Map-based Mobile Services: Theories, Methods and Implementations

The book is divided into three parts: theory, method and implementation. Starting with a summary of the state-of-the-art in mobile technologies, the first part analyses their impacts on cartography and pinpoints the missing theories concerned with the development of map-based mobile services. A conceptual framework of mobile cartography is then introduced with the emphasis on mobile usage context. The second part is devoted to the design methodology under the constraints defined in the theoretical framework. A core issue deals with personalised mobile map services. The final part demonstrates the feasibility of the methods by using application scenarios. The accompanying CD-ROM contains the PDF-Files in colour.

The development of wireless telecommunication and ubiquitous computing technologies has led to a growing mobile population and dramatically changed patterns of working and everyday life. A smooth and safe mobility is only possible when the mobile person is well-informed of the happenings in his ambient environments. Location-sensitive maps have proved a strong enhancement to what a mobile user can directly perceive from his ambient environments. Since ancient times the map has been the favorite communication language of spatial information. It is even more the case for mobile applications where brand-new maps can be wirelessly retrieved or generated in real-time. The upsurge of map-based services on mobile devices has raised a number of new questions challenging the conventional computer-assisted cartography.

Map-based mobile services provides a contemporary overview of research and development issues related to the design and the use of mobility-supporting maps. The book has been written for professional cartographers who are striving for extending their theoretical, methodological and practical knowledge to mobile mapmaking, for surveyors and geo-service providers involved in the development of intelligent location-based services, for software developers and cognitive scientists engaged in human-computer interaction, and for students and academics in cartography and geoinformation sciences.