new jersey geographer » Microsoft

Denoting Landmarks in Driving Directions

John Reiser — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 21:00:59 +0000

Bing Maps now incorporate landmarks in their driving directions. This is a really great feature, as it will tell you what to look for while driving in unfamiliar territory. I experimented with incorporating landmarks into Google Maps driving directions about a year ago. You can take my demo for a spin here. Bing Maps goes a few steps further by identifying features ahead of turns to inform you that if you pass them, you’ve missed your turn. That and they have more than 6 points around New Brunswick as landmarks.

This is a great feature that should be incorporated into all the major routing and map providers. Considering Google and Microsoft are both catalogs of business and place name data, this additional functionality should not be difficult to keep up-to-date. They can take it even further by incorporating Street View and/or Birds’ Eye View – focused on the specific landmark – into the driving directions.

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Post tags: Bing Maps, Driving Directions, Routing

Google making Map Maker data available for download

John Reiser — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 03:58:31 +0000

Starting with Kenya, Google is allowing users to download the base data collected through the Map Maker service, as either KML or Shapefile format. Google’s licensing allows for only non-commercial use. Hopefully, this data will support some of the non-profit mapping efforts taking place on the continent. The license also restricts (or at least, severely limits) competition with services provided by Google. This puts OpenStreetMap in an odd position – OSM is restricted from incorporating the data into its own service. Considering OSM has been around since 2004 and Map Maker only 2008, and seeing how many people in over 100 countries have been offering Google data, OSM needs to better align (or contrast) itself with the work Google is doing. One of the reasons I believe Map Maker has gathered the amount of user-generated content in the past year is that Map Maker is incredibly easy to use and if you do run into issues, there is clear and concise help. This is compared to the OSM Beginner’s Guide. Now, I understand that OSM is geared towards a more technical audience than the Map Maker service, but OSM needs to spend more time fostering a community outside of the devoted submitters. What is going to prevent Google from offering up a GIS service akin to the Virtual Earth on ArcGIS platform currently being offered by ESRI and Microsoft? A service built on TA/Navteq data, enhanced with local knowledge? A service that is available now from OSM, but much easier to use? Providing base data for Kenya is just the beginning.

Mikel Maron has some more thoughts about OSM and Map Maker, as well as some comparison screenshots. (Via Mapperz)

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Post tags: ArcGIS, Google Map Maker, Google Maps, OpenStreetMap, Virtual Earth, Volunteered Information

Behind the Maps: 180-degree HD viewer

John Reiser — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 02:16:40 +0000

On the Channel 9 blog, Mark Brown shows off a video featuring Virtual Earth on a 20 foot tall, HD display with a 180-degree field of vision.

I want one.

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Post tags: Behind the Maps, Displays, Microsoft, Virtual Earth

More on the UltraCam – Behind the Maps

John Reiser — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 01:54:09 +0000

Microsoft recently posted another episode on Channel 9 dealing with the UltraCam. Three interviews and some in-flight footage of the camera.

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Post tags: Aerial Photography, Microsoft, remote sensing, ultracam, video

Microsoft’s Behind the Maps

John Reiser — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 17:57:36 +0000

Microsoft is starting a new video series on its Channel 9 blog. Focusing on Virtual Earth and the technology behind it, the first episode of Behind the Maps deals with the UltraCam and its UltraMap software.

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Post tags: Aerial Photography, Microsoft, remote sensing, video