Geodata at your feet
2006-03-21 09:28 | Permanent Link | Locative, Open DataThere was a pointer at WorldChanging today showing a very cool installation at the Sacramento Airport. They've carpeted a walkway bridge with an aerial photo of a 50 mile strip of the Sacramento River.
WorldChanging goes on to point at a blog post that asks the really good question about whether this kind of thing could lead to more edgy, political carpets. Quoting Alexander Trevi: TerraServer appropriated as a guerilla tactic. Google Maps as acts of civil disobedience.
I had actually once looked into how expensive it would be to do this kind of thing in my house, using wall or floor tiles. There are places that will put photos onto tiles for you. It's a little beyond my reach, but a cool idea.
Back to the social question - without freely accessible geodata, the things Alexander Trevi talks about would not be possible. Make sure you visit the Public Geospatial Data Project of the Open Source Geospatial Foundation.
