Tourists heading to Canberra this summer can follow in the virtual footsteps of explorers and movie stars at an extraordinary exhibition that blends rare and historical charts with cutting-edge mapping technology. The Mapping Our World: Terra Incognita to Australia exhibition, which was opened late last year by self-proclaimed ‘map geek’ Russell Crowe, uses next-gen touchscreen apps to navigate through the once-in-a-lifetime display of ancient maps and treasures at the National Library of Australia.
The interactive tablet device apps have been developed exclusively by mapping technology giant Esri Australia for the exhibition and have been a huge hit with adventurous kids and adults alike.
Esri Australia’s Communications Manager Alicia Kouparitsas said the interactive apps would give families access to the mysterious and wonderful histories behind the exhibits.
“The exhibition features some of the world’s oldest and rarest maps, atlases and globes from places as far flung as the Vatican in Rome and the British Library in London,” Ms Kouparitsas said.
“But we decided to transport them into the digital age to make the exhibition even more engaging for both adults and kids and demonstrate how exciting geography can be. My favourite is the Flinders’ Voyage app, which features an interactive animation of early British cartographer Matthew Flinders’ original journey around Australia.
“The Discovery of Australia Map features time-stamped maps created over centuries: from a 1663 Dutch map of New Holland – known as the ‘birth certificate of Australia’ – to maps ordered by Captain Cook himself.”
Mapping Our World: Terra Incognita to Australia will run until 10 March 2014.
To find out more about the exhibit and access online versions of the mapping apps that will be on show, visit http://mappingourworld.esriaustralia.com.au/
About Mapping Our World: Terra Incognita to Australia
Mapping our Worldis a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see rare and unique cartographic maps from around the world. Discover how European explorers unravelled the secrets of the great south land. Highlights of the exhibition include : the magnificent Fra Mauro Map of the World; the remarkable Boke of Idrography presented to Henry VIII; an intricate world map by the Benedictine monk Andreas Walsperger (1448); a fifteenth-century Ptolemy manuscript; magnificent and controversial ‘Dieppe’ charts; one of only four surviving copies of Mercator’s groundbreaking 1569 projection; and original manuscript charts by Pacific navigators such as Louis de Freycinet, James Cook and Matthew Flinders.
