Monday, May 21, 2007

University of Paisley: MapSeat

An interactive technology on display at the University of Paisley's Second Life campus is the "MapSeat." There is a brief entry about it on the SLED Picayune blog by Dr. Daniel Livingstone, project coordinator.



This tool allows the user to choose a point on a map (of Scotland, at this point) and learn about the object or person represented by the "pushpin." One has a choice of two maps -one that shows where certain inventions were created, and the other about famous figures in Scottish history. So, for example, on the pushpin located in the region of Dumfreys & Galloway, one sees text reading "Pedal Bike with Pneumatic Tyres." Clicking that point gives the person sitting in the map seat a notecard with information about the bike and its inventor, and it also rezzes a 3D representation of a bike created by Kirkpatrick Macmillan in 1839. Another pushpin yields a representation of a telephone. A different map makes information and a pic appear about Robert Burns, Mary Queen of Scots, Andrew Carnegie, and so on. Here are a couple of pictures I took, as well as the SLURL: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Vesuvius/205/183/32
Take some time to check it out, and imagine the possibilities!!

1 comment:

StryderLee: edupunk said...

What an exciting application for new media - approaches like this one might encourage late adopters to begin their own explorations...