Online Maps: A Walk in Space

Google Tech Talks
June 13, 2008

ABSTRACT

Spatial orientation is central to peoples senses. Symbols, icons and images in space make up what we look at. Diagrams maps and images can serve different purposes; lots of kinds of maps exist. In this talk I have been asked to talk about maps and discuss some of the things I see in Googlemaps "from the outside". The ever-present UI issues of orientation and focus are so concrete with maps. Integration of information without overloading a UI is always a danger and especially with maps; Annotation, undo and telling a story are all topics that seem central to the directions online maps are going. I will base my description of maps on projects on visual language such as virtual campus and placemap at MIT.

Speaker: Ted Selker
Dr. Ted Selker develops and tests new user experiences. He spent ten years as an associate professor at the MIT Media Laboratory where he ran the Context Aware Computing group, co-directed the Caltech/MIT Voting Technology Project, and directed the Counter Design Intelligence: product design of the future project. His work is noted for creating demonstrations of a world in which human intentions are recognized and respected in complex domains, such as kitchens, cars, on phones, and in email. Ted's work takes the form of prototyping concept products supported by cognitive science research.

Prior to joining the MIT faculty in November 1999, Ted was an IBM fellow and directed the User Systems Ergonomics Research Lab. He has served as a consulting professor at Stanford University, worked at Xerox PARC and Atari Research Labs, and taught at Hampshire College, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and Brown University.

Ted's research has contributed to products ranging from notebook computers to operating systems. For example, his design of the TrackPoint in-keyboard pointing device is currently used in many notebooks, his visualizations have been responsible for performance and usability improvements in products, and his adaptive help system has been part of many IT products as well. Ted's work has resulted in numerous awards, patents, and papers and has often been featured in the press. He was co-recipient of the Computer Science Policy Leader Award for Scientific American 50 in 2004 and the American Association for People with Disabilities Thomas Paine Award for his work on voting technology in 2006.

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