Obviously the this method won't work for every location around the globe, so the researchers are now working on an automated method that relies on Flickr. The group started by looking at 5 million photos of the same locations that were deemed most beautiful in their initial experiment. They found out that the number of photos of a location and the amount of positive comments generally correlated with its rated beauty. So the team put its method to the test in Boston. Most of the 54 test subjects agreed that the automatically generated "scenic route" was more beautiful than the shorter alternative.

You can check out sample maps in the research paper at the source link if you happen to be in Boston or London. But the next step for Daniele Quercia who headed the project is to build a mobile app that can get a beta test in the wild. Who know, maybe soon enough you'll be able to ask your phone to take you on the scenic route and avoid the soulless expanses of I95.