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Technical University of Munich

Nianhua Liu

Foto von Nianhua Liu

Mag. M.Sc. Nianhua Liu

Maps Make Magic!

Call for Master's Thesis and Research Collaboration

Master students are invited to explore innovative research topics such as spatial cognition, AR/VR emergency navigation, geobusiness analysis. Students are expected to dedicate time to conducting user studies, with the goal of publishing a research paper while completing their master's thesis.

  • Impact of Mini-Map on Spatial Cognition and Memory at Video Games
    investigate how mini-maps in video games influence users' spatial cognition and memory, compared between games like Black Myth: Wukong and Assassin's Creed.
  • Rapid Interaction of Mobile Map in Emergency Scenarios
    Explore how different mobile map designs influence rapid user interaction in emergency scenarios, focusing on enhancing task performance during dynamic activities like running and cycling.
  • Enhancing Indoor Emergency Navigation with MR Glasses
    Conduct a user study using MR glasses with and without mini-maps to assess their effectiveness and efficiency in enhancing spatial perception, memory, and route planning for indoor disaster escape scenarios.
  • Geobusiness and Fundraising: Academic vs. Market Focus
    Analyze the gap between academic research and market trends in geobusiness by classifying and tagging case studies from GIS business news media related to startup fundraising.
  • Mapping Technology Trends through Conference Papers and Industry Reports
    Collect and compare technical keywords from recent cartography conference papers with newsletters and annual reports from major mapping companies (Google, TomTom, Mapbox, Baidu, Amap) to identify trends and focus areas.
  • Media Analysis of Geospatial Topics in Europe, India, and China
    Use visual analytics to analyze differences in focus and trends over the past three years among geospatial media outlets: Taibo (China), Geospatial World (India), and Geoawesome (Europe).
  • Career Pathways for Next-Generation Cartographers: Navigating the Divide between Academia and Industry
    Survey and interview Cartographic students and graduates from diverse backgrounds (Europe, Asia, Africa) to analyze the employment difficulties they face and the gap between research-oriented and industry-driven skill sets.

Research Interests

  • GeoVisualization & GeoCommunication

  • Web Mapping & XR Mapping

  • Smart City & Urban Digital Twins

  • User interface & User experience & Human-computer interaction

Educational Background

  • Since 10.2022, Doctoral Researcher, Chair of Cartography and Visual Analytics, TUM, Germany

  • 2020.10-2022.06, Master Degree, Z_GIS, University of Salzburg, Austria

  • 2020.10-2022.06, Master Degree, Department of Geoinformatics, Palacky University Olomouc, Czech Republic

  • 2019.07-2019.10, Research Assistant, University of Alberta, Canada

  • 2015.08-2020.06, Bachelor Degree, Geographic Information Science, Sun Yat-sen University, China

 

Working Experience

 

Volunteering

  • Since 03.2022, UN Mapper: Coordinate Chinese volunteers group to translate mapping tutorials

  • Since 09.2022, YouthMappers at TU Munich: Founder of chapter

  • 2018.12-2019.10, Mapbox China: Completed Chinese tutorials related to Mapbox GL JS for Web apps 

 

Journal Paper Publication

  • Liu, N. and Strobl, J., 2022. Impact of neighborhood features on housing resale prices in Zhuhai (China) based on an (M) GWR model. Big Earth Data, pp.1-24. https://doi.org/10.1080/20964471.2022.2031543

  • He, Y., Pu, H., Liu, N., Zhang, Y. and Sheng, Y., 2022. An Analysis of Food Accessibility of Mountain Cities in China: A Case Study of Chongqing. Applied Sciences, 12(7), p.3236. https://doi.org/10.3390/app12073236

 

Conference & Presentations

  • Liu, N., Feng, Y., Wang, S., and Meng, L.: The Impact of Maps on Climate Information Communication: An Empirical User Study on Social Media Trustworthiness, Abstr. Int. Cartogr. Assoc., 7, 92, doi.org/10.5194/ica-abs-7-92-2024, 2024.
  • Liu, N., Liu, B., Feng, Y., & Meng, L. (2023). Comparative User Experiments in Cognitive Pitfalls of Climate Change Information. Abstracts of the ICA, 6, 143. https://doi.org/10.5194/ica-abs-6-143-2023
  • Liu, N., Salazar, J., Chen, C., Wang, S., Netek, R., Popelka, S., & Meng, L. (2023). Using Eye-tracking to Evaluate Visual Behaviours on GIS Enhanced Football Animations. Abstracts of the ICA, 6, 144. https://doi.org/10.5194/ica-abs-6-144-2023, 2023.
  • Gao, Y., Gella, G. W., & Liu, N. (2022). Assessing the Influences of Band Selection and Pretrained Weights on Semantic-Segmentation-Based Refugee Dwelling Extraction from Satellite Imagery. AGILE: GIScience Series, 3, 36. https://doi.org/10.5194/agile-giss-3-36-2022
  • Wang, S., Liu, B., Zhang, C.,Liu, N., & Meng, L. (2023). Visualizing indoor layout for spatial learning using Mixed Reality-based X-ray vision. Abstracts of the ICA, 6, 267. https://doi.org/10.5194/ica-abs-6-267-2023, 2023.

 

Awards and Grants

  • Honorary award in CYBERCARTOGRAPHY Competition 2022, AGILE, ICA, and ISPRS
  • Best paper award in 13th GeoMundus Conference
  • Mapathon Winner of 13th GeoMundus Conference
  • Mapbox China Top Developer 2018

 

Membership

  • EIT Urban Mobility - Doctoral Training Network
  • NFDI4Earth - Academy fellow
  • ISPRS WG IV/5: Member in ISPRS Working Group - Geovisualization, Augmented And Virtual Reality
  • OMF: Early Career Scholars in Open Modeling Foundation
  • ISDE: Member in International Society for Digital Earth
  • CaGIS: Student Member in Cartography and Geographic Information Society
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