Master of Landscape Architecture / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / Timothy D. Keane / Visual Resource Management practices are relatively new, dating back to the late 1960’s and early 1970’s (Litton, 1984; USDA Forest Service, 2010). At the conception of visual resource management practices, computers were not prominent in everyday life. As computing tools advanced along with easier access to technology, a perceived surge of research emerged within the VRM field in the 1990’s. Since that time, it appears that few landscape architects have continued to research how modern technological advancements, specifically the recent expansion of virtual reality, could be used in predicting the visual impacts of proposed development. This report aims to compare virtual environments to existing methods for assessing the visual impacts of development in the Texas prairie ecoregion. New reliable tools at the hands of experts could lead to more accurate and more understood consequences of development on the visual landscape. Following precedents set forth in similar research studies, participants will view photographic and rendered images of scenes before and after development projected through a digital display. Potential development will be analyzed through a comparison analysis in which multiple visualization methods (Google Earth and photo sphere images) are compared to industry standards of two-dimensional images and renderings. The comparison analysis will survey experts and ask them to rate certain views before and after development through multiple visualization methods. Results from the study show a high similarity in perceived impacts between 2D images and Google Earth assessments. However, photo sphere images were rated consistently lower than their counterparts. Image resolution and detail could have led to the lower ratings in photo sphere images. Overall, participants felt that immersive visualization media will soon replace the use of 2D images for conducting visual impact assessments.

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La investigación titulada “La infografía como recurso periodístico: propuesta para mejorar la presentación de la información del diario La Industria, año 2011”, utilizó como métodos e instrumentos de recolección de datos: las entrevistas a especialistas y el análisis de infografías. Se analizó las infografías publicadas en el mes de junio de los diarios La República y El Comercio. Así también, se entrevistó a especialistas en el tema, que han trabajado en reconocidos medios. Esta información y análisis permitió tener una visión general para presentar la propuesta infográfica. Los resultados de la investigación dieron a conocer que la infografía se puede utilizar como un recurso periodístico para presentar la información, además de la importancia del perfil que debe tener un buen infografista. / The research entitled “Infographics as journalistic resource: proposal to improve the presentation of information in the journal La Industria, 2011”, uses experts interviews and infographics analysis as instruments and data colletion methods for its investigation. Infographics published during june in La Republica and El Comercio newspapers were analyzed. Also, experts that work on important media companies were interviewed. These information and analysis allowed to have an overview to present an infographic proposal. The research results showed that the infographic can be used as a journalistic resource to present information, also the importance of the profile for an infographic designer.

The public lands of the United States administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) are used for multiple purposes, like conservation, recreation, grazing, mining, logging, and oil and gas development. Many of these activities have the potential to disturb the surface of the landscape, which can negatively impact scenic values. While the BLM has a system for managing visual resources and mitigating the potential impacts of development on visual quality, it does not adequately consider cumulative visual effects, which are the combined impacts of the same type of activity on the environment over space and time. This paper studies the challenges and opportunities faced by managers of Canyons of the Ancients National Monument in southwestern Colorado, a landscape particularly affected by oil and gas development, at measuring and managing cumulative visual effects. This paper also reviews the results of a series of interviews conducted with experts in the field of cumulative visual effects and of a visual preference survey that highlight the strengths and limitations of existing methods for assessing cumulative visual effects. This research paper concludes with a list of recommendations for the BLM to incorporate cumulative visual effects into its existing visual resource management system and details directions for future research on this subject.