Munich
Orientation Convention in Macao
Macao has the option to be world's first city that has realized an international orientation standard, an idea from a Munichian inventor to simplify and harmonize worldwide all orientation means: signage, cartography, navigation devices and verbal expressions.
Within this city, it is (will be) possible to find any target with easy brain work, that means
- without maps, | - without names, |
- without illogical numbers | - without arrows |
- without floor marks | - without square grids |
- without colors | - without compass or other navigation devices |
Buildings, crossings, stop points, bridges etc. have logical addresses like
Macao airport StatusQuo© Macao m4 r45
St. Laurence church
m11:4 r11
Ruin of St. Paul
m12:3
r20
which are easy to understand if you associate the city with a clock as follows:
![]() (c)2007 Munich Orientation Convention www.volksnav.com |
An outstanding point, e. g. the Macao tower, was (will be) defined as a pole m0. Around this pole, the horizon is divided in 12 "horizon hours" m1 to m12 , whereas m12 points to north. Horizon hours are divided in horizon minutes. These are not angles but DISTANCES to the horizon hour, in steps of approx one "block of houses" or 100 meters.Example m9:5 ( read "emm nine point five" or "emm nine five" ). This is a line situated in a distance of 5 x 100m from the horizon hour m9, which points to sunset. The convention for horizon minutes is very easy: the greater, the later. |
Considering the distance to m0 as r = radius also in steps of blocks of houses, logical position codes for targets, buildings, crossings etc. come into existence, e. g. as shown on the picture:
crossing m11:3 r13
In simple words:
"r" is a numbering starting FROM m0,
"m" is a north-direction-based numbering AROUND m0
and this simple methode covers a gigantic market gap:
l o g i c a l and easy understandable p o s i t i o n codes.
Other logical addresses (clockwise):
Portas do Cerco / Barrier gate | m12:10 | r42 |
Senado square | m12:2 | r14 |
Fortress of Mong-Ha | m12:4 | r20 |
Hotel Lisboa | m1 | r11 |
University of Macao | m4:5 | r27 |
Hac Sa beach | m5 | r72 |
Cotai Border Crossing | m5:4 | r50 |
Pousada de Coloane | m5:15 | r79 |
Natural Cartography©: a map with such a polar grid has innovative characteritics, see www.volksnav.com/map Please be aware about the fact that a. m. airport isn't on map but the logical position code make it possible to imagine where it is situated !
Signage: StatusQuo© addresses will be integrated within the existing signage, see www.volksnav.com/lollipop, or be indicated on so-called Orientators©, the signage of the future. Vertical Pointing©: additional to the position information, a round symbol called center or pole pointer will be placed on their periphery to allow to detect the direction m0 according to the following conventions:
etc. Acc. to the same convention, a square symbol points to north = m12. The picture reveils: m12 is behind, the pole is right hand
|
![]() Orientator© |
Navigation / VolksNav©:
The local navigation with the help of such codes is called VolksNav©. As proceeded today with house numbers, VolksNav© is nothing else than the major/minor comparison between "r" and "m" values:
Simply proceed according to 1 -2 -3 :
1
-
Positioning
|
Turn your body until m0 will be BEHIND. In this position,
etc. Beginners have to turn physically, after some exercises anyone will be able to do this by his imagination power. In case you look at above shown Orientator©, you'd have to turn to left, correct? |
|||||||||
2
-
r-comparison
|
Ask yourself: must I move inwards or outwards? ( = is the target radius greater or smaller than the actual one?) |
|||||||||
3
-
m-comparison
|
Ask yourself: must I move to “later” (clockwise) or to earlier? ( = is the target m later or earlier than the actual one?)
|
Let's see an example:
Your target is: ruin of St. Paul m12:3 r20
If you've lost orientation on named crossing m11:3 r13,
so you must go
- outwards (radius r20 is more than actual r13 )
and
- to "later" (clockwise) ( m12 is "later" than the actual m11 )
This may seem to be unfamiliar, but the orientation based on cardinal points is used for some thousand years and imaginary clocks are used by soldiers, boy scouts, pilots, blind people etc. for more than 100 years. On a real situation, VolksNav© can be learned within few minutes, that means, faster than the most seeking times.
Vision:
![]() |
Mobile applications: Very soon also navigation devices and mobile phones will indicate such
logical position codes and cardinal points , see www.volksnav.com/london
You're invited to test the program for pocketPC/smartphone with/without GPS by means of a download from www.volksnav.com |
Natural World Co-ordinates: the same addressing methode will soon also be used
- indoor www.volksnav.com/deutschesmuseum
and
- within the whole globe, see www.watchrose.com. Acc. to this, the international City Code of Macao is
WatchRose© m2:710 r90 30
What is this good for? Just comparing the codes for example of Macao and
Guangzhou WatchRose© m2:640 r89 25
it is possible to evaluate that
- the position of Guangzhou is "earlier" and closer to Munich than Macao, more exactly
:710 - :640 = 70 km earlier
r9030 - r8925 = 105 km closer
- the distance between both locations, the hipotenuse, will be between 105 and 105+70 km.
- for advanced users:
the egocentrical direction Macao / Guangzhou (to earlier/to inside) is QuoVides(R) 11, see www.quovides.com