Discovering the Dissolution / / No Comments I live near Abbey Road in East London. The road is named for Langthorne Abbey, which used to be one of the largest Cistercian abbeys in England. At the beginning of the 16th Century the abbey owned most of the land in East London. It also owned a number of local mills and controlled a number of local industries including brewing, shearing, weaving, tannery and farming. Then came the Dissolution Maps Mania… more → Posted in: Interactive Maps Tagged with: discovering, Dissolution
The Kessler Syndrome / / No Comments Steve Wozniak and a host of other Silicon Valley luminaries have launched a new company called Privateer, whose mission is to track and map space debris in Earth’s orbit. In 1978 NASA scientist Donald J. Kessler published a paper which argued that if the number of satellites in Low Earth Orbit reached a certain critical level, then even a small collision could create enough debris to cause a Maps Mania… more → Posted in: Interactive Maps Tagged with: Kessler, Syndrome
AI Map Search / / No Comments I am trying to keep track of developments in the use of artificial intelligence in mapping. At the moment the most interesting experiments seem to involve using AI to help answer geospatial queries. This is leading to some interesting maps which use AI to map answers to users’ queries. Over the last few months I’ve been reading with interest on Twitter how developers have been using AI models ( Maps Mania… more → Posted in: Interactive Maps Tagged with: search
Global Sunlight Chart / / No Comments The ShadeMap: Direct Sunlight Chart is an interactive map which can calculate the number of hours of direct sunlight for any location on Earth. Unlike traditional sun charts, this map actually accounts for shadows cast by buildings and terrain. If a tall building or mountain blocks out the sun for part of the day this is taken into account in the sunlight chart for that location. The Maps Mania… more → Posted in: Interactive Maps Tagged with: Chart, global, Sunlight
Assassination Simulation / / No Comments Japanese broadcaster MBS has released a full scale 3D digital recreation of the assassination of Shinzo Abe. In July 2022 the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was shot and killed while giving a speech at Yamato-Saidaiji Station, Nara. A Re-creation of former PM Shinzo Abe’s Assassination is a shocking full re-enactment of the Prime Minister’s assassination, which uses witness accounts and Maps Mania… more → Posted in: Interactive Maps Tagged with: Assassination, Simulation
The World’s Population in 3D / / No Comments This 3D Map of world cities with a population over 100k visualizes the global population of the world’s cities as 3D towers. Zoom in on Europe and you can see that London dominates western Europe, towering over Paris, Madrid, Berlin and Rome. The data for the map comes from this Wikipedia list of towns and cities with 100,000 or more inhabitants. Wherein lies the problem. The main problem with Maps Mania… more → Posted in: Interactive Maps Tagged with: Population, world's
MapLibre Adds WebGL2 Support / / No Comments MapLibre GL JS v3 has been released. Version 3 of the popular mapping library includes significant improvements to Terrain 3D, support for WebGL2, new styling options and improved performance. MapLibre GL JS, a JavaScript mapping library that uses WebGL to render interactive maps from vector tiles and styles. MapLibre was founded in 2015 in reaction to the growing trend of proprietary mapping Maps Mania… more → Posted in: Interactive Maps Tagged with: Adds, MapLibre, Support, WebGL2
Explore the World in 3D / / No Comments San Francisco as seen using Google’s new Photorealstic 3D Tiles At Google I/O this year the Google Maps team unveiled the release of Photorealistic 3D Tiles. Google Maps’ Photorealistic 3D Tiles are a new way to view the world in 3D. In essence the new tiles allow map developers to use Google Earth’s 3D buildings and terrain in their interactive maps. The new 3D tiles are ideal for creating Maps Mania… more → Posted in: Interactive Maps Tagged with: Explore, World