What if the Map itself became the Web? — Hyper-Layering at SotM Asia 2026
On September 7, 2026, I gave a keynote at State of the Map Asia 2026 in Osaka.
The title was:
What if the Map itself became the Web?
The talk looks back at the thirty-year journey of Hyper-Layering Architecture (HLA), from its origins in 1995 to its current implementation as Layers as Web Apps.
The central idea is simple: instead of collecting and integrating information into a central system, independent Web resources can remain independent while users compose them together as map layers in the browser.
The keynote demonstrates this approach with real-world systems, disaster information, thematic mapping, different map projections, QuadTree Composite Tiling, and client-side spatial operations.
It also looks ahead to HLA 3.0 and the possibility of bringing hyper-layering into the Web itself.
And, of course, OpenStreetMap plays an important role in this story.
OpenStreetMap made the map open. What comes next?
Perhaps we can build an Open Map Web on top of it.
Watch the keynote
The complete keynote, including the demonstration, slides, is available here:
SotM Asia 2026 — What if the Map itself became the Web?
If this direction interests you, please join the W3C Maps for HTML Community Group and join the discussion about the future of maps on the Web.