Natural orientation in Hamburg, according to the Munich Orientation Convention. 

Hamburg 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 all orientation means worldwide: 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 colours - without compass  - without navigation devices

Targets, crossings, squares, stations, bus stops, bridges etc. have logical addresses like

 
         StatusQuo© HBG m12:3 r21    

which are easy to understand if you associate the city with a clock according to following convention

The Mayor House is defined as the 

    centrum m0 

Around this pole, the horizon is divided in 12 directions   

     m1  to  m12

These m-directions are also called horizon hours and m12 points to north. 

Horizon hours are divided in horizon minutes, not as angles but as DISTANCES to the horizon hour, in steps of 1 "block of houses", approx. 100 m. 

    Example:  m8:5  

( read   "emm eight point five"   or   "emm eight five" ). 

This is the code for an imaginary line which is parallel to the m8 line in a distance of 500 m. The convention for the minutes is simple:

 THE GREATER, THE LATER 

 

Considering the distance to m0 as r = radius also in "blocks", logical position codes for targets, buildings, crossings etc. come into existence, e. g. as shown on the picture: 

        crossing StatusQuo© HBG m10:4 r15

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 easily understandable  p o s i t i o n   codes.

 (  for advanced readers: the minutes will never exceed half the radius !! )

 

Natural Cartography©: 

a map with such a polar grid has innovative characteristics, see www.volksnav.com/map . Be aware that the mentioned location  m12:3 r21 is outside of the map but it is possible to imagine where it is !!.

 

Orientators©, the signage of the future

StatusQuo© addresses will be integrated within the existing signage, see www.volksnav.com/lollipop, or be indicated on so-called Orientators©.

Vertical Pointing©: additional to the position information, a round symbol called center pointer will be placed on their periphery to allow to detect the direction m0  according to the following conventions: 

           Orientator©

 
if the pointer is placed on top m0 will be in front of you
  on bottom   behind
  right hand   right hand

etc. Acc. to the same convention, a square symbol points to north = m12. 

The picture above reveils: m12 is behind, the Mayor House is on the right hand side.

 

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  

physical

or

mental

Positioning

 

  

Turn your body until m0 will be BEHIND. In this position, 

ahead will be outwards
right hand " to later (clockwise)
left hand " to earlier

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? 

 ( in other words: 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?  

( in other words: is the target m later or earlier than the actual one?)

Let's see an example shown on picture: 

If your target is:         m12:3 r21  

and you've lost orientation at crossing     m10:4 r15, 

so you must move

- outwards ( r21 is more than actual  r15 )

and

- to "later" (clockwise)   ( m12  is "later"  than m10 )

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 most seeking times. 

 

Vision:

Indoor signage: the same methode can also be used indoors, e. g. www.volksnav.com/tugarching.   

Natural World Co-ordinates: the same addressing methode can also be used on the whole globe, see  www.watchrose.com. 

Acc. to this, the international City Code of Hamburg is:  

            WatchRose© m11:215 r610

Just comparing this code for example with 

             Buxtehude WatchRose© m11:190 r605

 it is possible to evaluate that 

- the position of Hamburg "later" and farther to Munich than Buxtehude, more exactly:

 radius610 - r605 = 5 km farther

:215 - :190 = 25 km later

- the distance between both locations, the hipotenuse, is about 28 km 

- for advanced readers: acc. to www.quovides.com, the direction Buxtehude/Hamburg (outwards, to earlier) is QuoVides® 2.

 

Mobile applications:

Very soon also navigation devices and mobile phones will indicate such logical position codes and cardinal points, see www.volksnav.com/london