SEGD_Design - (Page 48) Digital wayfinding to go When it comes to the future of digital wayfinding, however, many agree it is in the palm of your hand. Literally. “The core future is around portable mobile devices for wayfinding,” says Craig Johnson, executive director of the Interpret Green Foundation (Philadelphia). Johnson has already been involved in several digital wayfinding projects that use handheld devices for everything from interpretation to orientation. His firm’s work for the National Park Service involved creating prototype kiosks, a website, and cell phone tours for the Washington Rochambeau Revolutionary Route, which spans 600 miles through 10 states on the East Coast. By creating an “information commons,” Johnson aimed to create a wayfinding system that would give visitors a free digital guide with live information that could be accessed on multiple platforms. Unfortunately, the project went belly-up due to insufficient funding. But the groundbreaking concept is taking root elsewhere. Tom Patterson, a senior cartographer for NPS’ Harpers Ferry Center, is spearheading a project that will create a modern, hightech way of navigating people around the National Mall using mobile/handheld devices; in other words, mobile maps. He put out an RFP in December with a wish list of features for this mobile mapping system, including: 1) GPS enabled so you can see what’s in front of you, 2) directionally aware to reorient when you move, 3) high-contrast and monochromatic when used in sunlight, 4) labels that softly fade in and out as you move around, and 5) access to parkrelated content. The content would be delivered either through a 3-G cell network or Wi-fi, and a content management system would allow NPS staff to update content via a user-friendly interface. “Generating maps for mobile devices is the logical next step,” Patterson explains, citing several problems with printed signage and maps. “Either physical signage isn’t good enough, paper maps are inadequate for navigation, or visitors themselves are inexperienced map users. We see [digital wayfinding] as a solution to these problems.” Like Patterson and Wolke, Johnson views Google Maps and GPS systems as a great opportunity for taking wayfinding with you. “We think that will be the strategy for a new form of wayfinding. Not just getting from A to B, but getting guidance on what’s interesting along the way,” Johnson explains. “What I see as the promise or opportunity of digital wayfinding is that we can make maps for ourselves and view them within the social networking environment.” segdDESIGN 45
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.