DIGITAL MAPPING MASTER Thesis
PART 2
Kerstin Michaelis Produkt-Design Kunsthochschule Berlin WeiĂ&#x;ensee 2014
OVERVIEW
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1 ANALYSIS
_5 A Short Mapping History _ 17 A Perspective on Mapping INDEX
_ 51 Status Quo _ 57 Orienting _ 65 Experiencing the City
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EXPERIMENT
RESULT
_5 Discourse & Experiment
_5 Outcome & Conclusion
_ 37 Visualization
_ 15 Overview
_ 65 Colours & Distortion
_ 27 Shop Display
_ 79 Maps in Games
_ 33 Row of Houses
_ 91 The Concept
_ 41 Street View
INDEX
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_ 47 Neighbourhoods _ 51 Personal Map
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never try never know
EXPERIMENT
Ohne orientierung sieht man viel mehr vom leben. 4
EXPERIMENT
Discourse & Experiment orientating
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“We need to go beyond just the digital version of the paper map. We need to use the power of digital computing - make the map the actual application and interaction canvas.
EXPERIMENT
A neighbourhood is not a static thing, people are tweeting, the band is playing around the corner, a subway is leaving, traffic is building up, so the maps need to become real time dashboards.� Michael Halbherr
founder of Gate 5 former CEO of nokia HERE
HERE.com 6
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Tracking Applications
on the right: visualized moves data in different tools : Mapbox.com github.com/feltron/MMapper
foursquare
foursquare.com/timemachine
“Moves� is an automatic diary of your life. Your daily storyline and maps show where, when, and how much you move.
EXPERIMENT
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9 EXPERIMENT
Exploring a City
NEW YORK
Objective Paths
EXPERIMENT
While visiting New York in early 2014 I walked in 9 days 214km through the city. On the left hand you can see a picture with all the tracks. To track my trip I used an application called “Moves�, which tracks all movement in the background, but also analyses the transportation mode the person is using. In the graphic on the left I stripped off all other transport types and decided to just concentrate on my foot movement.
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While visiting New York in early 2014, I drew a post card for a friend of mine. The map is drawn from how I memorized New York geographically. I tried to memorize paths day by day, which was not to hard, because I was mainly each day exploring a total different area. In the first days of my trip I always had a digital map with me, I presume that my orientation sense evolved after a short while.
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EXPERIMENT
Subjective impression
Walk Structures
EH XP OERRI Z IM O ENNTT
AMSTERDAMM
NEW YORK 12
BERLIN
13 EXPERIMENT
Personal Maps - Workshop
One of my main ideas is, that by collecting physical movement data we can get closer to the mental map people have in their mind. Combining this digital data with physical interactions the user has with his smart phone we can hopefully even get closer to presumed personal map.
EXPERIMENT
I started off, organizing several workshops with people who all lived in the same place for the same amount of time. they were asked to draw a map of their surrounding and every day life on an A3 paper in a limited time of 30minutes.
How do people relate different parts of the city to each other, how do they &dquo;place&dquo; themselves within the urban environment; in other words, how do they mentally structure the city? Donald Apple Yard
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15 HORIZONT
Personal Maps - Workshop
For the Workshops I chose shared flats where at least 4 people where living in the same area for the same amount of time. All participants were drawing at the same table and had 30minutes to draw a personal map of their surrounding. They were asked to draw a personal map of their surrounding and daily life on an a3 paper.
EXPERIMENT
The outcome were mainly two kind of maps: there where some rare participants mapping their surrounding not geographic location related but more time place or mind map based all the others drew their surrounding mapping it somehow geographically but following the points lynch already observed.
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17 HORIZONT
A N A LY S I S
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ANALYSIS
Evaluating the current State orientating
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User Centric Maps
A N A LY S I S
“Maps look down, as I do, watching my step. Their downward perspective seems so obvious, so familiar as to make one forget how much looking-up they entail.� Dava Sobel Foreword On the Map by Simon Garfield
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“...not so long ago, we placed Jerusalem at the center of our maps; or if we lived in China, Youzhou. Later, it might be Britain or France, at the heart of their empires.
But now we each stand, individually, at the centre of our own map worlds. On our computers, phones, cars, we plot a route not from A to B but from ourselves to anywhere of our choosing; every distance is measured from where we stand, and as we travel we are ourselves mapped.�
A N A LY S I S
On the Map by Simon Garfield
HERE Maps on Windowsphone
Apple Maps on iPhone
Google Maps on Android Phone
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PICTURING Analogue Map THE vs.REAL Digital WORLD Map
HAONRAILY Z OSN I ST
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Digital Geographic Tools
A N A LY S I S
Digital geographic tolls typically display dynamically generated representations of a region, with a specific level of detail dependent on the current scale of the map. Digital maps have different information layers which can be rendered on top of each other and be combined. Those information layers are assigned to certain zoom-levels, so that certain information, (e.g. details like house-numbers or street-names) just show up at a certain zoom-level so that the map has less clutter than an analogue map. The content of the digital map has also be adapted to the targeted output device (different screen-sizes).
For each map object there are certain parameters, which define when the object should be scaled or even move. For example street-names have to move when the map is zoomed so that the user can still read the name of the street without having the need to pan the map, so that text-labels are adaptive to the zoom-level and map extract, but they also scale at the same time at certain points so that street names are still readable even if the map is zoomed out. At certain zoom-levels names of smaller streets will then disappear and just bigger streets are left.
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Mixed Reality
Augmented-reality A form of computerized interaction in which computer-presented data and input mechanisms are combined with real-world events. The computer is said to augment the player’s experience of the real world.
A N A LY S I S
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25 A N A LY S I S
Map Layers
A N A LY S I S
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Mapping With Colours
How do digital maps work at the moment? The map everybody knows from Google is working in the following manner: Every digital map has different information layers which can be rendered on top of each other and be combined. Those information layers are assigned to certain zoom-levels, so that certain information e.g. details like house-numbers or streetnames just show up at a certain zoom-level so that the map has less clutter. This is already a big advantage compared to paper maps. A disadvantage can be that the detailed information is less comparable because it can never be displayed at the same time, either the user zooms out, or scrolls along the map to another place.
A N A LY S I S
My main idea here is to combine certain information layers in the same zoom-level dependent on the action the user is involved in at the moment which can e.g. be defined by speed or certain interactions. Another thought is to make certain information layers accessible on a location trigger, so that in the end a path one always cycles will be displayed in the “cycle mode�, which will also give the user orientation, because he is familiar with this area and the route has an distinct look on the map.
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Zoom Levels
Example from Nokia HERE Maps on WP
Underground stations are named for orientation purposes.
Names of bigger streets appear.
Parks and smaller streets are added.
A N A LY S I S
Google Maps on iPhone
Google has more a focus on places you already visited, or searched for, this approach can be seen on all zoom levels.
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The map on this zoom-level is comparable decluttert, only places the user visited already are highlighted.
There are still rarely any streetnames visible.
House silhouettes appear.
House-numbers are shown.
There are still rarely any streetnames visible. PT stations are shown without names.
Buildings are shown in a deeper zoom-level.
they are extruded, but the user can never see house-numbers.
A N A LY S I S
All street names are shown.
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Granular Rendering Effect Google Maps
The effect while loading data, Google is using, imitates the former tile loading effect. But it is also a nice example for map granularity and shows how one could combine different information density on one zoom-level.
A N A LY S I S
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How do digital maps operate? Tiles Maps
Vector Maps
“Most web maps are made up of many small, square images called tiles. These tiles are typically 256x256 pixels and are placed side-by-side in order to create the illusion of a very large seamless image.
“Vector map data consists of many data layers that are rendered based on rules describing what to display and how to display it. This enables use cases typically not possible with raster tiles, such as:
To organize these millions of images web maps use a simple coordinate system. Each tile has a z coordinate describing its zoom level and x and y coordinates describing its position within a square grid for that zoom level. Hence, the very first tile in the web map system is at 0/0/0.
Dynamically altering the look and style of the map (for example: changing to night mode) without downloading new map data Zooming the map smoothly rather than in discrete zoom steps Rotating the map while maintaining correct label and icon orientation. Tilting the map to show textured 3D landmarks Vector map data requires significantly less storage space than raster map tiles, enabling map data to be downloaded for offline use.”
Zoom level 0 covers the entire globe. The very next zoom level divides z0 into four equal squares such that 1/0/0 and 1/1/0 cover the northern hemisphere while 1/0/1 and 1/1/1 cover the southern hemisphere.
www.developer.here.com
Zoom levels are related to each other by powers of four - z0 contains 1 tile, z1 contains 4 tiles, z2 contains 16, and so on. Because of this exponential relationship the amount of detail increases at every zoom level but so does the amount of bandwidth and storage required to serve up tiles. For example, a map at z15 – about when city building footprints first become visible – requires about 1.1 billion tiles to cover the entire world. At z17, just two zoom levels greater, the world requires 17 billion tiles.” www.mapbox.com
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HAONRAILY Z OSN I ST
with in digital maps one can differentiate between tile maps and vektor maps
Virtual Reality and 3D Renderings
How do they get those pictures? “They collect detailed and accurate 3D street level using cars. The vehicles use a system that basically consist of a Lumia 920, Surface Pro, and the 3D camera rig. Now, the heart and soul of this set up is that camera rig. You have 4 cameras that capture nearly 68 mega-pixels together to create a 360 degree view. Another important component of the camera rig is the LIDAR scanner. It has plenty of uses, but here it’s used to map 3D points using lasers. The LIDAR scanner will fire a laser and illuminate an object. It then analyses the reflected light to measure distance.
A N A LY S I S
All this data from the various sensors is fed into a data collection box that sits up front where your passenger would put his or her feet. You also have a Surface Pro that is running custom software from Nokia and earthmine to help drivers know which routes to take and gives feedback to Nokia, like the drivers current location. The Lumia 920 is basically used as a Wi-Fi hotspot by giving a data connection to the Surface Pro and other devices on board.” www.windowscentral.com
http://www.windowscentral.com/take-look-how-nokia-plans-crushgoogle-street-view
As mentioned before, building a model of the world in the scale of 1:1 does not make a lot of sense, the same idea can be applied to the level of information and noise reduction. Street-view is an example where Google is trying to make an exact picture of the real world, which brings in a lot of noise. My idea here is to work with a mixed reality to focus more on what the user is really interested in and what can help on. Another problem with Google street view is that it looks exactly like the reality, but a lot of the pictures are already outdated, but the user cannot distinguish between outdated and updated material nor can he find out from what time a picture is. So this is another problem I would like to tackle.
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33 HORIZONT
COLLECTION
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COLLECTION
Visualization what does it look like?
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Subway Systems and Simplification
The contradictory issue with maps is that geographical maps are the physical Reality, whereas infrastructure is an virtual experience. Public Transport does not exist without the map because you cannot see it its a system moving in the city. In Jug Cerovics eyes, the System becomes virtual because it does not exist if its not drawn on the map. He says: ”If you remove one tube stop from the map, it does not exist anymore.” Every map, off-course, is subjective and every map is politics. Jug Cerovic wants to “Invent a standart and make poetry with it to highlight and showcase the characteristics of a city.” Nowadays we have the problem with geographic maps, that nothing of the human element is left. they are not as interpretative as drawn maps at times where we had less data. In paper maps there was much more human element because they couldn’t just be an exact playback of raw data.
“In paper maps there was much more human element because they couldn’t just be an exact playback of raw data.”
COLLECTION
talk by Jug Cerovic at the HERE headquarter Berlin Berlin public transport map by Jug Cerovic
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www.inat.fr
Jug Cerovic
“When visiting a new city for the first time, I am often overwhelmed by the normal city map, so to get some orientation and a brief overview of what is where I look at the subway map.“ “Der große Vordenker für das Design internationaler Streckenpläne ist der Brite Harry Beck (1902 bis 1974). Sein bekanntestes Werk ist der Liniennetzplan der London Underground, dessen Designregeln vielen Streckengrafiken als Vorbild dient. Becks Idee: Jede Bahnlinie ist durch einen eigenen Strich repräsentiert, der nur waagerecht, senkrecht oder diagonal im 45-Grad-Winkel verläuft. Regeln, an die sich auch Cerovic weitestgehend hält.” www.spiegel.de official BVG Berlin public transport map
http://www.spiegel.de/reise/staedte/u-bahn-plaene-jug-cerovic-entwuerfe-fuer-berlin-london-new-york-a-964693.html
www.bvg.de
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COLLECTION
Eva Scholz
High Contrast Maps
COLLECTION
Nolli’s map of Rome All the places that are private are solid, all the public buildings are shown at their ground floor level with columns and courtyards, piazzas and the streets all rendered.
www.emilewohlfarht.wordpress.com https://emilewohlfarht.wordpress. com/2013/05/09/integrating-vasis-viewswith-nollis-map-of-rome/giovanni_battista_nolli-nuova_pianta_di_roma_1748_05-12/
Nolli’s map of Rome
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39 CH OO L LREI ZCO TN I OTN
Three Dimensional Maps
COLLECTION Venice Map jamesgulliverhancock.com
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Here & There Horizonless Projections of Manhattan berglondon.com
COLLECTION Notting Hill map by Adam Simpson adsimpson.com
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Isometric Maps
Exploring Singapore cmnewmedia.com
COLLECTION
Walk with me yorokobu.es
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43 COLLECTION
Maps with Houses Top view
COLLECTION South American topography makingmaps.net
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City www.collectedbytas-ka.com
antoinecorbineau.com
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COLLECTION
A Map of Paris Antoine Corbineau antoinecorbineau.com
Reduced Maps
ilikearchitecture.net
COLLECTION designlovefest.com
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COLLECTION
fuckyeahcartography.tumblr.com
armellecaron.fr
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Abstract City Illustrations
COLLECTION
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49 COLLECTION
Linear Illustrations
COLLECTION
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COLLECTION
Plane Illustrations
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Inverted Maps
COLLECTION
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53 CH OO L LREI ZCO TN I OTN
Maps at Night
COLLECTION
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55 COLLECTION
Scrollable City Scape
COLLECTION
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COLLECTION
Inspiration
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City Visualization Model Kit
“Tamponville is an imaginary city created by French illustrator Aurélien Debat and architect Marc Kauffmann. The duo collaborated for the creation of 47 rubber stamps (tampons, in French), through which it is possible to print a set of shapes, textures and architectural elements. A possibly infinite variety of real or surreal buildings can be obtained using these simple vocabulary.” The Imaginary City of Tamponville (Aurélien Debat and Marc Kauff www.socks-studio.com
COLLECTION
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I liked the idea to create a tool set (in this case simple stamp shapes), to create a whole city. My “rows of streets” will be based on this thought.
COLLECTION
www.socks-studio.com
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STYLE
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STYLE
INTRODUCTION
Colours & Distortion how to map?
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Colour Use Guidelines for Mapping and Visualization
STYLE
Binary Color Schemes Binary schemes show nominal differences that are divided into only two categories. The primary perceptual difference between the two categories of a binary scheme may be a lightness step, unlike the use of hue for multi-valued qualitative variables. Incorporated versus unincorporated urban areas are well represented by a binary color scheme.
Qualitative Binary Color Schemes In qualitative/binary schemes, light and dark versions of each hue of the qualitative variable correspond to the binary variable categories. Binary/binary schemes are a subset of the qualitative/binary schemes with one binary difference represented by a hue difference and the other by a lightness difference. A multi-hued vegetation map (qualitative) with darker hues for vegetation on public lands and lighter hues for vegetation on private lands (binary) is well suited by a qualitative/binary color scheme.
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Qualitative Sequential Color Schemes In qualitative/sequential schemes, the qualitative variable is represented with hues and the quantitative variable is represented with sequences of lightness steps within each hue. Binary/sequential schemes are a subset of qualitative/binary schemes with the binary variable represented by a hue difference and lightness differences reserved for the sequential variable. Population percentages (sequential) of varied dominant ethnic groups or religions (qualitative), for example, are well represented by a qualitative/sequential color scheme. 63
STYLE
Qualitative Color Schemes Qualitative schemes use differences in hue to represent nominal differences, or differences in kind. The lightness of the hues used for qualitative categories should be similar but not equal. Assign the lightest, darkest, and most saturated hues in the scheme to categories that warrant emphasis on the map. Data about land use or land cover, for example, are well represented by a qualitative color scheme.
Colour Use Guidelines for Mapping and Visualization
Sequential Color Schemes Sequential data classes are logically arranged from high to low, and this stepped sequence of categories should be represented by sequential lightness steps. Low data values are usually represented by light colors and high values represented by dark colors. Transitions between hues may be used in a sequential scheme, but the light-todark progression should dominate the scheme. Terrain slope categories or population densities, for example, are well represented by sequental color schemes.
STYLE
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STYLE
Sequential Sequential Color Schemes Sequential/sequential schemes are the logical mix of all combinations of the colors in two sequential schemes. Thus, the schemes are based on two hues. The hue mixtures may form a third hue (magenta and cyan sequences produce a variety of transitional purple-blues). If the two hues crossed are approximate complements, their mixtures produce a neutral gray diagonal and desaturated transitional colors. Systematic lightness differences throughout the scheme are important; do not depend on hue to impart the magnitude message. Use hue transitions to designate differences in proportions of the two variables mapped. For example, data on educational attainment crossed with crime rate categories are well represented by a sequential/sequential color scheme.
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Colour Use Guidelines for Mapping and Visualization
Diverging Sequential Color Schemes Diverging/sequential schemes use a direct overlay of the component one-variable schemes.
STYLE
Diverging Color Schemes Diverging schemes allow the emphasis of a quantitative data display to be progressions outward from a critical midpoint of the data range. A typical diverging scheme pairs sequential schemes based on two different hues so that they diverge from a shared light color, for the critical midpoint, toward dark colors of different hues at each extreme. Deviations above and below the median death rate from a disease, for example, are well represented by a diverging color scheme.
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Diverging Binary and Diverging Sequential Color Schemes Diverging/binary and diverging/sequential schemes have the same perceptual characteristics. The success of the schemes hinge on the large contrast range available in the lightness dimension. Large lightness steps are used for the binary or sequential variable. Smaller lightness steps, that are bolstered by a change in hue, represent the diverging component of the scheme within each large lightness step of the comparison variable. For example, data on cancer rates above and below a mean rate (diverging) and air pollution levels (sequential) are well represented by a diverging/sequential color scheme.
all descriptions from the previous pages from http://www.personal.psu.edu/
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STYLE
Diverging Diverging Color Schemes Diverging/diverging schemes are the only two-variable schemes that depart from the idea of a direct overlay of the component one-variable schemes. Place a different moderately-dark hue at each of the four corners of the legend. These four hues represent categories that are extremes for both variables. Place a very light or white color at the center of the legend, creating an appropriately light color for the class that contains the critical value or midpoint of both variables. The remaining colors are lighter than the corners, because they contain the midpoint of one of the two variables, and they are transitional hues that lie between their adjacent hues. The color circle is essentially stretched around the perimeter of the legend and lightness adjusted in response to critical values within the data ranges of both variables. Areas above and below the poverty line in 1960 and 1990, for example, are well represented by a diverging/diverging color scheme.
Colour-coding and visualization
Colours have an important role in maps, for highlighting, grouping and differentiating. http://www.personal.psu.edu/cab38/ColorSch/ SchHTMLs/CBColorQual.html
STYLE
Qualitative schemes use differences in hue to represent nominal differences, or differences in kind. The lightness of the hues used for qualitative categories should be similar but not equal. Assign the lightest, darkest, and most saturated hues in the scheme to categories that warrant emphasis on the map. Data about land use or land cover, for example, are well represented by a qualitative colour scheme. (more p. 78) www.personal.psu.edu http://www.personal.psu.edu/ cab38/ColorSch/SchHTMLs/ CBColorQual.html
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69 STYLE
Mapping with Gradients
Since I want to show tendencies on a map and not single results, I started playing around with gradients on the map, to show different neighbourhoods.
STYLE www.iluvgradients.tumblr.com
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71 STYLE
Colours in Apps
STYLE
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73 STYLE
G A M E PA R A D I G M S
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GAME PARADIGMS
INTRODUCTION
Maps in Games a more digital approach of using maps
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Monument Valley
“Monument Valley is a surreal exploration through fantastical architecture and impossible geometry. Guide the silent Princess Ida through mysterious monuments, uncovering hidden paths, taking advantage of optical illusions and outsmarting the enigmatic Crow People. Inspired by the art of M.C. Escher, Japanese prints and minimalist 3D design, each level is a unique, hand-crafted combination of puzzle, graphic design and architecture. Like listening to an album or walking through a museum for the first time, Monument Valley is about discovery, perception and meaningful beauty. Monument Valley introduces new game mechanics subtly, allowing players intuitively to discover their abilities and the rules of the world. Balancing difficulty and delight, the developers want as many players as possible to complete the game and see Ida’s quest through to the end. Players interact directly with the architecture of Monument Valley, twisting and dragging to reshape the world to help Ida to explore. As you manipulate the environment the audio reacts to provide a atmospheric and beautiful sounds-cape.�
G A M E PA R A D I G M S
Screenshots from the game Monument Valley
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ASCENDING AND DESCENDING, M.C. ESCHER, 1960
For a few years I’ve thought about how one might design a game where the architecture was the central character. I’m particularly fond of temples, palaces, mosques, monasteries and other buildings which combine exquisite artistry with a potential for exploration and mystery. The main problem was how to make an interactive experience out of this.
Then one day I came across Ascending and Descending, an image I was familiar with but had never looked at from the perspective of game design. What if you had to guide a figure to enter the building, solve some puzzles hidden in the interior rooms, with the goal of getting to the highest tower? Rather than following the character with a first-person or third-person camera, we could keep the emphasis on the environment by retaining the bird’s eye view and this enclosed framing that Escher had used. This concept (which is, in a way, Zelda meets Myst) was the implementation I had been searching for my architectural game, and became the basis of Monument Valley.” Ken Wong
http://monumentvalleygame.squarespace.com/ blog/2013/11/28/inspiration
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G A M E PA R A D I G M S
“The easiest way to explain Monument Valley to people is to say it’s a bit like an interactive M.C. Escher artwork. While the game as it now stands draws inspiration from many artists, films and photographs, Escher played a key role in finding what the game was about.
Navigation Concepts
Scrolling Side-scrolling perspective A perspective normally used with avatar-based interaction models in which the game’s virtual camera follows the avatar through a 2D game world presented in a side view. Parallax scrolling A display technique in which background objects in 2D environments scroll by more slowly than foreground objects, creating the impression that they are farther away. Normally used in the side-scrolling perspective to create an illusion of depth.
G A M E PA R A D I G M S
Continuous scrolling A characteristic of scrolling 2D perspectives such that the landscape scrolls continuously in one direction; the player is unable to change it but has to deal with whatever appears. Variable scrolling A characteristic of 2D scrolling perspectives in which the landscape scrolls under, or behind, the avatar in response to his movements. Contrast with continuous scrolling.
Could be interesting for the different modes: driving cycling walking
top -down-scrolling perspective A perspective in which the virtual camera displays the 2D game world from directly overhead and the world scrolls by from the top to the bottom of the screen at a constant rate; most often used in avatar-based gameplay modes involving vehicles. side-scrolling perspective angled
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Touch Tap tapping the point where the chracter should go to longtap scroll touble tap ( one finger/ two fingers) pinch/spread
G A M E PA R A D I G M S
moving through a world by moving a character (google streetview) moving the world itself (google earth)
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Game Perspectives Perspective The point of view ordinarily adopted by the game’s virtual camera when displaying the game world, along with instructions about how the camera should behave during play. The perspective is one component of a gameplay mode.
2D Two-dimensional games are like a collection of intelligent flip-books. Each flipbook represents a different object. If the player moves the character west or left, the computer displays the part of the character’s flipbook where he is moving west or left. There may only be four pictures in that flipbook of that action, but the computer will play it over and over until the player makes the character do something different to give the illusion of continuous movement.
G A M E PA R A D I G M S
2D | Side Scroller (Direct) A side-scrolling game or side-scroller is a video game in which the viewpoint is taken from the side, and the onscreen characters generally move from the left side of the screen to the right. Games of this type make use of scrolling computer display technology, and sometimes parallax scrolling to suggest added depth. In many games the screen follows the player character such that the player character is always positioned near the center of the screen. In other games the position of the screen will change according to the player character’s movement, such that the player character is off-center and more space is shown in front of the character than behind. In games some rare games, the screen scrolls forward by itself at a steady rate, and the player must keep up with the screen, attempting to avoid obstacles and collect things before they pass off screen. 2D | Side Scroller (Angled) Almost all of these games involve the player controlling a warrior that brawls his way through an adventure. Most of them are multi-player. 2.5D (“two-and-a-half-dimensional”), 3/4 perspective and pseudo-3D are informal terms used to describe graphical projections and techniques that try to “fake” three-dimensionality, typically by using some form of parallel projection, wherein the point of view is from a fixed perspective, but also reveals multiple facets of an object. 2D | Top-Down (Direct) (bird’s-eye view) This game type usually involves controlling a character or vehicle that can move in four directions, but can also be a scrolling game where the players can only move the screen in a single direction like when piloting a flying vehicle.
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2D | Top-Down (Slight Angle) This is practically the same as 2D Top-Down, but the sprites and objects tend to overlap each other. This style allows for better graphics, but loses a fraction of player control due to a slight confusion in depth.
3D Three dimensional games are more like building a virtual stop-motion doll (like “The Nightmare Before Christmas”). Once the doll is made, you can program the doll’s movements for walking, talking, etc.. and then you set the program to record from various angles.
Fixed 3D Fixed 3D refers to a three-dimensional representation of the game world where foreground objects (i.e. game characters) are typically rendered in real time against a static background. The principal advantage of this technique is its ability to display a high level of detail on minimal hardware. The main disadvantage is that the player’s frame of reference remains fixed at all times, preventing players from examining or moving about the environment from multiple viewpoints. Backgrounds in fixed 3D games tend to be pre-rendered two-dimensional images, but are sometimes rendered in real time 3D | Third Person This game type shows some angle from outside of the player’s character. Usually this angle is over-the-shoulder, but can be any other angle or all angles depending on the control style. Usually, this involves the game interpreting what angle it thinks the player wants, which reduces player control significantly. 3D | First Person This perspective means the player is always looking through the character’s eyes. It allows the player to have far better control, but limits the player’s ability to see due to the camera angle. 3D | First Person | Heads-Up Display (HUD)
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G A M E PA R A D I G M S
2D & 3D Hybrid | Top-Down (Isomorphic) In this game style, the sprites are two-dimensional while the terrain is three-dimensional. Also, the perspective is adjusted 45 degrees from normal top-down games on both the left-right axis, and the top-bottom axis.
Spacial References
Coordinates on Mouse over x: y:
Coordinates of Middle (touch)
G A M E PA R A D I G M S
Linked Reference Map
Grid
Rocket View
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83 G A M E PA R A D I G M S
fog of war
“Fog of War is a common concept found in many combat-based real-time and turn-based strategy games. In addition to providing the player with an exploration incentive to uncover the game world, it also serves to mask the disposition and movements of enemy forces. This simulates the fact that any commander is forced to rely on imperfect and incomplete information on the battlefield, and often must improvise based on intuition and common sense. Typically, as a game, map, or level advances, area is progressively revealed as a player’s units “see” the area with their own eyes. As a player’s units become privy to their opponents, this information is in turn revealed to you, the player, in order to act. In many cases, this new knowledge is temporary; when your units leave the area, their real-time knowledge of the situaiton on the ground (and thus, yours) disappears as well.”
G A M E PA R A D I G M S
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range of sight explored and currently visible area explored and currently not visible area unexplored area
Summary A map specified as having “fog of war� has tiles that are (fully or partially) obscured until the player gets within visual range. The amount of fog of war to disappear as the player moves depends on the visual range specified. static and dynamic fog of war Static fog of war is the kind that typically hides terrain in RTS games. It covers the entire map until the player explores the area, discovering the underlying terrain. Once static fog of war disappears from an area of the map, it stays gone indefinitely (even if loading a saved game, leaving the map and returning later, going to the menu, etc). G A M E PA R A D I G M S
Dynamic fog of war is identical to the static kind except that it doesn’t stay gone forever: as soon as the player leaves visual range of an explored tile, dynamic fog of war covers it again.
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WORK IN PROGRESS
INTRODUCTION
The Concept figuring out the result
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Concept Overview
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Distorted Maps
Parameters which could be mapped with this technique: what is the users interest in the current situation?
movement mode: walk cycle drive public transport
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time of the day: its lunch time around dinner time going out grocery shopping on your way home
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nearby: whom you are with a friend very close by gadgets / networks
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Distorted Maps
Parameters to build up a distorted map: what are the various visual techniques to visualize those parameters on the map?
physical distortion: blow up
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shrink
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desaturate
colour saturate WOR K I N PRO G R E S S
detail very detailed -
rough
sharpness sharp
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blurry
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high contrast
contrast low contrast
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Mapping with Codes
I started to look into cell structures and what the DNA of the city could be made off. While doing so I stumbled upon DNA coding visualizations, and the idea evolved to have kind of a bar-code describing the city. cab38/ColorSch/SchHTMLs/ CBColorQual.html
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Ben Lipkowitz tracked his whole life in this bar-code style: each row is a 24h day, colour-coding has been used for different activities. Ben Lipkowitz www.fennetic.net http://www.fennetic.net/sleep/css.html
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Visualizing Data
At the moment Google displays dots on the map to show shops and points of interest. There is no colour-coding but different category icons.
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PICTURING A Structures WHOLE NEW inTHE Houses WORLD REAL WORLD
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I started to look for recognizable patterns in house fronts. In the beginning I thought colour is the most important factor here, but after playing around with the order of windows I figured out that the windows make really nice recognizable patterns. Colour gets important if a house really sticks out of the general impression of the whole street.
PICTURING Visual Exploration THE REAL Facades WORLD
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Creating a popUp Western City
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Curated Windows
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All the windows of New York Blogs like “The windows of New York� proof that there is an enthusiastic maker tum by mapping their surrounding. The idea of the deepest zoom level of the application is to have a detailed illustration of the city streets. Privacy is a hundred percent given due to abstraction. Details can be added manually by users and shop owners. E.g. somebody can illustrate his balcony, shop window or entrance. windowsofnewyork.com 105
PICTURING Curated ShopTHE Windows REAL WORLD
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Journal des la vitrine online one can find several blogs which photograph shop windows in specific areas on a regular basis.
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www.journaldesvitrines.com www.retailstorewindows.com
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Social Media Advertisement
No matter of which size a shop is nowadays, every company has a social media life. And therefore already a facebook profile and Instagram stream. The photos produced for those mediums could be easily used for curation. At the moment there is a big trend in showing off behind the scenes stuff, windows decoration and newest items to trigger the customer to stroll by in real life. WOR K I N PRO G R E S S
Also small shops participate in this trend.
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The Map at Night
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UI Elements
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