Comments on: Milgram to TagMaps like Lynch to Flickr Alpha Shapes http://www.ayman-naaman.net/2009/12/24/milgram-tagmaps-lynch-alphashape/ Social Media is Made of People! Wed, 21 Dec 2011 13:44:58 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: naaman http://www.ayman-naaman.net/2009/12/24/milgram-tagmaps-lynch-alphashape/comment-page-1/#comment-959 naaman Thu, 24 Dec 2009 16:32:37 +0000 http://www.ayman-naaman.net/?p=463#comment-959 Ayman, the methodologies are surprisingly similar, I guess. Tag Maps doesn't use sheer popularity count like Milgram used, but of course the metric is related to popularity. Similarly, Flickr's alpha shapes do not use the outermost boundary of the district as present in their data, but they are not far from it (the input is slightly different in this case; Lynch used people's drawn boundaries while Flickr uses, roughly speaking, "points identified to be in the region". Frank, I would guess the answer to all your questions would be yes, based on Lynch -- but maybe there is room for GPS systems to better include landmarks and path information... Maneesh Agrawala at Berkeley has been interested in these questions, I know. Ayman, the methodologies are surprisingly similar, I guess. Tag Maps doesn’t use sheer popularity count like Milgram used, but of course the metric is related to popularity.

Similarly, Flickr’s alpha shapes do not use the outermost boundary of the district as present in their data, but they are not far from it (the input is slightly different in this case; Lynch used people’s drawn boundaries while Flickr uses, roughly speaking, “points identified to be in the region”.

Frank, I would guess the answer to all your questions would be yes, based on Lynch — but maybe there is room for GPS systems to better include landmarks and path information… Maneesh Agrawala at Berkeley has been interested in these questions, I know.

]]> By: Frank http://www.ayman-naaman.net/2009/12/24/milgram-tagmaps-lynch-alphashape/comment-page-1/#comment-958 Frank Thu, 24 Dec 2009 16:06:05 +0000 http://www.ayman-naaman.net/?p=463#comment-958 I find it interesting that MIT gets labeled Back Bay. If this data uses cell towers, a lot of MIT connects to the Prudential Building which is in the back bay, but is visible from across the river. I've been a fan of Lynch for a long time. We read a lot of his stuff in an urban studies class about 10 years ago. I've always been interested in the paths and nodes that he talks about and wonder how this relates to navigation systems. Do people feel more comfortable on the major path streets? Would they prefer a path that passes familiar landmarks? Would they learn the overall city layout better if they traveled on paths that connect districts and landmarks? I'm sure there's some stuff in the urban studies literature about this, but haven't kept up on it. I find it interesting that MIT gets labeled Back Bay. If this data uses cell towers, a lot of MIT connects to the Prudential Building which is in the back bay, but is visible from across the river.

I’ve been a fan of Lynch for a long time. We read a lot of his stuff in an urban studies class about 10 years ago. I’ve always been interested in the paths and nodes that he talks about and wonder how this relates to navigation systems. Do people feel more comfortable on the major path streets? Would they prefer a path that passes familiar landmarks? Would they learn the overall city layout better if they traveled on paths that connect districts and landmarks? I’m sure there’s some stuff in the urban studies literature about this, but haven’t kept up on it.

]]> By: ayman http://www.ayman-naaman.net/2009/12/24/milgram-tagmaps-lynch-alphashape/comment-page-1/#comment-957 ayman Thu, 24 Dec 2009 15:55:54 +0000 http://www.ayman-naaman.net/?p=463#comment-957 While people have been doing this for a while (and that should be of no surprise), are the methodologies different? While people have been doing this for a while (and that should be of no surprise), are the methodologies different?

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