I’ve thought a lot about the idea of spacial literacy in terms of creating virtual worlds. I’ve always been astounded by the depth in games like Grand Theft Auto and I think if there were an easy way to capture information of the spaces around us, it wouldn’t be far off that anyone could visit anywhere (in a virtual sense). Take a look at how Google collects Street view data for their Maps. It enables us to virtually travel on the roads of far away places. But what if we could go inside the buildings? And if computers could “understand” the spaces, then we could search for objects, text, or sounds. Imagine holding up a photo of a vase and seeing the exact location of other vases in the world, such as in museums, lobbies, restaurants, etc.
The data could also be used for wayfinding. Nowadays, it’s no big deal that we can use our phones to direct us to the nearest Bloomingdale’s, but what about after we walk into the store? Shouldn’t our phones tell us where to find the men’s socks? Large museums could also benefit from this technology, making it easy for people to find anything they are looking for, or perhaps taking them on a guided tour.