by Vas Mylko, Roman Bilusiak
This is a second facelift towards Beta15 aka “Flower” Trips. Initially, we added OpenStreetMap data to enrich See & Do at the street level resolution, the result was Curious Ukraine. Then we made the first facelift by redesigning the Search Form to introduce different types of journeys. This time we upgraded the Perimeter view with visuals so that you can select the right area of interest based on your destination.
Now Perimeter shows the distribution of See & Do over the map. You can zoom and pan the map to educate and assure yourself which areas are richer with experiences for you as a traveler. If you are a lazy traveler you can fully rely on Curiosio and be sure it will build you the best trip plans in the relevant areas automatically.
Distribution of See & Do
There are two approaches how to communicate where the sightseeing places and experiences are concentrated. We made them as togglers: only one could be on, both could be off.
The first and straightforward one is just how it’s all distributed over the land/map. We codenamed this The Earth Orbits the Sun. It is realistic, honest, holistic… and boring. Because if you are on a biz trip, found yourself in the middle of nowhere, this map will show you almost nothing.
The second approach is adaptive and relative, it is always trying to show you what is the best at your location and its environs in every particular case. We codenamed this The Earth Orbits You. We think this is more traveler-friendly.
The Earth Orbits You
This is a Traveler-centered visualization of See & Do in any given area. If you are in Paris then Eiffel Tower will be highlighted to attract your attention. But what if you are in the middle of Nebraska or the Ukrainian steppe? Curiosio warps the sightseeing relief around you to tell you where the stuff is in slightly exaggerated form.
Traveler-centered visualization is useful on a small scale, at the level of a resort, city, and the vicinity. An island like Sardinia or Corsica is a good example of the scale where this map mode should bring you more value.
The Earth Orbits the Sun
Map-centered visualization is useful at a large scale. We tried to make the countries look the same or similar on the large scale. As a side effect, we got some gaps at the close-up to the city district scale. This will be improved sometime in the future when we prioritize this as high. There is a good reference implementation for big cities by AVUXI.
Destination & Environs Resolution
For Destination trips, the useful map resolution level is tens of miles (and tens of kilometers). The max resolution is ~100–150 miles (150–250 kilometers). We consider the “Flower” case as very relevant for islands. Maybe even more relevant than for the continental trips. This must be measured, but we already got this information from the domain professionals.
In-Situ Resolution
At a resort/city/town/village level zoom in to the real resolution is becoming turn-by-turn navigation. Here are our mockups since the conceptualization of Curiosio. They show a concept of Smart Compass, which is nothing else than the adaptive visual communication of the places and attractions related to your location. It’s The Earth Orbits You at the max zoom.
Next
Big version Beta15 codenamed “Flower Trips” will be next. It will build cool daily routes around your destination. Automatically the area of interest will be defined by the smart perimeter. You will be able to set your own points anywhere, and Curiosio will build the special plans for your special case.
Stay tuned and follow your curiosity!
