Maptor is an innovative portable map projector concept by Jin-Sun Park and Seon-Keun Park that promises to eliminate the need for paper maps.
Equipped with GPS and a small projector, Maptor allows the user to display map on almost any surface and view their current location.
Concept Design by Jin-Sun Park and Seon-Keun Park.
Also check out: Bicycle Safety Projector
Mika
What a cool concept! Though, Google maps on my cellphone does essentially the same thing :P
Sep 19th, 2009
kruiOne
woah… really cool.
phones do have GPS or Google maps..but too small screen to see streets. this is innovative.
Sep 19th, 2009
Pya
bullshi* when you can have an application on your cellphone!
Sep 20th, 2009
Nilesh Pawar
Concept can be extended to project the mobile screen or a very tiny computer’s screen. Can be used to create a Pen Sized computer with projected screen and projected keyboard. I had seen a Canesta projected keyboard 5 years ago.
Sep 20th, 2009
Geoff
Ummm… this wouldn’t work in daylight.
Sep 20th, 2009
Betty Cires
Lost? Never more!
Sep 20th, 2009
Helene
The business!! Want one, would be really handy navigating the streets of my home city. Have google maps on my phone but too small to read especially when you are in a hurry!
Sep 20th, 2009
Phillip
Would really like one but, as previously suggested – my iphone would do a better job in the daylight. Very cool at night or in a group of people wandering a city.
Didin;t notice a “logging” functions, which would seriously increase it;s potential
Sep 20th, 2009
Karin Stewart
Not everyone has an iphone or a GPS. I have traveled the country so much, I can pretty much do so WITHOUT a map except for in big cities. Paper maps are a MESS, especially in traffic. This could make thing much simpler…just pull to the curb if you aren’t sure and shine a lite! Any shade will do! Very innovative concept that has a use for lots of people.
Sep 21st, 2009
Julie
That wouldn’t really work in daylight would it?
Sep 21st, 2009
monospin
Geoff said
“Ummm… this wouldn’t work in daylight.”
Excactly. To prove this concept, just get a strong flash light and a tiny transparent map. Should be quite easy to assemble.
In these concept images, the maptor is projecting shadows.
It is unpossible!
Sep 21st, 2009
Helena
I agree that you wouldn’t see this in daylight…I’m pretty sure this was put together digitally just to explain the concept…but it IS a neat idea. I guess iPhones and stuff will make this redundant. Although, since I don’t have an iPhone it would be nice to have a special map display, translater device for world travel. (it would have to be cheaper than an iPhone to make it commercially viable though!)
Sep 21st, 2009
whattheF
I don’t understand why anyone in their right mind would carry an EXTRA piece of hardware. If you would buy this thing, you might as well just buy a GPS enabled cell phone. I mean. ESPECIALLY if you’re traveling. Throw a GSM chip in your phone and go! The phone will be subsidized by telecom, will be able to update maps on the fly. How the hell will this device connect to the web? WiFi? Good luck with all the locked down networks. Or will it just make you buy grossly overpriced GPS maps? And, what, you’ll go find a dark hole somewhere away from the daylight so you can look at a nice big map on a rough surface? With all the surface details distorting everything on the projected image. This is ridiculous. What about parallax distortion? And how will you hold it still enough so that you can actually read it? Will it come with a “handy” tripod? Jesus. They’ll give an industrial design degree to ANYONE these days.
Sep 23rd, 2009
kombizz
It is an amazing concept.
I wonder how soon we can see it in the market.
Sep 24th, 2009
paulo
Cool , but idon´t know the price , is it cheap ?
Sep 24th, 2009
Emi
Someone knows how much does that cost ? and where can we buy it ?
Thks !
Oct 1st, 2009
kaonashi
I’m amazed at how many people commenting here (esp whattheF on Sep 23) are displaying such outright hostility to a new idea. So it has a few flaws, no need to get so worked up. Do you expect every new idea to be perfectly polished with no problems at all? Or are you just opposed to people thinking and coming up with new ideas period?
Oct 20th, 2009
Jeremy
So, I have to carry another device that’s capable of feeding it the data via Bluetooth. Can you name one device that can do that that wouldn’t be able to just show me the map by itself?
Also, to the “wouldn’t be visible in daylight” people. There are laser-based projectors being built now that would allow for this.
Oct 20th, 2009
Moi
any one can help us , we need to get that device ? is it available in the market? and whats the price?
thanks alot..
Oct 21st, 2009
Fill
The point of this is to eliminate paper maps? What’s wrong with paper maps? They work in bright sunlight, they are cheap, they are easily ‘upgraded’ (recycle it and buy a new one), they even work if they get wet, they weigh almost nothing, they can’t break, they don’t take batteries, they don’t need a suitable surface to project on to, etc.
I don’t buy that this device is more convenient than paper. Sure, a paper map doesn’t show you where you are, but you don’t have to be a genius to know how to read street signs.
Still, if they can sell it for under $50, then they might have something. But, a bright enough projector that’s that small and runs on batteries is a stretch right now.
PS- And they forgot to include a compass? (*shakes head*)
Oct 22nd, 2009
Greg
If you need to use your Maptor in daylight in a strange city, just find a dark,secluded alley and shine in on a trashcan.
I suppose if you don’t have a GPS phone and these things are cheap enough…maybe.
Nov 3rd, 2009
Bill
OK, so it has a few problems.
– difficult to see in sunlight
– requires a smooth, neutral colored surface to shine on. Probably difficult to use while riding in a crowded bus or driving for example. You could project it on your palm, but that might be difficult to accomplish while you are driving: holding the projector with one hand while shining it on the palm of the other, while driving with your knees……
– projected image gets larger when the projector is farther from the projected surface… but since you’re holding the projector, the image appears smaller since you’re viewing it from farther away. End result is that you will be able to resolve the same amount of detail in the image when projected on your hand as when projected on a wall… in which case it’s no better than an LCD display
– Image brightness. The bigger the image, the dimmer it gets.
– Focus. You need to focus this, depending on how far away the surface is… unless you always project the same distance, on your palm for example.
– Stability. Hard to hold a projector stable enough to read small details. Maybe it needs a small tripod.
– Battery life. Notice the “hole to discharge the heat being generated”. How many minutes will this high-power laser projector be able to display before the batteries go flat?
So ideally it would have an LCD screen, for image brightness, resolution, and battery life. And it should have a radio connection so that it could update map information. Also would be nice if you could place a telephone call on that radio connection to request help or additional information… Oh Wait! I just invented the cell phone!!
Nov 7th, 2009
Bewer
I’m still waiting for a hat that projects glowing meter-seized video game arrows over my head so i can find my way home after a night out…
Nov 7th, 2009
LJ
That music makes me cringe.
Nov 9th, 2009
Kevin
Dear designers: We hate you. Kind regards, engineers.
Nov 12th, 2009
JOsh
one thing…how do you load the maps onto the device?
Nov 12th, 2009
Moji
Great idea but you will NEVER get a projection as clear as that on the surfaces shown.
Nov 17th, 2009
Cara
the amount of light that thing would have to put out to show up in mid day would have to be crazy. it would melt!
Nov 22nd, 2009
rubia
calm down whattheF its only a idea not every 1 uses phones but you do make a valid point about particular surfaces, the map might get distorted
Dec 8th, 2009
kyle
um, correct me if im wrong but this says projector – not transparent map with a flashlight behind it.
anyone who says a projector cannot work in daylight needs to update themselves. high lumen projectors have been more than capable of daylight display for a over a decade. this size is the neat part.
i highly doubt they would overlook that minor detail, of not being able to see the maps. plus, on the concept shots are in daylight. again, i can’t see how they would overlook that.
Dec 21st, 2009
Elvis
hey man this is awsome is this gonna be in Trinidad and Tobago I would really like to get 1. And why not make it so that it connect to a laptop or phone that would be cool to
Dec 26th, 2009