A satellite view of spatial points in conversation

It can be difficult for external analysts without knowledge of the local environment to understand what conversationalists are talking about when they point to locations outside their immediate environment. Our geospatial framework for analysing directional points provides the external analyst with a panoramic view of the conversational setting, so that the world which members inhabit can be seen from space. By rotating the satellite imagery to align with bearing of the video cameras, the locations being pointed to and spoken about can be visualised within the context of the topography that surrounds the setting of the talk. We demonstrate these procedures using data from conversations conducted in the remote Australian outback, in Australian English, and in three distantly related Aboriginal languages.