Exploring potential human activities in physical and virtual spaces: a spatio-temporal GIS approach

  • Authors:
  • Hongbo Yu;Shih-Lung Shaw

  • Affiliations:
  • Department of Geography, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078;Department of Geography, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996-0925

  • Venue:
  • International Journal of Geographical Information Science
  • Year:
  • 2008

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Abstract

Today, the opportunity for potential human activity has gone beyond physical space to virtual space. Based on a proposed conceptual framework that models the relationships between physical and virtual spaces, this paper presents an attempt to adjust the space-time prism concept of Hägerstrand's time geography to identify potential activity opportunities in virtual space, focusing on the virtual space access channels available in physical space. A three-dimensional (3D) spatio-temporal Geographic Information System (GIS) design has been developed in this research to accommodate the adjusted space-time prism concept to support the representation, visualization, and analysis of potential human activities and interactions in physical and virtual spaces using the prism representation. Following the design, a prototype system has been successfully implemented in a 3D GIS environment. Such a system can provide powerful analytical tools for studies related to potential human activities and applications such as location-based services (LBS) and accessibility analysis in the information age.