07 Jan 2011
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World's first electronic chart, built for oil tankers on the Beaufort sea in the Canadian Arctic: Offshore Systems Precise Navigation System 1979
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First electronic chart from Italy: Navionics Geonav prototype 1984
No-one has written a history of digital charts yet they have seen enormous changes over the last 30 years. Today leisure sailors increasingly use electronic charts and other navigation apps on their mobile phones.
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The future of electronic chart technology is integrated communication and navigation. Commercial chart producers now hope to create user generated content or "crowd-sourced" information layers on to electronic charts, and allow individual users - rather than only hydrographic offices - to highlight features which could be useful for the navigator.
Although electronic charts were first invented in the 1970s, the UK National Maritime Museum's chart collection does not have any electronic charts. My research project thus links the history of electronic charts with the Museum's current holdings in post-1950 electronic navigation instruments, a priority collection area for the Museum. By examining which instruments were interfaced with electronic charts, and which instruments were influential for the development of electronic charts, my project will recommend future acquisitions for the Museum's instrument and cartographic collections.