Analysis of interactive image technologies

Interactive images can increase the popularity of some existing technologies. Although the most popular way to create interactive images is using the already popular maps engines, there is a large number of available options. In this paper, we analyze several Maps APIs and evaluate the most suitable API for interactive images regarding its usability, accessibility and performance. The result is that the Google Maps API, Leaflet, and Open Layers are solutions that can be easily fit for use in interactive images. Nevertheless, if the users tend to have a full control of these APIs they should stick to the open source solutions since their opponents require API keys and are free of charge for a limited time only.