Perceiving Time/Space through Apps: Human-centric Digital Transformation in GIS

The perception of geographic reality depends heavily on the tools, such as paper maps or geographic information systems (GIS) used to perceive it. Developing a map involves countless subjective decisions and provides a window into the worldview of its creator. Especially when a system is implemented on a large scale, subjective decisions are typically invisible to users and can result in systematic biases. In other words, a perfect map does not exist; rather, a map or navigation system can be more or less appropriate for certain tasks or contexts. Navigation systems can influence how users perceive environmental distance and influence spatial behavior. Importantly even without any tools human beings are not able to perfectly conceptualize geographic space, and there are numerous well documented distortions in how human beings perceive spatial relationships and distance. Therefore, tools such as GIS are so important, as they are tailored to improve users’ ability to make accurate predictions about their surroundings (i.e. to empower users). (Reference: https://epub.wu.ac.at/7801/)

In this interdisciplinary meetup, which is jointly organised by the Sustainable Computing Lab (http://sustainablecomputing.eu), MyData Hub Austria, and Cognitive Science Austria, we aim to discuss GISs and their impact on humans’ perception and decision making. Moreover, we will talk about the biases found in GISs from an interdisciplinary perspective.

People from academia, industry, as well as public sector are all welcome to join this meetup. Let’s build up a network of engaged people who like to understand and shape the future “Human-centric and Accountable Mobility”.