Press releases
Interactive map of Minsk with places of interest presented in BelTA
MINSK, 30 May (BelTA) – An interactive animated map of Minsk was presented in BelTA’s press center on 30 May. The map’s online launch is timed to International Children Protection Day.
The interactive online map is based on a printed Minsk map for kids. The interactive map offers information about over 200 places of recreation and entertainment in the Belarusian capital: theaters, parks, sport complexes. Every place has a description, photos, and directions. Some of them even offer a virtual tour, a 3D panorama, audio and video records. The data is systematized in a way to allow kids to easily find the place they need. The colorful animated UI will make studying the city and planning the trip a captivating experience for children and adults.
Creators of the map – RUP Belkartografiya – and representatives of the company that developed the software talked about capabilities of the interactive map. Belkartografiya’s editor Lyudmila Soldak explained that all the places have their own category: places of interest, sport venues, culture and additional education, recreation and entertainment. The objects are represented by pictures or images, symbols depending on their category. General description of a place of interest is followed by the place’s advantages and peculiarities such as free parking, entrance ramps, and power outlets for charging gadgets.
The user interface is available in Belarusian, Russian, and English. The first stage of the work on the online map has been finished. The second stage provides for interaction with kids, who would like to help the project and will submit their ideas and remarks. To participate in the project, feel free to register at https://mapminsk.by/reg/.
Konstantin Petrashko, a representative of the software development company, added that a mobile app is in development. It will soon be available from Google Play and AppStore free of charge.
The application contains virtual reality and augmented reality modules. For instance, the developers suggested setting up “portals” to Minsk in small towns across the country. A door like that has been installed in Mogilev’s downtown. If you wear VR glasses and go through the door, you will see yourself next to the Bolshoi Opera and Ballet Theater in Minsk.
The app also allows the user’s smartphone to animate other maps made by Belkartografiya. For instance, if the user aims a mobile phone or a tablet at some region of the world in a zoology atlas, he or she will see a 3D model of the animal that lives there.
Young reporters from Minsk mass media were present during the presentation. Those, who asked the most interesting questions, received travel scratch cards as a gift. Apart from that, on 1 September the State Property Committee and RUP Belkartografiya will choose the best materials published by the young reporters in the wake of the interactive map’s presentation.
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