You buy a blank globe, and it comes with pre-printed pads of wedge-shaped graph paper that you stick on with specially designed fasteners. Now draw something, anything you want, on the surface of the globe.

The globe isn't a perfect sphere, but instead is designed to fit your paper wedges perfectly, the idea being to maximize comfort and precision when drawing directly on the globe. You don't want paper bunching up and slipping around.

Once you're done with your design, you can simply take it off and store your sheets of paper in a book or file, and put a new blank surface on the globe. Or, leave the old design on, and stick your new pieces of paper on top, to allow for tracing and comparing. If you're really ambitious, you could create global animations (they'd have to be subsequently scanned into a computer, but it would be pretty awesome).

Alternate pads can be included, or sold separately, with coordinate systems printed on them. Or the globe could come with a DVD (or web link) with printable templates.

For a high-tech version, the surface of the globe is a digital writing tablet. Software automatically transfers whatever you've drawn into a 2-d picture of a globe on your computer's monitor, or it can display it as any pre-programmed map projection.

Applications include:

Sketching out global ideas, like visualizing ocean currents, satellite paths, airplane routes, plate tectonics.

Use in teaching. Help students to visualize global concepts.

Creating imaginary worlds for science fiction and fantasy.

Playing Risk board game, and other global board games. As well as designing alternate maps for board games.

Sketching out math problems on a (approximately) spherical graph surface.
-- Bootbuckles, Aug 20 2010

Idea Globe or Polar Chalk Board http://www.flickr.c...-72157594340730434/
This is what gave me the inspiration. [Bootbuckles, Aug 20 2010]

Paper Globe http://www.korthals...l.php?name_en=globe
Pretty much this. but with a solid centre so you can draw on it after assembly. [Bootbuckles, Aug 21 2010]

Not bad [+]
-- 8th of 7, Aug 20 2010


I'm not sure about the shape. Long, thin pieces of paper would be hard to manage near the poles. Maybe there could be cone-shaped pieces for the poles.

Another design goal would be to create the system so that any spherical drawing could be rotated, even inverted to any orientation on the sphere. Perhaps a soccerball shape would achieve this.
-- Bootbuckles, Aug 21 2010


Hat's off, [Boot], great idea. Put me down for three of 'em. Bun! [+]
-- Grogster, Aug 21 2010


Problem with the 3rd application: my story takes place on a ringworld.
-- DrWorm, Aug 21 2010


yep. Needs baking.
-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Aug 21 2010


I'm picturing a ring of binder clips at the north and south poles. I guess it's up to the actual designer to work out how to make them as unobtrusive as possible.
-- Bootbuckles, Aug 21 2010



random, halfbakery