Agent-based modeling (ABM) is increasingly being used as a tool for the spatial simulation of a wide variety of urban phenomena including: housing dynamics

1. urban growth and residential location

2. gentrification

3. and traffic simulation

4. At a more microscopic level, there are agent-based models that simulate pedestrians in urban centers

5. and crowd congestion

6. These applications demonstrate a growing interest in linking agents to actual places and with geographic data

Through the linking or coupling with geographical information systems (GIS) and agent-based models. This coupling allows agent-based modelers to simulate agents related to actual geographic locations and to think about how objects or agents and their aggregations interact and change in space and time. As agent-based models move evermore into the spatial domain, there is a need for new ways to explore, visualize and communicate such models especially to those who we seek to influence or where such models might inform decision makers. This has already been identified as one of the key challenges facing ABM . One potential way to visualize and communicate agent-based models is to utilize the third dimension using advances in computer hardware, software and networked communication. This third dimension is rarely ventured into academic agent-based models.Attached.