GIScience in a Hybrid Physical-Virtual World with Dr. Shih-Lung Shaw

Please join us on Friday, April 1,for a joint GES Speaker Series/CAGIS Virtual Seminar that highlights a key research horizon representing both a barrier and an opportunity: examinations of Hybrid Physical-Virtual Worlds, aka “The Metaverse.”

A Space-Place GIScience Framework for Human Dynamics Research in a Hybrid Physical-Virtual World

We recruited Dr. Shih-Lung Shaw for this talk as he is one of the foremost thinkers in how to operationalize this new space (pun intended). Human activities and interactions are increasingly taking place in a hybrid physical-virtual space enabled by modern, “smart” technologies. Smart city tech and advanced mobility solutions are data-driven and dependent on sharing real-time locational awareness typically provided by embedded GIS. However, is our conventional paradigm of absolute space adequate when “community” can be anywhere across the globe at a given moment, and proximity is best measured by the strength of a cell phone signal? While this topic is relevant across so many sectors and disciplines, Dr. Shaw’s talk has the utility of originating from a geographic perspective, with examples drawn from work using GIS. Find a link to Shaw and Sui’s seminal paper here. Update: you can watch this presentation at the CAGIS YouTube Channel: https://youtu.be/yeL9av34h_o