Map to the future

Posted on 4 May 2006 at 16:20

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It seems that Google can help you find anything these days - even your own front door. We explore the ins and outs of Google Maps.

Printed maps can be incredibly infuriating. When not rendered out-of-date by the opening of a new bypass or the closure of a road, it can take ages to actually find what you're looking for. Moreover, the very nature of printed maps means that each one can only ever cover a limited area - and how many of us have a bookshelf big enough to contain maps of every place on Earth we might ever want to explore?

With this in mind, Google has come up with a modern alternative in the guise of Google Maps. Put simply, it represents the search engine's effort to plot the whole world online. In addition to street-level mapping of the whole of the United States, the UK and a few other major towns and cities around the globe, Google Maps incorporates satellite photography (at varying resolutions), covering virtually the whole globe.

More than that though, Google has in effect given users free rein over the Maps data by making public something called an 'application programming interface', or API. This means that anyone with the desire and technical know-how can employ the mechanics of Google Maps to produce their very own mapping services and facilities - and that's our main interest here.

In this feature we'll explore the many and ingenious ways that people are using Google Maps to create interesting, exciting and useful cartographic systems and services.

The basics

But before we go any further, fire up your web browser and direct it to maps.google.co.uk. Here you'll find the UK home of the Google Maps service, with our little corner of the world centred in the viewing window. It's worth playing with the buttons here just to get a feel for how the system works, though simplicity is at least in part responsible for the popularity of Google Maps.

Essentially, you zoom in and out using the '+' and '-' buttons, and pan the map by dragging and dropping within the map window. If you want to find a local business or service, enter a question into the search box at the top like 'Hotels in York'. When you hit Search, a list of links will be displayed down the side of the page. Click on one of these and the map will shift its focus accordingly. For A-to-B driving/walking directions, click the Get Directions link and enter where you are starting from and where you are going to before clicking Search. Follow these simple instructions and you'll master Google Maps.

API talking

Subject to certain terms and conditions, Google allows anyone to use its mapping system and data in whatever way they see fit. As a result, thousands of innovative uses for Google Maps have emerged online. In fact there are so many that it's difficult to know where to start.

One of our favourite examples is the London Tube Journey Planner, which you'll find at tubejp.co.uk. This nifty site takes the Google Maps street-level plans of the capital and overlays not just locations of tube stations, but also the real routes the tracks make as they snake across the capital. This latter aspect is interesting enough in itself - and may even dissuade the odd tourist from plunging underground when walking would be a quicker and more interesting option - but the site goes one better by offering both a station-to-station journey planner and up-to-date travel news regarding the network.

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