We all know that computers have changed our lives forever and today, due to their influence, we experience the world of maps in a totally different way than we did before. Gone is (for most) the paper OS map, you know, the one you can never fold once you’ve unfolded it. No, today we use our GPS, smartphones, PCs or tablets to view maps.
These maps are nothing like the ones we’ve used as well. They had a bit of information, like where the pubs (PH) or phone boxes were, but beyond that, the “useful” information was more likely to include a spot height than anything else. If you wanted to find a place to eat, you would have to check the yellow pages or a local phone book. But not anymore, these days maps can be overlaid with just about any dataset you want, from restaurants to floodplain data, all at the touch of a button.
Of course, the items displayed from device to device will vary, for example the Points of Interest on a Tom Tom will be related to travel and entertainment, but in some cases, such as the way Google Maps works, they can be obtained different types of data. overlay as desired.
But what if you want an unusual data set, say land use or conservation areas, or perhaps the catchment area of a school, all of which are vital to people? Here you need the services of a digital mapping company, one that has access to the maps that the Ordnance Survey produces and a large amount of data that they have collected (or also have access to) so that they can overlay the information for you.
The name of the set of tools that produces such services is a Geographic Information System, which as you can see uses Maps (the geographic part) with Information (the data part) using computers (the system part). This type of technology is not cheap or simple, so only a few major players are available, but rest assured that if you need maps, maps overlaid with data, you will be able to get them.
However, perhaps the biggest change in the use of maps is how they are being used in conjunction with aerial photography, with Google’s ‘Google Earth’ being perhaps one of the most splendid examples today. Google Earth lets you go pretty much anywhere these days, and with the arrival of their Liquid Galaxy system, they’ve “upped the ante” again.
The Liquid Galaxy system consists of up to eight large LCD/LED screens that surround the user armed with a joystick. This allows the user to perform a kind of three-dimensional flight, allowing them to get closer to the Earth, as well as climb high and get a true bird’s eye view. I have been told that it is so realistic that you could get sick during the trip!
I have no idea what will come next in the combined world of maps and computers, but rest assured it will be interesting!