Geopeople represents people's lives as segments in time on a global map. Therefore, it is possible to represent not only where people are but also to represent when they are - all in a single glance.
Why represent people simultaneously in both space and time?
Traditional maps and mashups focus on the locations of people and objects. While they sometimes apply time sequencing to events, people are not properly framed in time. To access time data, the user has to use other sources such as timelines (see example below). Traditional map presentations are fine for understanding where people were located but unfortunately provide no instantaneous information about when they lived and the relationships among them in time.
Timelines, on the other hand, are confined to representing the lives of historical figures as a span in time but such depictions cannot simultaneously represent where these figures were located with any precision. In the rare cases it is attempted at all, the presenter is forced to represent location in a very general manner through the use of color or formatting.
Through Geopeople's application of time-based data and global mapping tools, it is possible to see subjects simultaneously in both time and space. The user has the power to see people plotted on a world map based not only on the segment of space those people occupied but also the segment in time they occupied, thus representing their lives in four dimensions. The user can explore relationships at a glance and instantaneously call up an article on any person and view it alongside the map.
Some examples to consider:
By representing life spans as segments in time on a global map:
- Educators, students, and historians are no longer forced to view history in the traditional horizontal-bar-graph-timeline format. (below)
- We can utilize Geopeople as an Atlas, an Encyclopedia, and an Interactive Timeline all in one.
- We can see worldwide contemporaries in a single instantaneous glance, thus gaining perspective on their relationships. - For example, of the 16th century stargazers Galileo Galilei, Johannes Kepler, and Tycho Brahe - Who was born first? Who died first? How old were the other two when Galileo was 25?
