Orbify is exploring whether something inspired by this visual trick could have a practical use in car navigation. Orbify’s patent-pending image-processing system takes a 3D map model and warps it onto a curved surface. Instead of having to choose between a conventional top-down map and a perspective view of the road ahead, both can be displayed simultaneously in a single image.

Close to the vehicle, the map retains a normal perspective view, showing the roads and buildings around you in three dimensions. Further away, the map gradually bends upwards until it becomes an overhead view, providing a wider view of the route ahead. The result is an unusual hybrid between a street-level navigation view and a conventional aerial map.

You can currently experience the idea in Orbify’s demo. This is a preloaded production scene rather than a complete navigation application, and Orbify notes that the large splats used in the scene may take a moment to decode on your GPU. There are no routes to plan or destinations to enter; the demo is primarily a showcase for the unusual map-rendering technique.

However if you do want to explore your town using an Inception inspired map view you are in luck …

Inception Map by William Davis uses satellite imagery to create a bendy map of Manhattan in the style of some of the famous folding city scenes in Inception. The map uses a number of separate Mapbox maps, each with a different map pitch view, seamlessly stitched together to recreate the folding city views seen in Inception.

Because the Inception Map was created in Observable you can actually adapt this map to show a different folding city view. To do this you will need to change the latitude and longitudes defined in the mapCenter array.

The Tangram Bendy Map also allows you to view this interesting Inception inspired perspective on an interactive map. The screenshot above shows Manhattan but in the Tangram Bendy Map you can pan and zoom to a folded city view of any location in the world.