maps
Logos and locations in QR codes
I have spent a bit of time this afternoon looking into QR codes, and how they can be customised to incorporate logos or other information. I think the first I saw of this trend was a BBC logo embedded into a QR code, but numerous people have tried it out, such as these ones from Japan, where the QR code has already been used much more widely than in the UK.
If you haven't come across QR codes before, they are much like barcodes, but have the ability to store much more information in them. Perhaps the most common use is to store a website address in them. When scanned with a mobile app like Bakodo or the Google app for the iPhone, the handset can load up the website it points to, and instantly give the user more information about the tag they have scanned.
These 2-dimensional barcodes have a tolerance for errors, meaning that bits of it can be missing or covered up, while still being able to be read and used. That's quite handy, if you want to make them look a little more interesting and include a logo or something to attract people's attention to them. Even better, it's as simple as generating a normal QR code from the Google Charts API (e.g. one for dankarran.com), downloading it, opening it in your favourite graphics editor, and inserting your logo. Check to make sure your scanner can still read it, tweak it if necessary, and you're set. Set the error correction level to the highest value possible (chld=H in the chart URL) and keep your URL as short as possible to give you most flexibility around your logo and less chance of it breaking barcode scanning applications.
Using QR codes to improve location-based information
QR codes could be quite useful for tourist information signs, to give people quick access to more information about the local area, a map of local amenities, or directions to whatever they are looking for. Most phones that have the ability to recognise a QR code probably also have a GPS or some other form of positioning built in, which could help them find their location on the standard Google Maps, but doesn't necessarily help them get at other detailed information, perhaps provided by the likes of OpenStreetMap or provided by local information sites or the local government. Using these codes to point to targeted local information could be of great use to visitors (as long as there's a note to tell them how to make use of the QR code).
A QR code like the one at the top of the post could be useful for someone standing at a tourist information point in the Sea Terminal in Douglas, Isle of Man, as it takes them to a map centred on that point. The site it points to doesn't do much more than providing maps of the Isle of Man at the moment, and doesn't work too well on a mobile yet, but could (and hopefully will, before too long) provide much more information that could be of use to visitors. Similarly, the one to the right points to a map of Douglas on the OpenStreetMap site.
I haven't seen many QR codes in use yet, but hopefully they could become much more widespread in coming years. Could you see yourself making use of codes you found out on the street?
New maps of the Isle of Man
Last week I launched a section on themap.im to show a gallery of maps of the Isle of Man. The aim is to create localised maps for different towns and villages around the Island, so for example you could bookmark a map of Castletown, Colby or Cregneash, or any other place listed in the gallery.
The maps got some great coverage with a BBC Isle of Man article, which has generated a good amount of interest in the site. The more people the map is available to, the sooner we can iron out any issues in the map data. There may be the odd typo, things accidentally added in the wrong place, or things that are missing completely, so all feedback is welcome.
For me, building this site is a great opportunity to use Drupal to help promote OpenStreetMap data, using the OpenLayers mapping library (and Drupal module) to display the maps on the site, and I'm looking forward to building the site out further.
Welcome to the new map of the Isle of Man
Re-posted from themap.im blog
With less than a week to go until the third Isle of Man mapping day - to be held in Douglas on Saturday 2nd October - we are launching a new version of themap.im with the aim of helping to promote the new map of the Isle of Man.
For over four years, volunteers have been building up the map of the Isle of Man as part of the OpenStreetMap project, creating a map of the Island that can be used by anyone, not only as an online map, but also as a source of information for their own projects. themap.im is one such project, built by Dan Karran with the aim of promoting this new map of the Isle of Man and showing what can be done with open data to help promote local businesses and organisations both within the Island and to a wider audience.
The site will continue to grow from this initial stage, to include an online directory of much of the information contained within the map, and an ability to simply update any of that information, which we will then use to update the OpenStreetMap project itself.
If you are interested in this new map of the Isle of Man, please do come along to the Velvet Lobster at 10am (or 1pm) on Saturday to the mapping day for an introduction to the OpenStreetMap project, what it's all about, how to update the map, and how to use the information in various ways.
iPhone street maps for the Isle of Man
I was looking recently to see what applications were available for the iPhone (or iPod touch) relating to the Isle of Man, and was pleasantly surprised to see that a mapping application had been released.
The application, simply called 'Isle of Man', gives users a map of the Island for use on their iPhone while they are visiting. In addition to the map, it lets users find amenities and streetnames that have been added into the OpenStreetMap database. I decided this morning to pay the 59p to download the app and try it out, but beyond the initial excitement of seeing OpenStreetMap data being used for mobile maps of the Isle of Man, I haven't been so impressed with the execution of the idea for a number of reasons...
The Mobile-Streetmaps.com website promotes this app and hundreds of other similar ones from around the world, each just a download of OpenStreetMap data packaged into an application, for which they charge 59p. While it's not a large amount to pay, the company producing the applications is profiting off the generosity of the OpenStreetMap community (and in the case of the Isle of Man, Cloud Made as well, thanks to their donation of data) with little attribution, and no mention within the app itself of the license under which the data is available.
Hopefully the company will fix the attribution issue soon, by adding a mention to the pages in the iPhone app store that the data is from OpenStreetMap, and also by adding information about the license to at least the about page of each app, and to the side bar of the pages on their website.
The app itself could be quite useful if you're visiting the Island, but it has quite a few usability issues that hamper its use:
- Zooming in to the map, you are not shown beyond a certain level, leaving many streets in the center of towns and villages left without names.
- Navigation within the app could really be improved... there's not even a back button to get back to the map from various other screens.
- After searching for items, you're taken to the map, but you are left looking at the place you were looking at before, with no obvious indication that pins have been added to the map outside of your current view.
- There is no way of clearing the pins from previous searches from the map, leading to possible confusion when searching for other things.
- Clicking on the pins for search results doesn't give any more information to the user. It would be nice to be able to get contact details where available, what the nearest street is, etc.
If you would like to access maps offline for more than just a single place, and be able to take advantage of recent updates to the maps, you will probably be better off downloading the OffMaps app which I have yet to try, but costs just a little more at £1.19 and lets you choose the area and level of detail you wish to download, and lets you do it for as many places as you wish.
While free and open geodata from OpenStreetMap gives a great boost to these applications, it also has its downfalls in that it's likely not (yet) complete for any given area. To give an example, searching for 'cafe' amenities in the Isle of Man resulted in just the Silverdale cafe being shown on the map, where in reality there are many more cafes that aren't (yet) listed.
To help improve the amount of data in the Isle of Man that's represented in OpenStreetmap, in particular relating to points of interest (POIs), I'm planning to hold another mapping party on Saturday 1st August. I'll post more information about this soon, but put the date in your diary if you're interested in helping put some of these amenities on the map. If you'd like more information in the mean time, please get in touch.
Update: having contacted the author of the apps, he's already been working with the OpenStreetMap community and has agreed to improve on the attribution, which is good. I also tried out OffMaps and liked it, but one thing it doesn't give you that the individual place-based apps do, is the access to find the location of POIs and streets while you're offline (though it does work when online).
Old Ordnance Survey maps
When I was looking for old maps of the Isle of Man a couple of years ago, I came across a great source of old maps of towns across Britain and Ireland (as well as a couple of the Isle of Man and other places in Europe). I didn't mention them in the post (I perhaps hadn't found them at that point) but I've recently had a bit of an interest in the history of the area around where I'm living, so went back to this supplier to order some old maps of the Elephant and Castle area of London.
Alan Godfrey has been building up an impressive collection of reprints of old Ordnance Survey Maps from the late 19th Century and early 20th Century. The maps, collectively known as The Godfrey Edition, are reproductions of original maps, often scaled down slightly, but printed in extraordinary quality considering the age of the originals.
As described on their website:
Most of the maps are highly detailed, taken from the 1/2500 plans and reprinted at about 14 inches to the mile. They cover towns in great detail, showing individual houses, railway tracks, factories, churches, mills, canals, tramways and even minutiae such as dockside cranes, fountains, signal posts, pathways, sheds, wells, etc.. Each map includes historical notes on the area concerned. Many also include extracts from contemporary directories. The maps are neatly folded, often with an early photograph on the cover. The maps are ideal for local historians, transport historians, and family historians, or simply those with an interest in the town they live in or have visited. The maps are very good value and cost just £2.25 each.
Whenever I've bought maps from them (their whole catalog is online in their map shop) I've found them to be very responsive, with the maps often arriving the next day. Alan Godfrey was also open to the use of names from old maps for the OpenStreetMap project (where they were still relevant, as they often were in Peel in the Isle of Man, where much of the historical street layout still exists).
So, if you're interested in the history of the area around you, I highly recommend these maps as a great start to learning more about how things used to be.
