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Letting go of the GPS to learn the art of natural navigation

theguardian.com

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Re: Letting go of the GPS to learn the art of natural navigation

#21

Post by reaperducer »

sksksk wrote: post #14

Something I loved about living in Bogota, was how easy it was to navigate there. The whole city was built on a grid, with the east-west streets increasing in number as you went north. And the North-south streets increasing in number as you go east to west. There is a mountain range to the east, so if you can see the mountains, and know what streets you're on, you can always find your way

Much of rural America is like this. It's useful for pinpointing people in emergency situations.

Unfortunately, it leads to ugly addresses like:

  Jane Doe
  E18873 Rural Route 74
  Smalltown US, 80001
Or even worse...

  Jane Doe
  N7883 W17382
  Smalltown, US 80001
Precise for first responders with auto-routing. Not exactly descriptive for humans.

Re: Letting go of the GPS to learn the art of natural navigation

#22

Post by reaperducer »

tokyodude wrote: post #17
sksksk wrote: post #14

Something I loved about living in Bogota, was how easy it was to navigate there. The whole city was built on a grid, with the east-west streets increasing in number as you went north. And the North-south streets increasing in number as you go east to west. There is a mountain range to the east, so if you can see the mountains, and know what streets you're on, you can always find your way

Something i love about much of Tokyo is many of the streets curve and twist which makes walking around feel like an adventure of things to be discovered vs just a utility of getting from here to there. I agree curvy street cities are harder to navigate but I find them much more romantic.

I love Tokyo's chaotic street layout. It yields great opportunities for exploring. And since so much of the city is reachable without a car, it's the next door neighbor to user-friendly.

I have a map/guidebook from the early 80's that explains how the system works in great detail, and once you understand it, it becomes easier and easier. You also learn instinctively which addresses are near each other.

The book stated that unlike in some cities with chaotic street schemes (I'm looking at you, London), Tokyo's wasn't organic. It was done on purpose to confuse potential invaders.

I don't know if it's true, but that thought has always stuck with me.

Re: Letting go of the GPS to learn the art of natural navigation

#24

Post by reaperducer »

technological wrote: post #6
dcow wrote: post #5

GPS is a great way to get from point A to point B without learning the first thing about the location that the route guidance software is navigating for you. If you're only passing through, fine. But you just don't build the same mental model of an area when you don't have to think about it. When the phone dies or there's no reception, you're utterly helpless. When I'm navigating my local areas, I only use a map appl…

But maps give you additional advantage such as , live traffic due to which I save time by taking a different route (may be caused due to an accident or other reason)

Cell phone maps are utterly useless in too many situations. A lack of reception being one. Or equally as bad -- too much reception, as in competing GPS and cell triangulation signals bouncing off buildings in a dense urban environment.

People always make the excuse that you can just download the maps into the phone. But that wouldn't have helped me in the places I've been over the last two weeks when my phone repeatedly went into thermal shutdown because the ambient air temperature was too hot. (No, I don't have a case that traps the heat.)

If I relied on electronic maps, I'd be lost or dead or both by now.

(Even better than paper maps are maps printed on cloth, which you can get wet, roll into a ball and stuff into your jeans, etc... But those are kind of rare.)

Re: Letting go of the GPS to learn the art of natural navigation

#25

Post by pkamb »

I'd love some kind of GPS mode that just gave the most important or trickiest directions, then was completely silent for the rest of the trip.

I know how to get out of my neighborhood and onto the northbound freeway. I'll never need directions to do this. I know I'll be driving for 30 minutes. I just need the exit to take when it's coming up, and a few tricky turns near the destination. Just give me that and I'll figure out the rest.

Re: Letting go of the GPS to learn the art of natural navigation

#26

Post by femto »

A classic book is "Cross Country Navigation" by Neil Phillips and Rod Phillips (1989), aimed at the sport of Rogaining. It emphasises navigation by using the surrounding landscape and its features, rather than trying to impose a rigid coordinate system on the landscape. In this way, one works with the landscape, continually adapting to follow the (quickest) path of least effort, rather than trying to blast through on a preconceived "best" course. The philosophy is the same, whether one is inside or outside a city. It's sort of like Parkour on a large scale.

https://www.worldcat.org/title/cross-country-navigation/oclc...

Re: Letting go of the GPS to learn the art of natural navigation

#27

Post by EGreg »

elcapitan wrote: post #18
tokyodude wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Something i love about much of Tokyo is many of the streets curve and twist which makes walking around feel like an adventure of things to be discovered vs just a utility of getting from here to there. I agree curvy street cities are harder to navigate but I find them much more romantic.

They can both be helpful. The grid system is great for getting from coordinate (a,b) to (c,d). Much better than a natural city core as most older european cities have (and I mean old in the european meaning, i.e. >1000 years). But grids are extremely bad for mental mapping, as they are virtually featureless. So to remember your paths in a city without the coordinate system, it is much more helpful if the place has cu…

For me grids are way better for mental mapping!

Each street and intersection has different buildings, stores and vibe.

Re: Letting go of the GPS to learn the art of natural navigation

#28

Post by kerng »

Interesting, I occasionally use GPS in areas I have not been to. My general philosophy is navigation by approximation, slowly closing in on a destination by finding big landmarks first. Its not the most efficient but it makes for great tours and trips when not in a rush.

Re: Letting go of the GPS to learn the art of natural navigation

#29

Post by jzwinck »

pkamb wrote: post #25

I'd love some kind of GPS mode that just gave the most important or trickiest directions, then was completely silent for the rest of the trip. I know how to get out of my neighborhood and onto the northbound freeway. I'll never need directions to do this. I know I'll be driving for 30 minutes. I just need the exit to take when it's coming up, and a few tricky turns near the destination. Just give me that and I'll fig…

A related thing I'd like is a navigation system which understands that some turns are not important. If I'm driving on a Manhattan-style grid, I'd like it to say "You could turn here if you want, but straight is good too." I'd probably go straight if it's green and I'm doing 45, but if I'm at the head of the queue and it's red, I'd rather turn right.
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