VGMap - vector flash overlays for Google Maps mashups

At first glance this New York City subway map might look to you like just another transit mashup. It's not. It's a Google Maps mashup that is powered by a technology called VGMap from Eyebeam Research. The concept is described to me by Eyebeam's R&D Technical Director Michael Frumin as: "A new free and open-source library that allows designers, developers, and mapping geeks to overlay data on top of Google Maps in a richer way than is possible using their standard system. It is called VGMap because it adds vector-drawing capability to the already-awesome GMap API."

The NYC subway mashup below is unlike any Google Maps mashup you've ever navigated since it makes use of VGMap to integrate a vectored flash overlay to the regular Google Maps interface:


For more information on VGMap, check out the Eyebeam site:


The stated goal of VGMap is this: "Our hope is that VGMap will help to provide baseline technology for building open, web-based GIS applications using Google Maps as the base layer."
..This can only mean that VGMap will facilitate some great new Google Maps in the months to come. I'll be keeping my eye on this and will keep you posted.