PDT for Online Maps and Search

Desperately seeking differentiation

Interactive map websites are growing rapidly in sophistication as competitors in the Internet Search business vie to provide users with the best online mapping service. In the future, the most successful sites will stand above the rest by providing a better means to access, view, and work with the burgeoning quantity of geo-referenced data and information. That's where Pliable Display Technology by IDELIX helps.

Detail-in-context is just the beginning

Pliable Display Technology is like a "lens" for "magnifying" what appears on the display screen of a PC, laptop, PDA, or wireless phone. With PDT, you can see the very smallest details available on a map or photograph—without "pushing" surrounding information off the screen. Yet, unlike the lens of a magnifying glass—which only allows you to see what is already there—a PDT lens can also display information that is not present in the unmagnified view by incorporating data from hidden layers or external files.

For users of online map websites, PDT offers both a more usable site, and a richer user experience. PDT's detail-in-context viewing has been proven to provide more rapid and accurate navigation of large data sets such as maps and geo-referenced photographs than conventional "zoom and pan." With PDT a wider geographic area can be viewed usefully on any given display size.

Wider coverage

In terms of search results, the PDT advantage allows geographically separated map locations to be kept on screen at a useful scale, whereas zoom and pan operations would force some results off screen, or necessitate viewing at a reduced scale. For example, PDT can show you all the map locations for "coffee" in "Seattle" simultaneously—and still provide street level detail for each one. That's a lot of coffee for one map!

A personalized point of view

Beyond the quantitative advantages of faster navigation and a wider field of view, PDT is a "wow factor" technology that creates a unique and memorable user experience. The PDT lens is a window to a personalized view of the world. PDT enables and encourages exploration because it reduces zoom and pan steps, and allows users to select the layers of information they want to see.

For example, with a PDT lens a user can see street level detail around his or her home, and still retain the a view of the entire city or town in the website window.

The increased usability and unique qualitative user experience provided by PDT add value and differentiation to an online map website. But there are other significant benefits for website proprietors.

• More white space—PDT allows users to access local detail while seeing the surrounding area, in effect creating more "white space" to show relevant points of interest (POI) and location-based advertising.
• Logging of user behaviour—Users' configuration, placement, and movement of PDT lenses can be recorded resulting in very detailed feedback on website use without requiring the user to click on any spot on the site.
• Location-based advertising revenue—The knowledge of precisely which locations their website visitors are viewing opens the door to location-based advertising of unprecedented and verifiable accuracy.
• Better directions—PDT assists users requesting directions, allowing the users to follow a route and see all necessary detail.

Find out more

For a list of the Features and Benefits of PDT, see the PDT Product Sheet. For more technical detail on PDT, read our White Papers or Technical Descriptions.