Maps Special: The missing Layer of Personalised Places

UN is offering a week of interesting map interfaces and activities in the run up to the festive season. Today's is the "Boston HyperMap Atlas" by StrataVarious, demonstrating what the company calls 'innovative user controls'.

Based on the maps functionality appearing from the major search engines and supplementing their functionality, the Hypermap Atlas 'is a demonstration of the powers of layered "smart graphics" for learning about geography'. The Boston Proper Atlas was launched in August 'to show how interactive mapping can go to the next level of organising place-related data for desk-top travel and viewing relationships between multiple map features'.

In October 2005, two zoom-out levels were added using the Google Maps™ API to demonstrate how a GIS* can be transformed into a dynamic atlas with user-requested pop-ups. Then in November, similar demos were launched using the MSN Virtual Earth and Yahoo Maps APIs for comparison. Comparison charts of the three online mapping systems show how to install the APIs, how their GUI systems work, and how each API was adapted to the custom HyperMap client-side software.

There are a myriad of details that have been added to the maps, from district shading and names, to monuments and places of interest to different user groups. There is plenty to indicate its potential.

Associated Link: Boston HyperMap Atlases

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