Maproom's geospatial developer Rosalyn Ellis has been using Open AI and discovered that the AI language model quickly grasps some (though by no means all) of the features of Maproom's dynamic mapping demos, and is highly complimentary about them! Below is a screenshot of the artificial intelligence chat in which two of our maps are reviewed by ChatGPT. Artificial Intelligence is very much in the news at the moment, as some of its own developers including Elon Musk and Google's Geoffrey Hinton are warning of the potential dangers from its capability to manipulate and deceive. For example, Sapiens author Yuval Noah Harari says that ChatGPT has breached a new threshold because of its ability to use language to shape human culture. “Simply by gaining mastery of the human language, AI has all it needs in order to cocoon us in a Matrix-like world of illusions.” Indeed, whilst we are delighted to receive such glowing reviews of our dynamic maps from the foremost AI algorithm, we ... Read more
Interactive Mapping
Mapping from spreadsheets system launched in our Dynamic Mapping Suite
A powerful yet easy to use system of connecting spreadsheets to colour and label polygon maps is now available in our Dynamic Mapping Suite, and it costs only a very modest £35 to use. Currently available for dynamically colouring and captioning from spreadsheet: See a live example of a postcode district polygons map connected to a spreadsheet and learn more about mapping from spreadsheets. ... Read more
New census mapping
The Office for National Statistics has started to release data from the Census 2021. Below are some interactive England and Wales population maps that users can freely use on their own websites. Or commission us to create maps like these using other census data or marrying up census figures with your own data. Hover or tap different parts of the maps for data interaction ... Read more
Our 3d map of British and Irish mountains is an immersive demo of new techniques with advanced satellite imagery and filters
Mapbox – our favourite dynamic mapping base system – released a new system based on Maxar satellite imagery last year, whereby geospatial developers such as us can tap into elevation and projection for satellite views layered with our own points, lines and polygons. We have experimented with the new 3d system in conjunction with our own techniques developed for listing and filtering, and come up with a rather sublime demo using data from The Database of British and Irish Hills. Open full-size dynamic mountains map Learn more about how we feed data to dynamic maps like this on the 3d mountains exploration demo page. ... Read more
Mapbox and Google Maps fees for high web traffic
At Maproom we build most of our interactive web maps on a Mapbox base. We also sometimes use Google Maps as a base. Both systems have their merits and weaknesses; both charge fees for high usage; and both are in a constant state of development and competition with each other and the smaller players on the dynamic mapping scene. Here's a current comparison of Mapbox and Google Maps. SystemProsConsMapbox - used to power reference maps in our Dynamic Mapping SuiteFar more customisable than Google MapsCheaper than Google Maps for high trafficVarious ways to handle large data feedsNo StreetviewMediocre searchNot the highest resolution for satellite mapsGoogle Maps - used by us for some bespoke dynamic maps requiring Streetview or the highest resolution satellite imagery of LondonStreetview and the best search of all mapping systemsCompletely unable to handle advance styling or large data feeds Usage All web maps built with Mapbox and Google Maps are metered for usage. Usage ... Read more
The Dulwich Estate goes live with a public swipe-comparison map we built for them
Much of our interactive mapping work commissioned by clients is private – intended for an organisation's internal use and therefore not available to show off as our work. However, one of the interactive maps we have built for The Dulwich Estate in south London is now displayed publicly on their website. A deep-zoom swipe map, it is intended to show thousands of Dulwich residents which properties and land is covered by The Dulwich Estate's Scheme of Management. You can view the map embedded on their website here or the full-size version here. The Dulwich Estate boundaries are based on historic mapping data which we had to examine in great detail, overlaying scans of old maps onto new digital ones. Swipe-comparison maps are a good solution when you want to compare historic with now. Another example is our Then and Now map of Whitechapel. ... Read more
Try our new Quick Select online editing system to colour and caption postcode maps
If we hadn't been so busy with the pandemic and Brexit-related work in 2020, we would have launched the new Quick Select editing system months ago! Anyhow, it's finally landed – the ability to colour your postcode maps simply with point and click colouring. The system is available with a premium pass for our Dynamic Mapping Suite. Go to the live demo of the Quick Select system to try out the tools. ... Read more
New interactive online map published – Listed Buildings of Historic England
We've been busy in lockdown and built a wonderful interactive map of listed buildings in England. The first thing we did after flowing in the data was to look up listed buildings in our own neighbourhood. What will you find in your own areas of interest? The map is a demo of how we can create a wonderfully detailed online map using a large dataset. Learn more ... Read more