The Irony of Maps

The first thing we learned after creating the world's largest GPS story atlas was a painful pill to swallow.

Users do not like to regularly use maps or GPS.

Map scrolling and GPS  are still too tedious to use by the minute/second. They are made for incidental needs of drivers or walkers -  not  exactly for the speed of media browsing.

 scrolling map  system from 1927

 Plus Four Wristlet Route Indicator

1st Navigation Device for Motorists

(20 scrolls) 

Today map scrolling is not much faster than 1927.  GPS and maps today are still primarily designed for one-off look ups. 

Fixed map graphics are also visually familiar (on purpose). Not exactly thrilling new stuff to see. For GPS, information "nearby" is almost always fixed (stagnant).

People mostly use maps or GPS contextual to activities that need them, and only sparingly for reference..."because they have to" (not often because they want to).

In an era, where by-the-second notifications and speed are primary for any successful app, maps and GPS are doomed to fail in their current form.

 1932 invention required driver to pull over and

 reload the map if car changed routes or turned. 

Maps consume too much time without offering a return on a goal.

Millions of viewers did, however, find location identification fascinating for intriguing photos and movie scenes whose locations had mystique. They liked location IDs being featured with interesting visuals instead of maps.

Robert De Niro in Godfather II (1974)  between Ave A and Ave B on East 6th St in New York City near your hangout at  Sidewalk Cafe. Red building above his head is 524 E 6th St.

Joe Strummer of the Clash was photographed by Roberta Bayley by St George Ukranian Catholic Church (30 E 7th St, NY)  which you photographed.  

Bradbury Building (304 S Broadway, LA) 

in the geo-tagged photo you  are viewing 

was featured in Blade Runner (1982)

Story recommendations for parallel photo activities and check-ins proved interesting in comment threads. Viewers wanted story recommendations contextual to their interests and activities - contextual to their posts.

There was also surprisingly a very passionate geo-sleuthing community identifying addresses of iconic imagery and movie scenes who are like daily crossword puzzle experts. They are creating an emerging new genre of  geo-curation.

People in comments share facts, addresses, personal stories and imagery related to a location.  Marc Weiner was identified as the mime with Robin Williams above by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

Geo-tags  map where creative heat in history happened.

Most images taken in history are notable. Most stories addressed in history are notable. A "geo-tag" can be seen as a highlighter for notable moments.

There can be hundreds of notifications for a great geo-tagged post of the day. The only problem is...maps do not allow for threads or notifications, which are the most used functions on the internet. Notifications and threads almost seem essential for traditional crisis mapping to get updates.

Crisis map 24 hours after Haiti earthquake used to save lives. 

Maps and GPS are set up more for drivers going from A to B instead of conveying geo-spatial information live. Maps do not accommodate  narratives (threads) and vast community dialogue. In the narrative space, users need a much quicker way to "jump to" the next point of interest and explore related stories and places.

The feedback we got is users want a new kind of map illustrated with notable media as opposed to stock graphics, places and roads illustrated.

A navigation system and visual presentation are needed enable speed and fresh content for a user's taste.  Recommended content triggers are needed based on a user's tastes and activities. Threads for a pin (and a "like" pin button) are needed to activate geo-notifications. Notifications today are the key driver of media browsing.

The mapping industry, however, is primarily focused on how to improve maps and their aesthetics. The industry is missing the boat on how to improve geo-spatial browsing.

Maps were not originally suited for media browsing. It follows that any improvement made to a map will still stay within the boundaries of a map. It's hard to imagine how so much earth scrolling will be viable for rapid media browsing.

Viewers need to "jump" from point a to b (instead of scrolling) 

The scrolling through vast useless or random places first doesn't work well for an app and an impatient user on the go. In media browsing, navigation requires "jumping" to enable an instant way to get from one point of interest to another to allow for speedy exploration and discovery.

Today rich storytelling is only skimmed at best using a map. When one location like Madison Square Garden has 1000s of stories, only one story is shown on a map.

Random pin displays also increase odds of users leaving a map due to a lack of interest.

I find this neighborhood in Greenwich Villlage extremely interesting, but have no idea which pin  is interesting or what any pin represents.  I am lost as a browser.  

The headliners for you are not so clear. There is very little sorting in a map of stories.

Some developers are experimenting with geo-portals that allow you to jump from one related point of interest to another at warp speed to another part of the world. This is a step in the right direction. A narrative exploration needs to geographically skip places in between which have no relevance in a story arc. Related locations in a narrative need to be stitched together for jumping around.  And it is key to recommend a narrative of interest for a viewer.

Any app is competing against Instagram for viewer attention..anything slower will not do as Facebook (mobile) found out.  In Instagram, one scrolls from one point of interest to another rapidly in a feed.

Intersecting with someone you know, something you follow, some place related to your past,  something you find interesting or someone who shares an interest drives notifications.

It's about connections at a place, not maps.

Locative Art: Secrets Are The Roots of Cool

William Gibson who coined "cyperspace" has been very prescient, predicting where the internet will go. 

A few years back, he wrote a book called Spook Country (2007). A central theme was "locative art." Using a visor, you could see art exhibited on location. But it wasn't just any kind of art. You could see the past being exhibited  in the present.

The essence of locative art is sharing ghosts.

This was the inspiration behind enabling GPS while building the world's largest locative art atlas showing where art and innovation took place. 

In Gibson's Spook Country, at Viper Room (8852 Sunset, LA), at a locative art exhibit,  you could see where River Phoenix died outside, his body still there. His sister Rain Phoenix had tried mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.  

Oct 31, 1993, Red Hot Chili Peppers Flea (Michael Blazary) was in an ambulance with River Phoenix from the Viper Room, where he collapsed outside, to Cedar Sinai Medical Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 23. 

Locative art can be expanded by 360 degree narratives with fast-forwarding (or rewinding). The pay phone where Joaquin Phoenix called 911 is still there today.  

You can add background tracks to augment a location. Viper Room owner Johnny Depp seen here with Johnny Cash and June Carter was inside when River Phoenix died on Halloween 1993 outside. Future Clueless (1995) star Alicia Silverstone was bartending that night.

You can add before-it happened background or after-it-happened evolution. Gangster Bugsy Siegel hung out here 1940s. Tom Waits helped re-develop the club. 

You can collage narratives in a fast-forward exhibit or rewind exhibit. This is John Travolta at Viper Room in Be Cool (2005): 

Locative art is about creating an artview (movieview, musicview, photoview, storyview etc)  with many angles (and time stamps) instead of a stock streetview fixed in time.  In a wider view or different angle, locative artifacts may be used in the future by geo-sleuths to help identify and stitch other images nearby. This is a long shot of John Travolta in Be Cool (2005).

The Viper Room played the London Fog venue for Oliver Stone's The Doors (1991). The bar where Alicia Silverstone bartended the night River Phoenix died makes a cameo:

The stage last seen by River Phoenix where Red Hot Chili Peppers Flea was singing with Butthole Surfers Gibby Haynes is seen in The Doors (1991) with Val Kilmer:

Aerial angles from The Doors (1991):

Perhaps a table experience River Phoenix last had or saw can be seen in this Valley Girl (1983) scene with Nicholas Cage and Deborah Foreman at Viper Room:

In Be Cool (2005), Vince Vaughan sits with The Rock at Viper Room VIP booth.

 Re-creating a vibe is part of locative art. This is the album cover for The Sweet's Desolation Boulevard (1974), which featured Ballroom Blitz, outside Viper Room.

Sharing then and now images shows evolution in locative art. Meaningless images and B Movies become meaningful offering context in locative art. Movies chronicle locative artifacts. This is the stage at Viper Room in Valley Girl (1983):

Bruce Springsteen once played an impromptu show here.

Locative art can be disguised and dressed up in movie sets. There are diverse ways of collaging or stitching threads in locative art.  This is Viper Room in the opening credits of Entourage:

In locative art, you can map thoughts for others to see there:

In locative art, you can also stitch related "ancillary" locations.  The night River Phoenix  died Oct 31, 1993, he was staying at Hotel Nikko (465 S La Cienega Blvd), now SLS Hotel (seen below), with girlfriend Samantha Mathis. Locative art can connect to a biography thread by recent locations. You can follow the actual course of history.

In locative art, you can  also "jump" to a new spot by clicking a profile tag.  This is River Phoenix escaping death in Stand By Me (1986)  about to jump off Lake Britton Bridge (Eagle Mountain Lane, Burney, CA):

You can also jump to other stories at the same location. Tommy Lee Jones of Motley Crue was convicted of battery after he pushed Henry Tappler at Viper Room who tried to take a photo of his wife Pamela Anderson Sep 26, 1996.

You may wish to follow a story of your friend or your hero here.  Others who were here include: Jennifer Aniston, Lisa Marie Presley, Jared Leto, Chistina Applegate, Angelina Jolie, Tobey Maguire, Leonard DiCaprio, Counting Crows Adam Duritz (who bartended here), Nicole Eggert, Mick Jagger, Uma Thurman, Courtney Love, Tom Hanks, Drew Barrymore, Rosanna Arquette, Oasis, Wallflowers, Pussycat Dolls, Gwen Stefani, Cameron Diaz, Christina Aguilera, Sean Penn, Tom Petty, Juliette Lewis, Dwight Yokum, Mick Fleetwood, Joan Osbourne, Michael Keaton, Ellen DeGeneres, Anne Heche, Rage Against the Machine, Stone Temple Pilots, Chris Rock, Go Gos, Billy Corgan (Smashing Pumpkins), John Mayer, Matchbox 20, Green Day, Billy Idol, Sheryl Crow, Everclear, and Run–D.M.C.

Profile tags profile a neighborhood and its tastes. People and titles for works of art define neighborhood traits  Greenwich Village had the highest density of writers, people on Time magazine covers, Nobel Prize winners and Pulitzer winners.

Locative networks follow the tastes of trailblazers and where  their history connects with places. They show where you cross paths with history.  What gets creatively produced at places defines the dna of a locative network.

It's a matter of time when locative offers along a user's dotted path will replace meaningless ads with stories and opportunities. A more human dialogue.

Locative threading gives a viewer a perspective the news, social media, maps and history cannot give.  The perspective offers new dimensions for understanding and a unique sensual experience.

This is 9 Jones (New York) today, on an album cover for The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan (1963) and in a fictional re-creation in Cameron Crowe's Vanilla Sky (2001):

Each locative artist usually has a unique style for identifying locations and displaying locative art. Bob Egan at PopspotsNYC  uses a lot of geometry, a collage of old photos, and geo-spatial patterns in architecture.  That helped him find this wall at Mercantile Building (Plum and MLK Rd, Macon, GA) in an empty lot  (now a parking lot) where a hotel burned down. The Allman Brothers gave a clue it was geometrically visible from Capricorn Studios (548 MLK Rd). Jim Marshall re-shot the cover for Allman Brothers At Fillmore East (1971) here.  Locative Art can blend or super-impose then and now...or then and later in the past. Timelines merge in locative art.

Locative media  is an illustrative platform that jumps from one relevant artifact to another for exploration - indexed at a spot. Stories are searchable by address.

Geo-Sleuthing Empire State of Mind

I have this theory that every block in New York City has  appeared in a movie, tv show or music video.  As The Naked City chimes, "There are eight million stories in the naked city. This has been one of them."

Having mapped stories on every street in Manhattan,  it seemed fitting to map where Jay-Z and Alicia Keys sang in Empire State of Mind (2009).

Jay-Z even pays homage to The Naked City, "Eight million stories out there and they're naked."

Geo-sleuthing is like a crossword puzzle. Once you figure out  the rest of the locations, the last and hardest ones become easier to identify. This was the hardest spot which I saved for last.

Riverside and 145th St 

 "I use to cop in Harlem...Now I live on Billboards." 

Always start off with the easier locations to build momentum. Lots of ads can only mean this is Times Square where billboards are easy to locate:

Stella  Artois (by Roxy Deli, 1565 Broadway at 47th St)
& Hershey's (Broadway and 48th St, NW corner)  

"These streets will make you feel brand new, big lights will inspire you." 

TKTS (Broadway and 47th ST, Times Square)

"One hand in the air for the big city. Street lights, big dreams all looking pretty"  

If you don't recognize a close up, there are usually other photos showing background to figure out an address. Sometimes the address will even be spelled out: 

145th Street Station (Broadway & 145th St) 

"Welcome to the melting pot, corners where we selling rock"

Sometimes clues are in the song lyrics. "560" was  on the window (faded here but more visible in video).

560 State St (Brooklyn)  

"Took it to my stash spot, 560 State Street."

Landmarks are often beacons for geo-tagging.

"I'm from the Empire"

Every old building will usually have a name to get an address: 

B Fischer & Co (Greenwich and Franklin)
 aka Tribeca Grill (375 Greenwich) owned by Robert De Niro

"now I'm in TriBeCa, right next to De Niro"

You can search a piece of art in Google Images. Typing  "Cube in New York City," you will see 2 cubes with a red cube by Isamu Noguchi matching.

140 Broadway 

"There's nothing you can't do"

Now things start getting harder....but in this next spot, Jay-Z is wearing the same hat so chances are he is nearby. Using Google Streetview,  you will see this building below is across the street from the cube.

Broadway and Liberty (One Liberty Plaza)

"Catch me at the X"

Here is another spot where he is wearing the same hat and you can see a church. Trinity Church is nearby. That helps identify this spot: 

115 Broadway (US Realty Building) 
and 111 Broadway (Trinity Building)

"they act like they forgot how to act"

Matching clothes seemed to work for this hood above.  So I thought I'd try my luck with this photo below. He wasn't wearing a hat at 560 State Street. So using Google Streetview I found this building across the street. 

Williamsburg Savings Bank Tower (1 Hanson Pl)

"Yeah, Imma up at Brooklyn"

Using the same method, but a little more work with Google Streetview circling the block, i found this corner a block east from where he stood with this same hat at TriBeCa Grill (Greenwich and Franklin). 

Hudson and Franklin. 
Robert De Niro actually lived at 110 Hudson (l). 

Jay-Z has lived up the street at 195 Hudson. 

"now I'm down in TriBeCa Right next to De Niro, but I'll be hood forever"

The last photo required the most work on Google Streetview, but I figured he had to be in Harlem, given Jay-Z wore the same outfit at 145th St Station. I traveled many blocks all along 145th Street to find this building.  That's after going other directions as well. But hey, it was the last spot.  It was clear the building was on a corner (which helped). 

Riverside & 145th Street, NE Corner

"I used to cop in Harlem, all of my Dominicanos" 

 I actually missed a spot. In this photo, Jay-Z is in an office that faces the Empire State Building. You need to use a bit of geometry to deduce where it is. Some geo-sleuths will also identify sunlight direction. But we will save that for another day. 

Once you've narrowed down which buildings have the right angle, you can search real estate blogs to match the interior which clearly faces the sun (a clue):

I'd first do a quick check on where Jay-Z worked/lived. I recall he had a midtown apartment facing an apartment owned by Beyoncé. Happy geo-sleuthing.