The strong point of the multimedia Statistical Atlas of Europe on CD or DVD, is the explorative and interactive handling of the presented themes. The target group encompasses both laymen with high school education and theme-specific experts. The presented themes are interesting for all age categories. No specific expert knowledge is required and links to other related themes are of great importance. The graphic user interface is an integral part of the multimedia atlas; it interact's with the specially adapted map design and the programmed functions. A structured, segmented screen layout is allowing an easy access to the information. 'Traditional' 2D-maps are redesigned according to the 'intelligent map concept', which allows access to a continuous map scale series with adapted degrees of generalisation, the automatic generation of thematic maps, a flexible symbolisation and queries for all map elements. Dynamic presentations using animations help to visualise, analyse, and compare spatio-temporal processes. Many topographic and thematic presentations require the integration of digital terrain models in order to achieve a high degree of realism and an adequate visualisation of complex features. Other multimedia elements as sound, images, graphics and image sequences, complete the spectrum of visualisation methods. The multimedia atlas belongs to the interactive-analytical type. Besides a high degree of interaction, both analytical and GIS-related functions are implemented.
