The model may be used to display a vast amount of data, ranging from usual map data (such as place, lake and fell names) and business information (such as details of hotels, shops and activities) to the dynamic relative display of transport links (such as the real time position of ferries, buses and trains). As can be seen from previous posts we already have some of this information in the model and this will continually expand.
In the context of the Lake District, walks are obviously very important and we have now included the route up each of the 35 Wainwright peaks in the Eastern Fells area. There are many techniques that could be used to describe these walks but in this first implementation we have decided to use a method of location pins which are referenced in a text box when each peak is selected.
When a peak is chosen from the menu in the top left of the screen this triggers three events. First the camera “flys” to a point where the route can be viewed, secondly a number of location pins are displayed to detail key positions on the route and finally a text panel containing directions is displayed. The user keeps control of the camera and thus can fly around the model in the usual way to explore in more detail.
There are other methods of describing the routes which we may also pilot in the future. Current ideas include changing the colour of the path display (from current red/green/yellow) to highlight the route and providing text in context on the model instead of in the panel (like Wainwright did himself in the famous books). We will be seeking user feedback on this and all other aspects of the model.