in many different modules. This enables enterprises not only to sell the system as a whole but to adapt it or parts of it to other thematic fields. The business concept of the project aims to access a wide market. Most applications refer to the tourism market. The intention to show all information in a spatial context and to implement easy to use GIS-functions will attract all people that like to think in spatial relationships. Due to the fact that the tourism sector is always changing, just like the sector of digital media, the system is designed to be an open system. The database is open to new file formats and to additional interfaces. This will allow a wide range of future applications, such as new movie-file formats, thus keeping the system attractive in the future.
5
Acknowledgements
This work has been funded by the European Union’s Fifth Framework Programme (under contract ReGeo IST-2001-32336). It is carried out by a consortium of eight research institutes and enterprises: Department of Remote Sensing and Landscape Information Systems, Albert-Ludwigs-University Freiburg, Germany; Joanneum Research, Graz, Austria; Institute of Geodesy and Cartography, Warzaw, Poland; Ustav pro hospodarskou upravu lesu, Brandis nad Labem, Czech Republic; Geo-konzept, Adelschlag, Germany; Agrolab, Oberhummel, Germany; Lesprojekt sluzby s.r.o., Martinov, Czech Republic; Taxus Information Systems LTD, Warsaw, Poland.
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