Goodbye, GPS! Developing Map Reading Skills
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With the influx of different technologies that aid navigation, map reading has appeared to be a fading art of plotting one’s course. People, especially travellers, should understand that while GPS devices point out directions accurately, they may fail due to some technical or functional glitches. And when that happens, map reading skills will surely come in handy. Map reading, however, can be quite difficult. This is especially true for those who have trouble shifting perspectives from the aerial orientation to a street-level view or the other way around. Some scientists believe that there are biases in a person’s spatial intelligence, which make grasping navigation sketches and concepts difficult. For explorers, here are some tips that will help improve their map reading skills:
On Perspectives and Directions
Perspectives and directions are important, as they help plot where the navigator is in relation to a given landscape. The trick here is to always find the north face. When the navigator plots where the north face is, plotting the other directions should be easy enough.
On Estimation and Scaling One of the biggest blunders of a map reader is that he doesn’t assess the scale provided in the map. The scale is simply the ratio between measurements laid out in the map and actual distances of the roads. Not going through this ratio will make estimating travel times quite difficult.
Reading the Legends Car rental companies that take precautionary measures in case the car’s GPS device fails typically advise travellers to check the legends in their maps. Legends are the symbolic representations of establishments and other things in the map. These representations give travellers some hints of what to expect down the road. The depictions in the map typically represent the types of roads, train stations and convenience stores.
The Aid of Video Games Researchers from the Vanderbilt University have found out that video games may help improve map-reading skills. The improvement may stem from the fact that gamers usually use two types of maps in their games: street-level view and bird’s eye view. Looking at these maps simultaneously while playing the game somehow improves spatial coordination, especially when it comes to translating one view to another. Map reading skills are integral in charting unfamiliar terrains. People should hone them in case technological devices fail them.
RESOURCES: Wired.com - http://www.wired.com/2013/11/map-sense/
Vanderbilt University Medical Center – http://www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/news/releases.php?release=1920
Aries Car Rental - http://www.ariescarrental.com.au