Approaching a New Multimodal GIS-Interface

Geospatial information is used in emergency management centers, architectural bureaus, environmental protection offices and daily life. Not only are trained experts using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) but novices, e.g. government employees, rescue workers and the general public, also use GIS. Despite the success of various GIS applications, their current use and usability is still constrained by overly complex user interfaces. While keyboard and command line shortcuts can make use of GIS applications more efficient for expert users, often some functions can only be accessed through repetitive menu and wizard tool usage. These functions are “hidden” for novice users, which remain tethered by the WIMP (windows, icons, menus, pointers) model of human computer interaction. Another, more often overlooked limitation of current GIS interfaces is that GIS user interfaces are designed for single-user interaction and thus do not support aspects of collaborative group work [1].