Worlds to Explore: Storytelling with Maps
By Jenn Schiffer

October 29, 2020

Worlds to Explore: Storytelling with Maps

Last week we showed how our community has been using WebXR to create new worlds and tell stories in 3D. There’s a lot to be said, though, about how much you can create with only two dimensions. The Glitch community has not only been showing what can be done with a little bit of JavaScript and map tiles, but they’re changing the way we think about maps entirely! These projects don’t just help us get to a place, but they tell compelling stories as well.

Let’s take a look at some of our recent favorites.

Carta Marina, a map of fantastical Nordic sea creatures

Creator @mapsmania has been making some of the coolest interactive maps ever! Some are location-based like their interactive history of the London tube, but some like ~carta-marina guide us through art and history in a really unique way. Every map enthusiast would enjoy their blog, Maps Mania.

**Waking and Sleeping, a world map of wakedness

This real-time map of users tweeting “good morning” and “good night” across the world does what most maps don’t do: remind us that we’re not alone. Its creator, creative technologist @bookwormgirl910, describes the project as “a reflection on world interconnectedness and our daily waves and flares of activity and wakedness across the globe.” I recommend you check out the about page of the project to learn how it works and what limitations Katherine faced around languages and geotagging with the Twitter API in particular.

**Supertall Vacancies, a story of NYC **housing in the shadows of luxury vacancies

This interactive map by @apr2136 and collaborators at Columbia’s Points Unknown takes a look at both commercial and residential real estate in Manhattan and vacancy trends from recent years, and even gives a literal voice to doormen who have witnessed the impact of luxury housing surplus firsthand.

If you have a story to tell, it’s clear from the above projects that using maps is a great way to get your readers interested. And with Glitch, you can have something running in seconds–you can remix all of the above awesome map projects and more in our collection of storytelling maps. The collection also includes some apps that can get you started with the JavaScript libraries that these creators used for their own projects:

We can’t wait to see what you create and what stories you tell–we’d love for you to let us know about them! If you have Glitch projects you’d like us to feature, tweet them to us @glitch or email [email protected]! ✨

*The project featured in this post's header image is ~lhh by @darzhz