This New York Times article describes a software project called Viewfinder. The goal is to help Internet users post pictures of buildings and landmarks directly into an application like Google Maps, or into a web mashup application. I discussed mashups in two billso.com articles in 2007:
- 12 February 2008: More web mashups
- 8 February 2008: Web mashups
The usability issues in mashup design can be tricky, as programmers are taking data and applications that might be related but aren’t directly compatible. An app like Viewfinder has to deal with location data, the map images, the user’s image, and a variety of visual issues including perspective and orientation.
See the official web site at the University of Southern California for more details. Here’s a video demo from the site.
