Aboriginal View

Muru View superimposes the original indigenous place-names of Australian locations on top of Google Maps Street View - in 3d! The application uses place-names used in historical surveys from the Royal Anthropological Society of Australasia to map the original indigenous place-names of locations in New South Wales. It superimposes the place-name labels for each of these locations on top of its Google Map's Street View.

The actual implementation of Muru View is frustrating and inspiring in equal measure. I love the implementation of 3d text on top of Google's 360 degree panoramic imagery. There is something magical in watching the 3d Aboriginal (& English translation) place-names spin around as you rotate the Street View image.

However navigating to individual place-names on Muru View is incredibly frustrating. The only way to find individual place-names is to sit patiently while they all slowly scroll past you on your screen. I've no idea why Muru View doesn't have an overall map view. This world allow the user to navigate to the individual place-names by location, selecting them directly from the map.

You might also be interested in:

Singing the Country into Life - exploring indigenous songlines
Colonial Frontier Massacres in Eastern Australia 1788-1872 - a map of aboriginals killed in the frontier wars