Mental Maps: Making the invisible, visible!

Mental mapping visualizes the imaginary maps people carry in their minds to navigate in geographic space. Sorin Matei has found an efficient way to make these maps visible and analyzable with quantitative methods.

Mental maps are colored by emotions and preconceptions, varying a good deal from the cartographic maps that represent the geographic space they cover.

Sorin Matei has developed a new method of visualizing mental maps, using computer technology (Geographic Information Systems). His method makes invisible mental maps into two and three dimensional graphics.

Geologic or social morphologies are replaced by social and emotional landscapes. These, just like physical space, can be seen as peaks and valleys, as plains and canyons.

Los Angeles three-dimensional mental map of fear. Mountain and green areas represent zones perceived as comfortable; valleys and canyons in red represent areas perceived as "feared." For details see the Showcase section or read this paper

This site is dedicated to presenting this novel mental mapping methodology. It is also designed as a resource for those interested in mental mapping, in general.

The site includes a Virtual Reality Model (VRML) of one Los Angeles mental geography and a bibliographic database with links to relevant projects.

NEW:

LOCUS: SPACE, COMMUNICATION, COGNITION, SOCIETY is a peer reviewed journal in the process of launching. It will be soon opened for submissions.

Budapest, Hungary, Mental Mapping Conference: CALL FOR PAPERS