Having recently attended both ASPRS and SPAR, I feel immersed in remote sensing and geospatial data collection. Both events included much information about 3D data creation, storage and visualization, and I saw many impressive presentations that showcased software tools that are making inroads into navigable digital realities at a high degree of realism.
It’s quite amazing how quickly technology is evolving to capture large geographies in 3D. Now that we’re approaching the means to capture and distribute highly detailed digital realities that include interior spaces, it got me thinking more conceptually about the idea of having a digital memory of place. This goes beyond the idea of a geographic information system that incorporates time for temporal analysis, toward more of a far-forward look at what our digital memories of place might become.
I choose the term “memory” in part because of a recent Wired article about a woman who has amazing recall of where she’s been and what she’s seen. What if we all had the capability to recall and visualize the where and when instances from our past or visualize the changes that occur in the environments around us through time. Exploring and sharing the rich visual experience of change around us admittedly has some creepy elements, but I’m betting the positive aspects of this awareness will win out over time.
Lapsing Time
Time lapse photography provides a great visual representation of change through time that gives a glimpse into how we might browse the sped up activities that take place around us. The 1983 feature-length film Koyaanisqatsi left a lasting impression on me for its choreographed exposure of the impact of technology on the environment, and for the many time lapse sequences that speed time to illustrate change.
Another visual feast of Earth observation is the series Planet Earth. The high-resolution views of flocking birds and other large-scale animal interactions gives a compelling sense of the activity of life on Earth that has yet to be adequately captured by any computer system.
The future of digital memory will certainly include an ability to visualize change in a similar time-lapse fashion, including windows onto phenomenon that we may not readily see with our own eyes. Speeding up or slowing down the world around us as it occurred will provide tremendous insight when we can view the different triggers that have brought about observable change.
Capturing Our Lives
Social media is altering how we capture the daily workings of our lives. We seem compelled to adopt more and more means of recording the minutia of our daily existence, including voice, pictures and daily observations. The idea of a digital memory is an eventuality in light of this growing compulsion to capture and collect our thoughts and experiences.
The drive to record and relive events has been with us forever, but we’re just beginning to realize the promise and capability of digital storage and retrieval for this purpose. Search engines that can pull up text or recorded words only scratch the surface of the searches that will become possible when we can index and query the past as if it were current reality.
Observations Enhanced
I recently re-read A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold in which the author narrates the chronological observations of change on a rural Wisconsin farm. Captured here in detail are the seasonal changes of wildlife and plants on this piece of land, along with some of the unique geological and topological features that make this land unique, and glimpses into history of how the land has evolved.
These detailed observations of the natural world provide fascinating insight that reads like a mystery novel as assumptions are tested based on observations, and details of interactions are revealed. Just imagine the capability to capture and parse all these interactions to visually and quantifiably observe the workings of nature.
We have a broad conceptual understanding of earth system interactions and we endeavor to manage our lands and hold on to biological diversity. Despite our best efforts, there are many threatened and endangered species, and the forces upon them are often too large and too long in the making to turn around. There are also many of these instances where we simply don’t know where to start.
As we continue to add to our observations and our ability to visualize, analyze and explore these recordings, we may yet reach this concept of a digital memory of place. And there will be many mind boggling insights along the road toward this far-off goal.
REFERENCES
Koyaanisqatsi, while somewhat dated now, is viewable in full on YouTube
A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold
