Day 6 of #productidea — Digital travel map with drawn buildings
This is part of my #productidea 30 day challenge on which each day I write about a new product idea.
Digital maps have evolved a lot, specially since Google Maps launched 11 years ago. We are now used to use them on our mobile phones, specially on our cities to search for nearby places or directions. When we travel, we can use them without Internet connection; something really useful to not get lost on purpose.
However paper travel maps are still much better than digital travel maps. They show neighborhoods, main buildings, walkable streets and the relevant names in a much compact and clear way. Let me show you two examples:
The idea is to have a map similar to the right ones, with the main buildings drawn, but on our mobile phones and tablets. Travelers could enjoy the usefulness of digital maps (directions, zoom, search, custom places) with the clarity of paper maps (understand better the city, its main buildings and streets).
However, this is easier said than done. Current map platforms don’t support this, so we would have to build our own system to render the buildings. And at the same time we would have to draw the buildings. This is clearly a project that involves both art and technology.