Map Visualizations

Question

We are looking for a great looking map visualization to plot transaction as we process them. We get inbound messages from all over the united states (latitude, longitude). We currently have a Google Maps solution in place, but it just doesn't have the visual impact we are looking for. We really like how this map looks:

http://leftronic.com/doc/screen02.jpg

Do you guys know of any great looking map visualizations?

Answer 1

I don't, but here is what I would do:

1. Get a mercator projection map of the us, like the 2nd image here.
2. given an address, find it's lat-long with a tool like this.
3. convert the lat-long into image coordinates. this should be a simple formula, because you used the mercator projection
4. use a tool like gd to plot a circle at the corresponding point in the image.

Conic projections might look nicer than mercator, but the math is uglier (trig is involved)

Answer 2

So, just to clarify, the difference between Google maps and what you are looking for is that Google maps is too busy. Google maps is great if you are trying to get directions to your friend's house, but not for data visualization. Are we on the same page?

If you are looking for visualizations with less clutter, there are several alternatives to Google Maps depending on what you want. If you would like the ease of use of Google Maps, you might want to stick with a Google solution:

• Google Geomaps
• Google Intensity Maps

For more flexibility but potentially more work you can try Protovis. Protovis also has many other visualizations you can use in addition to maps. You may have to find your own geographic data with protovis. They do have sample geographic data for the U.S. and for the world. Protovis runs entirely in the browser through javascript.

Another possibility is an OpenLayers front end and GeoServer backend. This solution is extremely customizeable and allows the server to do the heavy duty GIS work so the browser doesn't have to. It also requires the most work.

Answer 3

Dundas Data Visualization has a superb map component. What platform are the maps being displayed in?