[ The Pentagon in kaleidoscope view. ]

If you're bored with current views in Google Maps, check out Rorschmap -- and get ready to feel like you're tripping on a psychedelic drug.

Literary publisher and web coder James Bridle used the Google Maps API to let you explore the earth in kaleidoscope view. Type in any location in Rorschmap, then view the map either in satellite view or standard map view. The map has the same controls as a standard Google Map, allowing you to zoom in and out, and move the map around via click-and-drag.

"Rorschmap is cartographic navel-gazing, a reframing of the map," James writes on his blog. "It will not help you find anything. We are bored with your squares and your margins. We want new shapes and new dimensions, the unicode snowmen of visual representation. †‡†, as the man said."

LAUNCH has contacted James and will update this story if we receive a response.

When you inevitably get confused and disoriented, click "Where am I?" located in the toolbar at the bottom of the page. The Rorschmap works on most modern browsers and is optimized for iPad, though it is a bit slower to load. James's other projects include Robot Flaneur: Exploring Google Street View and Open Bookmarks.

Robot Flaneur lets you explore cities like Manhattan, San Francisco and London through Google Maps street views. The view automatically changes every 30 seconds. Open Bookmarks is a personal project to help enhance social reading for eBooks.

SCREEN SHOTS

The San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge.

The Empire State Building in New York, NY.

CONTACTS & LINKS

James Bridle
Twitter: @jamesbridle
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesbridle
Blog: booktwo.org/james-bridle/