UK(2.5d)

Submitted by: Gordon Fletcher

Describe your idea. How does it work and who does it help?

UK(2.5d) takes the idea of the 2.5D game and applies this 'familiar', popular and intuitive interface to the visualisation of locality based information based on postcodes. Exemplar interfaces are found with Imperium, Yoville and Glam Lite from the University of Glamorgan as well a wide range of 'builder' games.

Taking this approach is a critical response to the more common approach employed by mashups of applying an online mapping applications that present a top-down view to locality information. This relies upon its users having sufficient spatial awareness of their locality. Rather than relying upon geographic accuracy UK(2.5d) employs combinations of visual cues to represent specific localities.

Users enter a room/space that represents a location of their choice (such as a home postcode identified as they enter the site in a manner similar to the BBC website). In this space the current demographic and services situation of the location is represented in a game like manner (e.g. a 2.5d bus stop or train station showing the services that operate through the location including an animation showing trains and buses as they are due to arrive and leave, key building or features such as schools scaled to represent the number of students, religious institutions representing the number of adherents in that location), a local noticeboard would also enable residents to add relevant local notices (after a suitable, verifiable joining procedure), imaginary boundaries including counties and municipalities, streetsigns to represent key roads/streets, feeds from local blogs and possibly an opportunity for local business to represent themselves. This information would also be represented in more than one language if there was preponderance of speakers of a language other than English in that locality. The room/space itself would also represent the surrounding physical environment and residency patterns with rural areas being 'open' while inner city areas may have a more enclosed or room-like feel. Each location would also contain exits to neighbouring locations based on the x,y centroids of each postcode in the UK.

This level of information would encourage residents to better understand their own community, students of social science could interactively explore the entire UK meaningfully and potential visitors and residents to the location could gauge their intended destination.

A key aspect of UK(2.5d) is that each location/room is mirrored with a "second level". Each real-time room has an exit accessed through a set of stairs leading up to what would initially be a mirror of the real-time room. This second room would be editable and enable registered users to engage in a discussion about how to alter the space. With a suitable consultation period (echoing planning approval) alterations to the real-time space would be implemented. Over time these mirrored room would diverge from the real-time room giving planning, politicians and local residents some indication of local aspirations and plans.

What information or services do you need?

OS, postcode, census information, council tax, public transport