Virtual Tourism

Olympics Street View

2011-05-23T05:14:00.000-07:00

I strongly suspect that when the Olympics Park for the 2012 London Olympics opens next year the Google Street View trike will be one of the first visitors.

However at the moment there is no Street View available for the site of next year's Olympics. I therefore decided today to create my own Street View map of the Olympics construction site in east London.

I have to apologise for the poor quality of the photography. I created the Street View panoramas for this map using a free Android app from 360 VTcreator, which, whilst it is a brilliant free app, doesn't really create photographs of a high enough definition for Street View. I advise you not to zoom in!

View the Olympics Street View

Aerial View Map

2011-04-14T10:25:00.000-07:00

Google has released new 'Bird's Eye' type imagery for Rome. The new imagery includes some great aerial views of the Colosseum, St. Peter's Basilica and other historical sites across the Italian capital.

I've updated my Aerial View Map to include some of the amazing sights around Rome captured in Google's new 45° imagery. The map also includes some pretty stunning imagery from Venice, the USA and South Africa.

London 2012, Olympics Park

2011-04-09T03:19:00.000-07:00

In London we have had a few days of glorious weather. I've taken the opportunity to have a walk around the site of the 2012 London Olympic games. Construction of the park is transforming what was once a pretty industrial and grubby part of the east end of London.

I took my phone with me on my walk and so decided to take a few photographs. Of course when I got home the first thought I had was to create a map from the pictures. So here it is ...

View the London 2012, Olympics Park on Google Maps.

There and Then

2011-03-30T12:06:00.000-07:00

I've updated my There and Then app. The update changes the design of the app to mirror the design of the Sky Map.

There and Then places a number of archive videos, taken from YouTube, and places them over the same view as seen today in Google Street View.

Updated Sky Map

2011-03-25T14:38:00.000-07:00

I've updated the Sky Map to include all the astronomy videos on one map.

I've also made a couple of other design changes. You can now navigate to the different videos by clicking on the thumbnail images at the bottom of the map. It is also possible to remove the video from the map by clicking on the 'video layer' button (just click it again to bring the video back).

The videos can be controlled via the buttons positioned at the right of the screen.

Google Sky & Chromeless Videos

2011-03-18T08:29:00.000-07:00

It is possible to create a pretty impressive effect by embedding chromeless videos in Google Maps. I've put together a number of examples here.

The maps show a number of astronomical animations overlaid on top of Google Sky. I've used the YouTube API to show the videos in a chromeless player. The effect is pretty cool, creating an almost seamless overlay of the video on the map.

Nuclear Exclusion Zone

2011-03-15T06:06:00.000-07:00

20km Exclusion Zone - Comparison Tool

Japan has ordered a 20km (12 mile) exclusion zone around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Those living between 20km and 30km have also been told not to leave their homes.

I've created this Google Map to show the exclusion zone around the power plant. You can also use the search option to see what a 20km exclusion zone would look like at any other location around the world.

If the center of the zone doesn't exactly match your address you can also drag the marker to the location of your choice.

I've also added 33 serious nuclear power plant accidents around the world since 1952. The data comes from a Fusion Table created by The Guardian's Data Blog.

The London Olympics Velodrome

2011-02-26T06:41:00.000-08:00

The Velodrome is the first completed stadium for the 2012 London Olympics. This has coincided fortuitously with Google updating the satellite imagery for the site of the London Olympics.

The Velodrome’s concrete lower tier will have 3,500 seats located around the track. A further 2,500 seats will be suspended in two upper tiers within the two curves of the venue’s roof. In between the lower concrete tiers and upper tiers there will be a glass wall, giving spectators a 360-degree view across the Olympic Park and allowing people outside the venue to see the sporting action taking place inside.

After the games a mountain bike course and road-cycle circuit will be added to create a VeloPark for the local community, sports clubs and elite athletes.

View a video of The London Olympics Velodrome on Google Maps

The Blitz

2011-01-01T05:26:00.000-08:00

On September 7, 1940, the first night of the Blitz, over 800 bombs were dropped on London. This Google Map animates all the bombs dropped on London on that date.

The map uses Google Fusion Tables. Fusion Tables contains some pretty powerful spatial query functions. To create the animation I just run through the Fusion Table holding the data, showing each bomb in chronological order.

The map was partly inspired by Google's Mano Marks, who has been experimenting with creating time-line slide bars for use with Google Maps and Fusion Tables. Looking at Mano's examples got me thinking it would be nice to do a chronological animation.

This proof of concept isn't perfect (I don't like the flickering between each query) but works fairly well as a first try.

View the The Blitz Google Map.

Aerial View Map

2010-11-09T14:15:00.000-08:00

Google have released new aerial imagery on Google Maps.

Google's aerial view is similar to Bing Map's bird's eye view, giving an oblique rather than an overhead view. The new imagery is available in Tuscon, Arizona, Norfolk, VA, San Antonio,TX and Albuquerque, NM.

This Aerial View Map now includes aerial imagery from a number of US locations and from Venice and South Africa.

Bird's Eye View

This second map places Bing Maps' Bird's Eye View side by side with Google Maps' aerial view. You can view the same locations as seen by Bing and Google Maps.

I have added an image from the Pima Air and Space Museum in Tuscon to the map.

Coffee Houses of the 17th & 18th Century

2010-11-03T04:34:00.000-07:00

In their heyday there were over 2,000 coffee houses in London. Much has been written about the importance of the coffee house as providing a public sphere for discussion and debate that was largely free from class distinction. Many of modern day London's most important institutions were formed from meetings that first took place in the coffee houses of this time, including the Stock Exchange, Lloyds of London and the Royal Academy.

The London Coffee Houses of the 17th & 18th Century map shows the (often approximate) location of some of the most influential of the coffee houses of the 17th & 18th centuries. In creating the map I used Esa's Google Maps API v3 Sidebar with makeMarker() template. I used the Styled Maps function to make the map grey-scale and for the markers I used an image from google-maps-icons.

Goog Map

2010-10-25T11:27:00.000-07:00

Google Maps API V3 has a Styled Map feature that allows developers to change the look of Google Maps.

Justin O'Beirne of Latitude41, has created some awesome Examples of Styled Maps Using Google Maps API Version 3. His first post proved so popular that he went on to create Additional Examples of Styled Maps Using Google Maps API V3. The new styles include a few examples mimicking the styles of other online map providers.

I've created Goog Map to show off some of Justin's examples and a few styles of my own - all on one map.

To change the style of the map click the white links that run along the top of the map.

Street View Drives

2010-10-23T03:46:00.000-07:00

I've added a new animated Street View movie to Street View Drives. Google in Toronto captured two guys so excited by the Street View car that they took off their shirts and ran down the street in front of the car.

As well as these bare chested runners you can view Street View animations of Stonehenge, the Eiffel Tower and other locations around the world on Street View Drives.

Street View Tourist

2010-10-09T07:33:00.000-07:00

I've updated my Street View Tourist application to include some Street Views from the newly released Street View imagery in Brazil and Ireland. The new imagery includes the GPO Office in Dublin and São Paulo Cathedral in Brazil.

The Street View Tourist application also includes street View imagery of famous tourist destinations from many other countries around the world.

USA States Etymology Map

2010-09-25T12:43:00.000-07:00

Here's a little Google Map I created to show the meaning of the names given to each of the states in the USA. The origins of the names of U.S. states have been taken from this Wikipedia entry.

As fun as it is to read the meaning behind the names for the U.S. states the map is really a demo to show how you can use the new Styled Map option in the Google Maps API to remove the name labels from Google Maps.

Removing the labels with Styled Maps is easy enough. It is just a matter of turning off the visibility of options in the administrative layer. However once I'd removed the names from Google Maps I then had to figure out how to add my own labels. Luckily Marc Ridey has written an excellent Label class for Google Maps V3.

If you have a look at the example I've created you can see my design isn't very pretty. The next stage is to play with the font weight and font size to create something a little easier on the eye.

Global Vipassana Pagoda

2010-09-19T03:33:00.000-07:00

The Global Vipassana Pagoda is a notable monument in Mumbai, India. It is located in the north of Mumbai in an area called Gorai and is built on donated land on a peninsula between Gorai creek and the Arabian Sea.

The shape of the pagoda is a copy of the Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon, Myanmar. The center of the Global Vipassana Pagoda contains the world's largest stone dome built without any supporting pillars. The height of the dome is approximately 29 metres, while the height of the building is 96.12 meters.

View a video of the Global Vipassana Pagoda on Google Maps

Street View Drives

2010-09-10T08:25:00.000-07:00

Google Sightseeing has an interesting post today on the abandoned town of Craco in southern Italy.

Craco shows up rather well in Google Maps Street View, so I decided to create another little Street View animation of a drive past of the town.

You can view the animation by visiting Street View Drives. Just click on the thumbnail image to view the drive.

Hammershus Castle

2010-08-18T03:03:00.000-07:00

Hammershus is Northern Europe's largest medieval fortification, situated 74 meters (243 ft) above sea level on Hammeren, the northern tip of the Danish island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea.

Erected in the 13th century, it was long believed that the castle was built as a private residence for the archbishop of Lund. However, new evidence found at the ruins of the castle suggests it was constructed in the beginning of the century as a royal residence for Valdemar II of Denmark and a base for the Danish crusades.

View a video of Hammershus Castle in Google Maps

Street View Drives

2010-08-05T06:57:00.000-07:00

I've been playing around a bit more with creating animations from Static Google Maps Street View images.

Check out Street View Drives. Once the page loads just click on any of the thumbnail images. This is the very bare bones of something I might develop further.

Then again I might get bored with it and move onto something else :)

Street View Animation

2010-08-03T10:35:00.000-07:00

I got a little bored working on Street View Slide. As a bit of a diversion I started working on this fun animation of Street View images.

The animation captures the still images of Street Views (there is a secret Street View Still Images API) and then animates through them. The Street View Still Images API creates image tiles from the Street View panoramas. This means that if you know what you are doing you can break down the one large panoramic image into different sized images. If you then link to different parts of the larger panorama you can kind of give the illusion of turning around.

It's all a little hard to explain - just go play with the animation and work it out for yourself.

BTW - the speed buttons don't work in Internet Explorer - so if you want speed use FireFox or Chrome. The nice fade between images doesn't work in FireFox or Chrome - so if you want pretty use Internet Explorer.

Street View Animation

Omega Centauri

2010-08-01T02:53:00.000-07:00

I've added Hubblecast 15 to the Star Movie Map. The Hubble Telescope shows that the stars are bunching up near the centre of Omega Centauri, as seen in the gradual increase in starlight near the centre. This could be because of the presence of a black hole.

Measuring the speed of the stars swirling near the cluster's centre it was found that the stars closer to the core are moving faster than the stars farther away. The measurement implies that some unseen matter at the core has gravitational interactions with stars near it. This could be evidence of an intermediate-mass black hole.

View Hubblecast 15 on the Star Movie Map

Street View Slide

2010-07-29T04:28:00.000-07:00

Microsoft are working on a very clever Street View type implementation that they have dubbed 'Street Slide'. I won't bother describing it - you can see what it is for yourself by watching the video above.

After watching the video I thought that it might be possible to create something similar using Street View and the Google Maps API. Here's what I have come up with so far: Street View Slide.

My example is nowhere near as impressive as Microsoft's Street Slide but I think that the potential is there. As you can see I've placed the Street View underneath the static side-on street view. However with a little work it should be possible to create some transitions between the static image and the Street View to make it more closely resemble Microsoft's demo.

Sheikh Zayed Mosque

2010-07-25T04:55:00.000-07:00

The Sheikh Zayed Mosque in Abu Dhabi is the largest mosque in the United Arab Emirates and the eighth largest mosque in the world. It is named after Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the founder and the first President of the United Arab Emirates, who is also buried there. The mosque was officially opened in the Islamic month of Ramadan in 2007.

The design of the Sheikh Zayed Mosque has been inspired by Mughal and Moorish mosque architecture, the Badshahi Mosque in Lahore and the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca being direct influences.

View a video of the Sheikh Zayed Mosque on Google Maps

The Dragon and the Swan

2010-07-23T08:11:00.000-07:00

I've added a new video to the Star Movie Map. The video, from the Spitzer Telescope, shows a lurking dragon hidden behind a dark veil of dust in the constellation Sagittarius.

The video gives us a glimpse into how spiral arms affect the formation of stars.

Check out the new video on the Star Movie Map.

Cathedral of St Andrew

2010-07-20T10:29:00.000-07:00

I've just got back from a week at St Andrews in Scotland. Despite the wind and rain I did manage to capture some footage of the cathedral.

The Cathedral of St Andrew in St Andrews, Scotland was the seat of the Bishops of St Andrews from its foundation in 1158 until it fell into disuse after the Reformation. It is currently a ruined monument in the custody of Historic Scotland.

View a video of the Cathedral of St Andrew on Google Maps