UpNext is the future of Local - the 3d map is amazing
centernetworks.com
centernetworks.com
Jesus, this is ANOTHER idea I didn't implement (I had this same idea 2 years ago) I was too worried about the details and ran out of steam when I should have just cranked out the code.
Raj Advani Lead Engineer, UpNext
EDIT: Spotlight mode is a GREAT feature. Very nice!
It always amazes me how geeks will ooh and aah over any 3D interface. But the three-dimensional world is extremely inconvenient for conveying most sorts of information -- there's occlusion and perspective, which hide and distort information. The one thing a 3D map does convey is the height of buildings, and sometimes the shape, but it's not clear that this is worth the costs.
Even if it were true that 3D gave you more useful information, there are no interface standards for 3D navigation.
Full disclosure: I work for Upcoming (http://upcoming.yahoo.com/), also in the events and local search business. But honestly, this isn't me slamming the competition; I have ranted about 3D interfaces for years. I think UpNext is impressive, but maybe there's more appropriate uses for this technology than local search.
The second advantage of UpNext is an improvement over current 2D search offerings, which are usually based on Google maps, Yahoo maps, or MapQuest. While most people focus on the 3D, the other enhancement of UpNext is real-time rendering. Other map-based systems use static images or photos; they're unable to change on-the-fly to better highlight information. Our spotlight feature showcases the advantages of real-time rendering in search: buildings of interest glow, and others become transparent. In the future we plan to have the map do a number of interesting things in real-time to give people a feel for the neighborhood they're in.
Then there is 3D, the topic of the comments above. Yes, 3D doesn't convey mounds of information, but if you're doing real-time rendering, you might as well do it in 3D. Beyond looking compelling, the perspective information does convey a feel for the area you're looking at, and we hope to further improve this in the future to attain a stylistic impression of each area of Manhattan. That 3D contains occlusion is easily mitigated by simply rotating to a birds-eye view.
Finally, that there is no standard for 3D navigation is simply because the technology is only recently breaking out of the gamer universe. Regardless, if everyone waited for standards before innovating, the internet would be in a very sorry state.
Thanks for the comments! Raj Advani, UpNext
One area where this application kills printed maps is a concept called "ground-truth". Ground truth is where you manually check that what is on the map really exists on the ground. It's boring, time consuming but imperative to get right to make something useful. The web2 interaction, "Oh this shop has shut-down, I better add a tag and new description" solves this problem somewhat.
Nicely executed Rav.
What I was immediately missing was better keyboard navigation -- how about copying something like Doom (or whatever the kids are playing these days)? I mean a way to at least "turn your head" and go up/down directly from the keyboard.
Maybe it's just me though -- might be that people prefer mouse navigation.
Interesting that you chose Java. I haven't looked at web 3-d technologies in a while, but was the thought that VRML was too clunky or outdated for the users to like? I guess you could also create micro-videos and serve them up and cache them a la google maps, but that would require a real google-like file system.
Raj Advani, UpNext
And add some fun stuff like a godzilla mode a la sim city.
Raj Advani, UpNext