Woman hand using smart phone on top of mountain with navigator location point. Amazing Carpathians landscape background banner panorama with hills, clouds and forest at dawn

Wayfinding

At the Spatial Intelligence Lab

GI in Education

At the Spatial Intelligence Lab

Sketch Maps

At the Spatial Intelligence Lab

Spatial Intelligence Lab

Institute for Geoinformatics

Who we are

The Spatial Intelligence Lab is part of the Institute for Geoinformatics at the University of Muenster and deals with research problems from the interdisciplinary field of geographic information science, computer science and cognitive science.

What we do

Our research brings together topics from a diverse array of subject areas under the unified theme „intelligent representation and processing of geospatial information“ . We are particularly interested in understanding the techniques that humans employ to structure spatial knowledge and use this understanding to provide better methods for interacting with GI systems.

We investigate how geoinformation technologies can best support human cognition and learning processes such that we can better understand and solve spatio-temporal problems.

We follow a use-inspired research approach: Gaining scientific knowledge serves to advance practical solutions which were applied in several successful products and spin-offs.

Research area

Our research includes analysis of sketch maps, exploration of GI technologies for education and development cognitive-motivated wayfinding support systems.

At a glance

research lab on spatial intelligence

@Uni Muenster since 2008

Our Goal: assist people with GI Technology to solve spatio-temporal problems

Our Approach: basic research driven by potential benefits of our findings for real world problems

❯ sil.uni-muenster.de

Sketch Maps

GI in Education

Wayfinding & Spatial Behaviour

Sketch Maps

Sketch maps are informal drawings that reflect a person’s perception of spatial areas. Because they are intuitive and easy to create, they are used in community mapping activities and in psychological experiments to capture individuals’ spatial knowledge. However, just like cognitive maps, sketch maps are incomplete, distorted, and schematized, which poses a challenge for the analysis.

We develop a computational approach to analyse hand-drawn sketch maps with respect to their completeness, correctness and degree of generalization, paying attention to the fact that human knowledge is qualitative in nature, thus sketch maps should be analysed qualitatively.

its4land

delivers fit-for-purpose land tenure recording tools

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3D Sketch Maps

extends our sketch map analysis method "SketchMapia to 3D

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SketchMapia

software for analyzing freehand sketch maps for their correctness, completeness and degree of generalization

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GI in Education

“GI in education” supports innovative teaching and learning processes through the use of geospatial technology. We aim to promote computational, spatial, and scientific literacy and support students in their spatial thinking.

Whether it’s programming your own senseBox environmental measuring station, observing and analysing local environmental phenomena on the openSenseMap, or exploring the environment in the geogame GeoGami: We share our ethusiasm for using technology to address spatio-temporal challenges of today’s world. In addition, we develop spatial orientation competence tests to assess systematically how learners navigate, perceive and reason about space with maps and other 3D representations.

ICodeMS

Extracurricular projects connecting coding, data science, and environmental challenges to inspire young people to engage with computer science.

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AI & Data Academy (ADA)

Inspire young people to engage with artificial intelligence and computer science through events that combine technical learning with societal and ethical perspectives.

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Wayfinding & Spatial Behaviour

The competence to navigate and orient oneself in the environment can be considered one of our most fundamental abilities. However, with the extensive use of navigation apps, these competences might dissipate.

We develop intelligent systems to better analyse human interaction with their environment. We aim to design assistance systems that actively train spatial orientation, navigation, and map-reading competences while assisting users in finding their way. To support this research, we employ spatial computing approaches, including digital twins and interactive 3D simulations, to model environments and study spatial behaviour in controlled yet realistic settings.

This contributes to next-generation intelligent applications that support the active cognitive engagement of users, fostering their competence to accomplish spatial tasks independently.