Friday, February 04, 2022

Enhanced Zoom & Multiple Map Views

John Nelson and Jinnan Zhang have released a simple Esri experimental map which shows multiple scales of the same location at the same time. Their interactive map Optica shows three different map views of the same place but at three different zoom levels. 

The map includes a number of options which allow you to switch the number of map views shown and to switch between having the maps display vertically or horizontally. You can also switch between a number of different map layers (including satellite, terrain and road maps). There is even the option to add your own map layers by adding a link to an ArcGIS online 2D web map.

The Optica map does allow you to get some very interesting map views of locations around the world and it can be very interesting to explore a place with a number of different zoom levels appearing on the same map (for example this view of Bryce Canyon). However Optica isn't the only interactive map which allows you to explore locations using different map views.

Map Channel's Quad View Maps allows you to view locations using Google Maps Street View alongside four different synchronized satellite views. If you use the Map Channels Geocoder map you can quickly find locations anywhere in the world and then click the Quad View Map link to view the searched location on Street View and from four different oblique aerial views.

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