Just launched by the Virtual Book Company is what's claimed
to be 'the world's first fully interactive, living book' - The
South West Coast Path.
What exactly is a 'virtual book'? In this case it's an ingenious
mix of video footage - more than 90 minutes of it - combined with
more than 800 colour photos, route maps and details, Memory Map fly
though and rather cunningly - if you're connected to the internet -
live links to weather and tourist information and, rather usefully,
GPS data for all the 40 walks described in the 'book'.
You can also, say the publishers, download the walk commentary and
images to an iPod or other MP3 player and take it along on your walk
or just print off a relevant map and information.
It's a bit like a very lush, glossy, content rich web site, but on
a DVD and because the links are to live information, like a web site,
it shouldn't go out of date. Oh, and apparently the project has taken
nine years to complete.
What's It Like?
Well, it's compatible with both PC and Mac and runs under Flash
Player and it's really rather good. Okay, the video stuff - there's a
segment for each selection of the coast path and associated circular
walks - isn't exactly cutting edge, but it gives you a great visual
picture of the terrain together with some basic background
information on the walk.
That's just the start though. From the basic walk screen you can
view 3D fly-throughs, download map and instructions from the Virtual
Book Company's web site, check out images from the area, get details
of places to eat and drink, see tide tables or the latest weather
forecast and lots more. You can even bring up a topographical data
window showing a graph or elevation against distance.
For GPS users, the option to download data is handy, but bearing
in mind that it's in the .mmo memory map format, so you may need to
do some conversion work if you use other mapping software.
Generally the navigation is obvious straightforward to use which
is just as well seeing as there's no help section included.
Overall we're pretty impressed. It's a great mix of web
information, video footage, mapping and images and would be well
worth the £19.95 + £1.95 p and p price if you were thinking
of tackling either the SWCP itself or spending a week or two in the
area knocking off a selection of smaller walks.
You can find more information and order the book on line at
www.virtualbookcompany.co.uk.
