Making User Studies Discoverable

We are pleased to introduce MAP-VERSE (MAP Usability – Validated Empirical Research by Systematic Evaluation): a new metadata repository available at https://map-verse.github.io/Repository/, which was established by an international research initiative including members from ICA UX and Geovisualization Commissions. MAP-VERSE provides researchers with structured access to metadata from empirical user studies collected during geospatial tasks. These studies include eye tracking, neuroimaging (EEG, fMRI), and human sensing (EDA, cardiovascular activity, skin temperature) datasets, gathered from various settings, including labs, online, in virtual environments, and in the real world. The platform promotes best practices by featuring datasets that adhere to specific metadata reporting criteria (see Keskin et al. 2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/agile-giss-6-30-2025), as our goal is to improve data discovery, reuse, and comparative analysis for empirical studies in the geospatial domain. We achieve this by showcasing the datasets, providing detailed metadata on key dimensions such as participant characteristics, experimental design, stimuli, and analysis methods. For more details, follow us on GitHub: https://github.com/MAP-VERSE/. To provide feedback on possible improvements and requests, please email mervekeskin1988@gmail.com.