37,500 hand-drawn borders reveal how the world really remembers its maps
37,500 border drawings: a map of the world as people remember it
A visualization of 38,159 drawings from the Borderline game shows every border and coastline people have sketched from memory. The map layers each attempt by accuracy and frequency, so dark lines mean many people drew the same path. Country statistics list median scores and errors—China and Brazil top the list, while the U.S. shows a median error of 211 km.
Drawings have an opacity based on their score and ink builds up. Strong means accurate; dark means many people drew the same line. Nothing is dropped for being a bad guess.
- minervawes
Can this be divided per drawer's country? I'd love to see how Americans draw the world map, versus, say, British or German.
- nicocarsui
Hi all,
I created "Borderline", a border drawing game a few weeks ago.
Since then, thousands of people have played it and I have accumulated over 37,000 drawings, which are now all stacked on a blank canvas.
This allows you to see the world as people remember it.
You can also check similar maps for the US, France, the UK, Germany, Australia, and Switzerland.
Alternatively, you can also draw a few borders yourself (free, no signin required)
- muslimrooftoppa
Also including Portland'n'Seattle?
- jeremyscanvic
Neat! I wonder how they deal with people using possibly different map projections?
- baalimago
We Swedes also try to ignore the Danes as much as possible