NACIS 2017

Who's On First Two Years Later — Theory, Practice and Gotchas : Les deux dernières années du projet Who's On First : la théorie, la pratique et les pièges
Presenter: Aaron Cope, Mapzen
The Who's On First (WOF) project was launched by Mapzen in 2015 with the goal of being a robust and openly-licensed gazetteer with global coverage spanning continents to (20 million and counting) venues, and everything in between. WOF is used by Mapzen for many of its own services but has been designed and architected to be portable, durable and as infrastructure-agnostic as possible.

This presentation will outline the project's original motivations and its current state of affairs, discuss some of the challenges we've faced along the way and review what we're focusing on next.

The UX of navigation: A road trip from NYC to NACIS | L’expérience utilisateur de la navigation : sur la route de New York City à la NACIS
Presenter: Ekta Daryanani, Mapzen
Let's take a drive from NYC to Montreal and think about what your typical navigation app shows and tells you to do as you drive. The objective is to never have to glance at a screen for more than a couple of seconds, coz accidents!

While designing Eraser Map at Mapzen, I learned about the nuances of a navigation experience. How does navigation differ depending on the mode of transportation? Does a cyclist need different audio & visual cues compared to a driver? How can we use the combination of the map display, written and voice instructions, and notifications deliver an experience which takes the stress out of driving instead of adding to it! I will walk through the various user experience considerations made in development of this app and their repercussions; as most people view wayfinding applications as their main exposure to web cartography.

A New Hope: An Esri and Adobe Story | Un nouvel espoir : une histoire signée Esri et Adobe
Presenter: Clint Loveman, Esri
Copresenter: Sarah Bell, Esri
It has been two years since presenting Esri's Maps for Adobe Creative Cloud prototype at NACIS. This presentation will show the latest release of this extension, and how it can be used to download geographic data directly from the cloud into Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. A mapping demonstration in Illustrator will show how the extension can now reproject your map, import shapefiles, and perform global symbol changes, along with other useful and practical mapping techniques. 

Painting with Data | Peindre avec des données
Presenter: Carlos Sandoval, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Copresenter: Wenfei Xu, CARTO
Increasingly, geospatial data are becoming a standard aspect of decision-making in both private and public sectors due to recent strides in spatial data capture. While the data may be plentiful, the technical skills required to understand and analyze it may not always be present. Our tool facilitates the analysis and visualization of spatial data by dramatically reducing the steep learning curve required for most geographic information system (GIS) softwares. Contrary to traditional mapping software, "Painting with Data" allows users to directly manipulate the map itself instead of through abstract numbers and symbols. This creates a more intuitive way of understanding spatial data and creating spatial models, and redefines the way in which users explore and gain intuitions from spatial data. Additionally, the tool introduces a visual coding interface through drag-and-drop building blocks which allows for "real-time" geospatial computing, extending its mapping and analytical capacities.