Redlands, California—November 01, 2011—Virtual Geographic Environments, from Esri Press, is a collection of key papers written by leading members of the geospatial community that examines the relationship between GIS and virtual geographic environments (VGE). Edited by professors Hui Lin and Michael Batty, the book is organized into five sections, beginning with a primer on VGEs and followed by an exploration of virtual cities and landscapes, interface design and public participation, mobile and networked VGEs, and finally dynamics in visualization.
"With the migration of GIS technologies to decentralized web-based services and cloud computing applications, and the seamless interaction between remote servers and various clients, the geographic environment is now highly important to the way users interact with the system and each other, which is central to the use of virtual reality technologies," write Lin and Batty.
Lin is professor and director of the Institute of Space and Earth Information Science at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and chief editor of the journal Annals of GIS. Batty is Bartlett professor of planning at University College London, where he directs the Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis.
"The creation of virtual geographic environments is essential to the GeoDesign process," says Jack Dangermond, Esri president. "VGE allows the exploration of various construction options and opportunities that can ultimately save time and cost, as well as minimize the environmental impact of the completed structure. This book provides insight into the vast potential of virtual geographic environments."
Virtual Geographic Environments (ISBN: 978-1-58948-318-7, 364 pages, US$49.95) is available at online retailers worldwide, at esri.com/esripress, or by calling 1-800-447-9778. Outside the United States, visit esri.com/esripressorders for complete ordering options, or visit esri.com/distributors to contact your local Esri distributor. Interested retailers can contact Esri Press book distributor Ingram Publisher Services.
About Esri Press
Esri Press publishes books on GIS, cartography, and related topics. The complete selection of GIS titles from Esri Press can be found on the web at esri.com/esripress.
About Esri
Since 1969, Esri has been giving customers around the world the power to think and plan geographically. The market leader in geographic information system (GIS) technology, Esri software is used in more than 300,000 organizations worldwide, including each of the 200 largest cities in the United States, most national governments, more than two-thirds of Fortune 500 companies, and more than 7,000 colleges and universities. Esri applications, running on more than one million desktops and thousands of web and enterprise servers, provide the backbone for the world’s mapping and spatial analysis. Esri is the only vendor that provides complete technical solutions for desktop, mobile, server, and Internet platforms. Visit us at esri.com/news.