When I need a nautical chart for the Puget Sound area, I’ve begun to click on a website called DeepZoom, a site that takes you into an animated wonderland of tides and currents.
Software developer Jay Alan Borseth of Seattle is using Microsoft’s DeepZoom technology to weave together hundreds of charts and maps, allowing the reader to quickly scan and zoom to the location of interest. The whole thing runs on Silverlight.
Unique features about the website are not the static maps but the ability to watch changes in tides and currents. Pick a location, type in the date and set the duration of time you wish to review. Use the slidebar to set the clock for checking on tides and currents at a specific time. Or click the start button to play through the animation for the sequence you have chosen.
How fast you move through time can be changed by adjusting the rate.
If you zoom out far enough to see the entire United States, you can even watch the sun and moon move across the sky.
Jay told me that he believes the Puget Sound region is fairly complete, especially for the nautical elements. Other parts of the U.S. and the world are still works in progress, however. He also envisions integrating other types of charts and maps for planes, trains and automobiles. Some of these elements are already accessible by clicking at the top of the page.
The idea for animating the currents came to him as he was reviewing charts for boating, he said. He expects the basic website to stay free for users, but he may develop a mobile application that could be commercialized.
“It’s about halfway through,” Jay told me, “but it is momentarily on hold.”
He explained that he is working on other software applications now occupying his time, but he hopes to get back to this project.
If anyone knows of other web-based charts and graphs that are particularly interesting, please feel free to share them.
