Reviewed by: Michael Seale
Explore and interact with Huntsville in a unique new way with TinyMap
Reading time: 3 minutes
A fun new way to search for local businesses in Huntsville is launching this Saturday, March 9th: tinymap.app.
Created by local entrepreneurs Gavin Richardson and Eli Walton, TinyMap promises a unique way to explore and interact with Huntsville.
What is TinyMap?
TinyMap is a local start-up whose goal is to innovate a new platform that will act as a hub for people to explore Huntsville interactively, lift local businesses and cultivate the city’s reputation as a growing Entertainment & Tech hub.
Currently, the map has businesses and landmarks that are well known to Huntsville, like the Space and Rocket and Vaun Braun Center, and smaller locations that the creators frequent like Honest Coffee and Canadian Bakin, but Gavin and Eli plan to add smaller businesses that want more foot traffic and hope that the app becomes a place for locals and newcomers to find spots and deals around the city, learn about upcoming events and see innovation and growth within our city.
“Huntsville is still known for our aerospace industry, but alongside the growth we continue to see there, we’ve seen huge growth in technology, sports, culture, arts & entertainment, food, education, and commerce… Last year alone, Huntsville brought in 3.7 million visitors to the city. Our task at TinyMap is to show those people exactly what makes Huntsville, Alabama unique. My goal is to give every one of those visitors a taste of the love and pride we have for our city and our state. We’ve created a platform that’s fun, gamified, easy to use, and most importantly, cool.”
Gavin Richardson, CEO and lead developer of TinyMap
How it works
TinyMap doesn’t have any annoying pop-ups or cookies to worry about and is easy to jump into. When you load in you’ll be greeted with big letters spelling out “Huntsville, AL” that you should go ahead and knock over. The map has a physics engine that lets you interact with objects like a soccer ball at Joe Davis Stadium.
There are interactive points at each landmark that will take you to the business’s website, or for larger locations like Mid-city or the Space and Rocket Center you can enter another map and explore those locations in more detail.
The program runs in a browser on your computer or mobile device (recommended) so you can pull it up from wherever. The app is still in development so there may still be some bugs to work out, but there are plans to add more locations, interaction points and features (like Google Maps integration) in the near future.
The app is up and running now with an official launch this Saturday, March 9. You can check it out and explore TinyMap here.
If you would like to reach out and inquire about getting a location or business added you can email either of the creators Gavin or Eli.
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