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Reminds me of LineDrive [1], a feature of MapBlast that would give you directions in something that looked like how a human would write out directions, where ro

Reminds me of LineDrive [1], a feature of MapBlast that would give you directions in something that looked like how a human would write out directions, where roads were simplified. The overall result is reducing a map to only the parts that are important to someone that needs directions along a specific route. A bit of a moot point in today's world where everyone has a GPS enabled device capable of giving them turn-by-turn directions interactively. [1] https://somethingaboutmaps.wordpress.com/2011/03/08/remembering-linedrive/ https://somethingaboutmaps.wordpress.com/2011/03/08/remember...

couchand 5y ago
What an amazing technology, it's really a shame there's not a current version. Maybe given the original paper's algorithm and the OSM dataset we could recreate it? I think this would be particularly useful for transit and other multi-modal trip maps. A Mercator might be mildly useful for driving (though as your link points out, not so obviously useful that it should be the only option), but there's really not much of a reason you need that for a bus or train trip. Individual bus or train lines very frequently have published maps in this style, and many subway system maps are reminiscent of it.
mc32 5y ago
Bing Maps had an experimental feature like that as a print option at one time. It was a chicken scratch map and included the intersecting roads where you needed to change direction. [ah, yes, as noted in the comments section, it was a showcase for silverlight]
- gnat 5y ago
  I think because Maneesh Agrawala, who created LineDrive, was at Microsoft after completing his PhD thesis (which was basically LineDrive). He's done huge amounts of really interesting work -- one of my absolute favourite CS researchers. He's worked on cropping videos using gaze tracking, making architectural models from photographs, usability analysis and design systems for isometric assembly instructions, text editing of talking head videos, and more. Most things he does have an element of magic to them. Current homepage: http://graphics.stanford.edu/~maneesh/ http://graphics.stanford.edu/~maneesh/
  - mc32 5y ago
    Wow! That’s pretty cool seeing how one person disseminates technology from place to place. It’s too bad no one has taken this navigational representation as a legitimate option and only see it as a curiosity of sorts. But it’s probably due to the reliance on mobile maps and voiced directions and the low usage of printed directions these days.

couchand 5y ago

What an amazing technology, it's really a shame there's not a current version. Maybe given the original paper's algorithm and the OSM dataset we could recreate it? I think this would be particularly useful for transit and other multi-modal trip maps. A Mercator might be mildly useful for driving (though as your link points out, not so obviously useful that it should be the only option), but there's really not much of a reason you need that for a bus or train trip. Individual bus or train lines very frequently have published maps in this style, and many subway system maps are reminiscent of it.

mc32 5y ago

Bing Maps had an experimental feature like that as a print option at one time. It was a chicken scratch map and included the intersecting roads where you needed to change direction. [ah, yes, as noted in the comments section, it was a showcase for silverlight]

gnat 5y ago
I think because Maneesh Agrawala, who created LineDrive, was at Microsoft after completing his PhD thesis (which was basically LineDrive). He's done huge amounts of really interesting work -- one of my absolute favourite CS researchers. He's worked on cropping videos using gaze tracking, making architectural models from photographs, usability analysis and design systems for isometric assembly instructions, text editing of talking head videos, and more. Most things he does have an element of magic to them. Current homepage: http://graphics.stanford.edu/~maneesh/ http://graphics.stanford.edu/~maneesh/
- mc32 5y ago
  Wow! That’s pretty cool seeing how one person disseminates technology from place to place. It’s too bad no one has taken this navigational representation as a legitimate option and only see it as a curiosity of sorts. But it’s probably due to the reliance on mobile maps and voiced directions and the low usage of printed directions these days.