18 April 2007

Zoomable User Interfaces (ZUIs) : http://hcil.cs.umd.edu/trs/2003-01/2003-01.html Via

Wired Magazine considers News Map one of “The Best Google Maps Mashups” worldwide.

Holocaust Now: Looking Down Into Hell at Camp 22

Map of the Motor Cortex : http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/tryit/brain/mapcortex.html

(Example) Google customized search engine that searches all the sites to which website links.

Human Knowledge : http://humanknowledge.net/Thoughts.html Foundations and Limits (memeware ; "if you find your copy useful, please propagate it").

eLearning team : http://www.makeithappen.uk.com/aboutus.html

minimalist concrete poetry

"Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow." - Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. 1923-2007
"A life in experimental development is an unimaginable and unpredictable experience." - R.B. Wild (after Sol Lewitt)
"... a man’s calling is written on his true heart, and he discovers it when he enters the frontier of his deep desires." - John Eldredge, Author and speaker
“People look at an oil painting and admire the use of brushstrokes to convey meaning. People look at a graffiti painting and admire the use of a drainpipe to gain access.” - Banksy (Wall and Piece)
"Possessing the audacity to do the mundane, while expecting miracles to come from it, explains every heroic and supernatural feat known to humankind." - The Universe

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Research into maps, mind-mapping and interactive narratives

Hi Ron

I’m a writer and new media artist and I’ve been exploring your Great Map blog and site (www.1-900-870-6235.com) with great interest. I’ve been fascinated by maps for some time, occasionally in the past writing stories that feature maps, and recently I’ve been using mind-mapping to help develop interactive, non-linear narratives for the web.

I’m currently developing a web fiction as part of a research project for my MA in Creative Writing and New Media at De Montfort University (Leicester, UK), which explores tools and methods for developing non-linear interactive narratives for the web. (Here’s a bit more about me if you’re interested.) In pursuit of my research I’d like to ask you a few questions, if I may.

(I hope you don’t mind, but as I have a tight deadline, I’m going to plough ahead with my questions. Here goes…)

I’d love to gain an insight into your working process, particularly when you’re creating a complex knowledge map. For example, here’s mine:

I started developing my interactive story by drawing a series of mind-maps on a whiteboard. Then I turned to my (mac) computer to develop the project further using various applications. I’m now at the stage where I’m mapping again. Using OmniGraffle Pro, I’m mapping a more detailed story structure and working out the navigation.

When you create your maps, do you sketch them out by hand first or do you go straight to the computer? What computer software do you use? Do you build your maps up piece by piece like a jigsaw puzzle, or do you develop an overall structure and then build the detail into it? Do you use different methods for different kinds of knowledge/ideas maps?

For my own interactive story, I’m not sure yet how I’m going to present the finished piece. One idea I have, inspired by your various great maps, is to present it as a visual story map for the reader to explore. Do you think maps can be a useful way of telling stories?

From what I’ve seen so far, your emphasis seems to be on using maps for sharing knowledge and ideas, for e-learning (which incidentally is another of my interests) and for navigation. Have you come across any maps used as a vehicle for telling the story, as opposed to stories that include maps as illustrations or plot elements? (I followed your “Map” Comics link but they all seemed to fall in the latter category.)

I do hope you can spare some time to answer my questions - or just some of them, whatever takes your interest. Or indeed, if there’s a question I should’ve asked but haven’t… I’d be grateful for anything you’d like to share.

Thanks and best wishes

Christine


Christine Wilks
crissxross@mac.com