Mile-High Map Illustrations

In preparation for Sony’s release of its personal navigation device, the ‘nav-u NV-U35,’ an interactive marketing and advertising initiative titled The Tokyo Zoo Project, has its GPS drawings underway. This project is designed to get consumers involved via social media and allows them to see Sony’s latest navigation device in action. The project, which was started by ad agency Frontage, aims at involving individuals -- through various social media including Twitter -- to spread the word about Sony’s newest GPS model. The project includes a crew of cyclists who travel to Tokyo with their GPSs in hand and avid social media users who direct the drawings they create. The way the project works is that cyclists receive "tweet requests" of animals that social media users would like to see aerially recreated -- the only catch being that the cyclists have to create intricate zoo-inspired illustrations solely with their GPS-logged routes.

Using just their GPS devices, cyclists must plan a precise route, no doubt, showing off the precision able with Sony’s ‘nav-u NV-U35' so they can create the illustrations that an eager audience has requested. The Tokyo Zoo Project’s GPS drawings have been nominated for a Webby Award for "Best Visual Design-Function" for this innovative advertising campaign.