december 2004 archives

Thursday, December 23, 2004

Address searching

Having recently discussed the benefits of the XMLhttpRequest JavaScript extension for address searching on mapping websites, I found out Map24.com has actually created an interface for users to select the corresponding town from a list after supplying a postcode and the first letter of the town name. Instead of automatically populating the input field, users have to click on a hyperlink next to the input field. The hyperlink contains no text, neither does it have a title attribute. Having entered the full Royal Mail postcode W2 3HH, the list gives me 50 options! Not very intuitive.

Also, as a side note I discussed the difficulties visitors have distinguishing search results on Multimap.com when there are multiple results, i.c. Kingston. Especially, when there is more than one result in a county. Many mapping websites add a postcode to the town name for visitors to distinguish. For example, searching for Bordeaux in France on Maporama.com returns the following list:

BORDEAUX (33)
BORDEAUX (77410)

Somehow, this always strikes me as counter-intuitive. Maybe it's because I'm only familiar with postcodes in the Netherlands and the UK, where a postcode refers to an area that's typically smaller than a town. Why would you characterise a town by a geographic entity that's smaller? Also, visitors often do not know the (foreign) postcodes. Really, it's not just Maporama that works like this. I much more prefer the approach taken by VirtualTourist.com. Searching for Orange in France returns:

Europe > France > Rhône-Alpes > Orange
Europe > France > Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur > Orange

Thus, the larger geographic entity (the French département) characterises the smaller geographic entity (the town). As visitors are familiar with browsing through hierarchical web directories and are used to breadcrumb navigation, they immediately grasp this approach. However, this still leaves us with the problem when there are multiple results within the larger geographic entity, e.g. a few towns with the same name in the same county. Maybe that's when you could add the postcode to the town name? I still am rather reserved towards this approach.

Monday, December 20, 2004

Mapping traffic information

Having covered weather maps only a few weeks ago, now it's time for a closer look at mapping traffic information. Both weather and traffic are excellent examples of topics to display through online maps:

Location is a very important factor with regard to weather and traffic information. For example, visitors would like to know what the weather forecast is for their area, or they would like to be informed about the traffic conditions along the route to the office. Maps are therefore most suitable for displaying location-relevant information such as traffic and weather information.
Visitors are interested in the latest information about the weather and traffic conditions. Therefore, the maps have to be as up to date as possible. The web is a great medium to publish information to a wide audience quickly to keep them current.

The natural match between maps and weather and traffic conditions maps are discussed in Web Cartography by Kraak and Brown. Also, have a look at this much more recent paper about online weather maps!

Since last week, Yahoo Maps offers live US traffic conditions! Not only can you get traffic information for one specific location, but also for your routes. Unfortunately, when you use the Driving Directions service, traffic information is shown for the area that's in the map view, not just for the route you travel. On the one hand, it distracts visitors from the most important information: traffic conditions along their route. On the other hand, visitors may deviate from the generated route. The traffic conditions in other areas may then be very useful.

A few years ago, I developed the Search Along Route facility on the Shell Station Locator. This store locator only shows Shell stations along the route that's generated. Visitors may specify the distance between the Shell stations and the route. Actually, they're performing a buffer operation! Shell stations futher away from the route are not shown, but can be quickly retrieved by widening the search distance. If the map becomes too cluttered, the search distance can be made smaller easily. Now, visitors are in control!

Taking a closer look at the CGI parameters in the URLs of the Highways Agency Traffic Information service, it won't surprise you that Multimap.com is involved! The website covers the road network in England only. Both Wales and Scotland offer information on traffic information on separate websites (the e in e-government is certainly not for efficiency). Shading the road segments according to traffic conditions on the HA website is pretty neat. Yahoo Maps, on the other hand, conveys the severity of road congestion not per road segment, but gives each measurement location a particular shading. Although this representation is closer to reality, visitors may find it difficult to distinguish between congestion (flow) information and road blocks or engineering works (point) information. That's exactly what cartography is all about: getting the message across. Indeed, this may require cartographers to deviate slightly from accurate portrayal (shading measurement locations) for the benefit of clarity (shading road segments)! Well done, John!

Sunday, December 12, 2004

Pre-emptive search

Just found out about Google suggest. As you type your query term into the search box, Google Suggest guesses what you're typing and offers suggestions in real time. You can choose one by scrolling up or down the list with the arrow keys or mouse. If you start to type cartogra, Google suggests cartography, cartographer, cartogram, etc. Furthermore, it also provides the number of results instantly so you know what you can expect when you hit the search button. The order of suggestions is determined by the user statistics that Google collects through its website and browser toolbar (compare with Google Zeitgeist).

Although Google Suggest claims to work similar to Google's Did you mean? feature that offers alternative spellings for your query, it doesn't offer to search for aerial photos when you type arial ph. Nevertheless, it's cool to see how many results are returned for each query term even before you hit the search button, e.g.:

web map: 20,200,000
web maps: 23,500,000
web mapping: 8,120,000

A while ago, Richard Rutter highlighted the XMLhttpRequest JavaScript extension (this is actually what powers Google Suggest). Richard uses the extension himself on the Local Info section of the Multimap.com website. You can type the category you want to search for and the category name you type is auto-completed if it's listed in the pulldown menu.

However, imagine the uses that XMLhttpRequest may have for entering addresses on mapping websites like Multimap or MapQuest? For example, when you fill in the postcode, the mapping website may pre-populate the town field so you can check you entered the correct postcode! I created exactly this for Dutch addresses. When you type a Dutch postcode (e.g. 7512 EC, or 2741 DN) and tab to the next field to enter a town name, a popup appears that suggests a town that matches the postcode you supplied. Also, mapping websites may suggest a list of towns in case there are multiple results even before you hit the search button. When you type Kingston, a pulldown menu may appear that lists all towns named Kingston in the UK for you to select from:

Kingston, Cambridgeshire
Kingston, Devon
Kingston, Dorset
Kingston, East Lothian
Kingston, Hampshire
Kingston, Isle of Wight
Kingston, Moray
Kingston, Kent
Kingston, West Sussex

(Unfortunately, Multimap.com did not give the results in alphabetic order, nor was there any way to distinguish between the two results for Kingston in Dorset. Futhermore, there was no mention of either Kingston upon Hull, or Kingston upon Thames!)

Combining these suggestion with Zeitgeist-like user statistics, a popularity rating could be added to the suggestions for foreigners not to end up in the wrong place. For example, the popularity rating for Cambridge in Cambridgeshire would then be much higher than Cambridge in Gloucestershire. A simple mention of the population size of these towns may be sufficient, or a little cartographic settlement symbol next to the name like you see in map legends? How about sorting the results according to distance from the user, as someone from Gloucestershire is more likely to visit Cambridge in Gloucestershire than in Cambridgeshire, Just like a non-UK resident is more likely to be searching for Kingston, the capital of Jamaica, than for a little town in Devon, UK. Or had it better work the other way around as someone from Gloucestershire is more likely to know her way around Cambridge in Gloucestershire and therefore wouldn't be searching for a map of the nearby town, but the one in Cambridgeshire? Hope that's enough food for thought.

Wednesday, December 08, 2004

Awareness of maps

In London, most people used their A-to-Z to navigate the city. People looked at the tube map to take the underground from A to B. When I told friends I worked at Multimap.com, they were familiar with the company as they regularly used the website to find their way. Is it because London is difficult to navigate, that maps seem to be are part of everyday life? I don't know.

Explaining where I used to work to my Dutch friends and colleagues is much more difficult. There are Dutch companies that offer online mapping services such as store locators and route planning applications. Locatienet is the only company that offers both a public website and powers many store locator and route planning applications at other websites. There are also quite a few GIS companies that offer just business-to-business online mapping services and don't have a public website. Hence, many people know the websites that offer these services to the public, but don't realise that there's another company that's actually providing this service.

Recent reviews of routeplanners have certainly hightened the awareness of maps and route planners. TomTom and Route66 are becoming familiar brands as many phone and PDA suppliers use these to promote their products. Even advertising campaigns for some car brands use in-car navigation systems to promote their cars. So we're catching up in the Netherlands when it comes to awareness of maps and geography. But still, when I tell people that I am a cartographer, they associate this with topographic mapping only. When did cartography loose its relevancy? Or am I missing something?

Sunday, December 05, 2004

Satellite imagery in the newsroom

One of the breakthroughs in the usage of geographic data in the 8 o'clock news took place during the recent Gulf war. As soon as the news broke, a video tape was shown including an analysis of the strategic sites of Bagdad supported by satellite imagery captured shortly before. The Dutch broadcasting corporation was kindly assisted by Imagem in the preparation of the imagery. As the usage of satellite imagery proved to be rather successful, the editors looked into ways to create even more appealing presentations. They came across Keyhole and it took little persuasion of the chief editor to buy the software.

This new software enabled the editors to create fly-through animations and to quickly change the level of detail all over the world. Iraq was no longer presented as a country covered with desert and Bagdad in the middle. The country came to live as the digtal elevation model showed the flat marshlands in the south, the terrain of the mountain ranges to the north and the various towns and cities of the country. This proved so successful, a short news item supported by satellite imagery got a daily slot in the programme. Unfortunately, there's currently little awareness of the strengths and weaknesses of geographic data among the editors in the newsroom. Also, the graphic designers have little cartographic knowledge.

Recently, Google acquired Keyhole, giving Google users a powerful new search tool, enabling users to view 3D [satellite] images of any place on earth. Thus, Keyhole imagery may be a great addition to Google Local. Instead of ovelaying the search results on a map, the dots may be put on a satellite image. Or may we expect this acquisition to have other crossover effects? Next time we see satellite imagery on the 8 o'clock news, will targeted Google ads be displayed on your TV screen? Just a thought... Another vendor of software to view dynamic 3D satellite imagery is Skyline.

Thursday, December 02, 2004

Have I got news for you

Have you ever wondered how they create the overview maps and weather maps they show you on the 8 o'clock news? Admittedly, it's been on my mind now and again. Only a few weeks ago, I finally got the chance to go behind the scenes and investigate. First, I paid a visit to the Paint Box, where the graphic designers work. Without any cartographic expertise, they happily create maps in seconds using Curious World Maps. Much of the cartography is already decided through style sheets that determine the overall look and feel of the maps. Of course, graphic designers can adjust the style of individual map objects in just a few mouse clicks. Curious World Maps particularly targets media and broadcasting corporations. Photoshop is often used to apply the finishing touches.

After a tour round the studios, I interviewed one of the presenters of the weather news. They use WNI Trivis to create custom weather maps. To convey the uncertainty that goes with weather news, the weather symbols are kept as abstract as possible. For example, the photo-realistic fly-throughs shown on German weather stations may give the false impression of the weather forecast.

Both Curious World Maps and Trivis are not particular to Dutch TV channels. The companies that create either software product count TV channels from many countries among their clients.