A quick post…
For those interested Nature provides a good coverage of our MapTube site.
Written by Angela Saini you can view the write up direct on the Nature Network.
CASA is pleased to announce the beta release of MapTube London – http://www.maptube.org/london. The site provides a quick and easy way to visually compare various datasets about the city. Working in a similar vein to our main MapTube site the London version focuses data on the local area, making it easy for interested users, councilors, politicians to quickly and easily view and compare maps.
Software is provided free of charge for those holding data on the city to quickly and easily convert to the Google Maps format, ready for inclusion on MapTube London. The London Boroughs and the Greater London Authority hold vasts amounts of data, now there is a quick way for them to share and more importantly visually compare data city wide.
To overlay any number of maps simply click the ‘Search’ button and then the ‘Plus’ icon next to each set of visual data. Once selected click ‘View Map’ and then you can fade in/out and change layers to visually compare.
Pictured above is a prime example, selecting the map for ‘Bangladesh Population’ and ‘Barriers to Housing and Services’ illustrates that the majority of Bangladesh’s in London live in areas where access to both housing and services is limited.
At present we have 47 maps on the site covering issues such as Crime, Population, Ethnic Clustering and Building Volume, amongst other, as boroughs, councils and authorities get involved we hope this number will rise.
As a beta site we are making additions over the next few weeks, for example the ability to overlay KML will appear on the next few days allowing Google’s MyMaps to be combined with MapTube London – the site is non-profit making from the Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis, University College London and we hope it provides a new and innovative way to view the city.
View MapTube London
View the Global MapTube site.
Rammy Elsaadany, a Graduate Diploma student in Architecture at the Bartlett, University College London has integrated parts of our Virtual London model into his final project movie.
Using a mix of 3D max and After Effects, Illustrator and various other software packages he has produced the following visualisation entitled ‘Simulated Freedom’:
Its refreshing when a student takes away your model and comes up with such an intricate sequence.
Take a look at Rammy’s other movies on YouTube, especially Synthetic Space.
Sandbox games such as RollerCoaster Tycoon provide a powerful set of tools to create 3D environment – in the case of RollerCoaster Tycoon normally a theme park.
An enthusiast known simply as ‘Steven’ and uploading to YouTube as alloria has used the game engine to create a city.
The end product is a flythough that some visualisation companies would be proud of:
Steven states that:
This started out as a sandbox game, to experiment with different building types, I created one building, then another, then another, then another, and before I knew it, I had nearly filled the entire map with buildings!
I did of course leave a small area in the middle to build a small theme park, which contains two roller coasters, a mini-golf and an Enterprise ride.
The main coaster is a “Giga-Coaster” and is known as “Thrasher” This is the only ride that I have filmed, as the other ride “Swift” can be viewed in my “Off-Shore Theme Park” video.
Excitement Rating: 8.25 (Very High)
Intensity Rating: 4.66 (Medium)
Nausea Rating: 2.47 (Low)The name “Thrasher” was chosen by my friend Matthew.
But of course, this video is not really about the coasters, it is about what happens when I am bored, and have plenty of time to experiment with the game.
The city contains several buildings, including:
Some Tower Blocks.
A Multi-storey car-park.
Several ground-level Car Parks.
A Church with graveyard.
Several Houses With Gardens.
Several Small Blocks of flats.
Some Shops.
A Large warehouse-type shop.
A Bus Depot.
A Rest Home.
A Small Park With A Fountain.
Some office buildings.
Still pictures of the city can be found at http://pjxzzt.deviantart.com/gallery/