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Planning Support Systems
Technology in support of effective transportation and land-use planning.
Transportation and land use planning today is more complicated than ever before. To find solutions that maximize the efficiency of new and existing transportation facilities, planners and engineers need effective collaboration and visualization tools. The Minnesota Traffic Observatory has developed tools and techniques that bring complex planning issues into clear perspective.
GIS/Planning Table
The Geographic Information Systems (GIS)/Planning Table is an interactive horizontal display system that facilitates collaborative planning activities. Combining the flexibility and scale of a cartographer’s drafting table with the graphical capabilities of a GIS workstation, the table gives research teams a highly flexible interactive tool for problem solving. With the ability to layer multiple data sources including aerial photography and digital geospatial data, teams of users can work with many different types of information.
- Dedicated GIS server integrates geographic datasets, aerial photographs, and simulation outputs
- Two ceiling-mounted digital projectors create a seamless display surface
- Pen interface allows users to interactively add annotations to the display
- Navigation interface can move, rotate, and zoom
CAVE
The CAVE is an innovative immersive display system, designed and built by MTO engineers specifically to meet the visualization needs of researchers. 3D rear-screen projection technology combined with eye-position tracking creates a seamless visual experience—enabling researchers to “step into” simulated environments and examine traffic patterns, environmental factors, and route characteristics up close.
- Circular polarization of the three rear-projection walls enables each wall panel to transmit images from a pair of image projectors simultaneously, with opposite polarization.
- When a user puts on special glasses with opposite polarization for each lens, their left and right eyes see slightly different images, producing simulated depth of field.
- Overhead sensors monitor the position of the user’s head and relay this information to the computers controlling the visual display.
- The image from each projector is controlled by a dedicated computer, which adjusts the image perspective based on the position of the user’s head.
- A hand-held wand controller allows the user to move around in the simulated space.