LOKO.travel — Living Map & Directory Network
How we co-engineered LOKO.travel and hoian.loko.travel, a map-first local directory and interactive 3D geospatial engine built on 100% foot-verified ground data for Hội An, Vietnam.
The Generic Map Data Deficit
Global map providers like Google Maps and OpenStreetMap suffer from significant gaps when applied to historic tourist hubs like Hội An's Ancient Town. Generic maps lack crucial, tourist-intent micro-data: tailor turnaround times, price brackets, verified open hours, multi-language fluency, and walking-street access rules.
Furthermore, vehicle navigation systems often fail in Hội An because vehicle traffic is strictly prohibited during Ancient Town walking hours (09:00–11:00 & 15:00–21:30 daily), routing taxis into illegal pedestrian zones.
Foot-Verified Engine & 3D Interactive Map
We created a ground-truth geospatial data pipeline paired with an immersive vector map UI. Every POI contains a public verification date and field-tested attributes collected on foot by human collectors.
The map features signature "Lantern Mode" (flipping the parchment map into a warm amber night scene), 3D isometric shophouse block extrusions, free keyless vector tiles via MapLibre GL, and pedestrian-aware routing. During walking-street hours, directions dynamically split into a walking leg to the nearest edge pickup gate (e.g. An Hội Bridge Gate) plus a driving leg.
Key Platform Highlights
Engineering & Spatial Tech Stack
Single-Binary Multi-Host Dispatcher
One Bun process serves both the apex marketing site (loko.travel) and city-specific subdomains (hoian.loko.travel, danang.loko.travel waitlist) using Hono host routing, sharing API endpoints and core design tokens without code duplication.
Dual SQLite & Vector Embeddings Data Architecture
Separates read-only committed POI catalog data (hoianhub.db) from user sessions and waitlists (hoianhub-user.db). Integrates sqlite-vec for local semantic search embeddings and SpatiaLite spatial index queries.
Keyless Vector Map Stack
MapLibre GL with OpenFreeMap vector tiles, styled at runtime with custom Hoi An color palettes. Zero external map API keys required, delivering maximum independence, low latency, and zero per-map-view costs.