Change Detection in Animated Choropleth Maps
Master’s thesis, Michigan State University, 2010
Carolyn Fish
“Computer animation enables cartographers to visualize time-series data as never before; we can build dynamic map sequences that congruently depict change over time. However, map readers have difficulty comprehending these animations, and they often fail to detect important changes between adjacent scenes, this is called change blindness. These potentially overwhelming perceptual burdens, such as change blindness, threaten the effectiveness of animated maps in which several important changes can occur simultaneously throughout the display. Animated maps also require viewers not only to notice changes but also understand the transitions within these dynamic displays. Graphic interpolation between display frames, also known as “in-betweening” or “tweening”, smoothes transitions and lengthens the duration of the transition between scenes in an animated map series. Previous cartographic literature suggests tweening as one potential solution for change blindness in animated cartography. This thesis tested the influence of change blindness on animated choropleth map reading and evaluated the influence of tweening to increase change detection abilities of map readers. Empirical results from this research indicate that map readers, 1) have difficulty detecting changes in these types of maps, 2) often fail to comprehend these maps fully, and 3) are influenced by the use of tweening between the scenes of the animated map.”
