VerySpatial » LBS

Warrantless GPS tracking unconstitutional

Jesse — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 17:07:24 +0000

Based on a syllabus from the Supreme Court released on January 23, the use of GPS tracking outside of a warrant is a breach of the Fourth Amendment. As stated in the syllabus:

the Government’s physical intrusion on an “effect” for the purpose of obtaining information constitutes a “search.”

There seem to be quite a few implications that come out of the decision that attaching the device is tantamount to trespassing due to the fact that the action was taken outside of the warrant period (11th of 10 days) and location (Maryland vs DC). There seems to be quite a bit of import being placed on the judgement in the couple of articles I have seen so far, however the wording of the syllabus suggests that the key is the actions and information from outside of the warrant’s parameters as opposed to the collection of location information. I think there will quite a bit of debate this week as to the role of the decision on GPS tracking that we will talk about this weekend on the podcast…check back Sunday for our response to others’ responses.

via Gizmodo

Lego and Augmented Reality

Frank — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 19:24:38 +0000

I’m going to cop to this not being an overtly geographic post… but it’s Lego. And augmented reality. If I may indulge to my inner child for a moment… SQUEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!! In all seriousness, it’s a pretty need implementation of augmented reality in that it doesn’t require any special printing on the box. They simply take the picture in 2D and create a 3D model from its pre-configured library, adding in animation and sound. That works pretty well if you have a set number of known models. I also really like some of the navigation techniques they’ve used.

Via Engadget

Layar Vision – Is mobile AR finally knocking on the door of relevance?

Sue — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 12:00:01 +0000

In the mad scramble to finish editing my PhD dissertation and graduate, I haven’t been following the latest and greatest tech in the geospatial realm as much as I should be, but I am definitely intrigued by the launch of Layar Vision. It’s an extension to the mobile augmented reality Layar platform that allows a smartphone with a Layar Vision app to recognize real-world objects and then trigger digital content based on that object. Developers can build applications that leverage this functionality for all kinds of uses, such as a user in a retail store who wants content on a potential purchase.

What is really interesting to me about Layar Vision, which has also been highlighted in a number of writeups about the launch, is that by giving the smartphone the capability to recognize real-world objects no matter where they are located, you can get around one of the big challenges in implementing AR. By putting the focus on objects rather than locations, you don’t have to create a database of geotagged objects with specific locations. If a user wants augmented content for a new video game, they can scan the game at any place and still get the content. By the same token, if you want the specials at a particular restaurant, you can just scan the menu, no matter where you are sitting in the restaurant. If a developer wants to combine that augmented content with location-specific info, they can link the Layar Vision functionality to other location-based data sets and functions.

Of course, Layar Vision as well as the Layar platform are really developer tools, and the goal is to get consumer applications out there that are built on the platform. To try to get developers working with Layar Vision, Layar is sponsoring the Layar Creation Challenge, which is offering cash prizes to developers who come up with the most useful and innovative concepts for Layar Vision centered around the publishing industry, which is an area where the Layar folks think the technology will really be effective.

What do you think? Is augmented reality finally going to hit the mainstream?

Via FastCompany

Animated Maps on Memorial Day Weekend

Jeff — Sun, 29 May 2011 20:05:58 +0000

On this memorial day weekend the History Channel is kicking off a week of Civil War themed shows. While watching I thought I’d see if there were any interesting maps available on the intertubes. What did I find? Some wonderful animated maps from the Civil War Trust ! The maps are flash based and progress through some key battles of the war. The site also provides users historical maps and new digital maps that are static.

Additionally, the site has available BattleApps. The BattleApps are virtual Civil War tour guides for the war or specific battles for the iPhone or iPad. The apps are location aware and throughout the tour one could view video clips from the national park service and see locations of troops of both the North and South. Another great example of giving old paper maps a new lease on life with digital innovation!

Fredericksburg Gets Civil War App: MyFoxDC.com

Sony SmartAR – markerless augmented reality

Sue — Fri, 20 May 2011 17:22:36 +0000

Augmented reality is one of those technologies that has seemed like it would be next big thing for the last couple of years, but it has proven pretty difficult to translate from WOW factor proof-of-concept prototypes to actual commercial implementations. When I saw this demo video of Sony’s Smart AR, though, I have to say I was pretty impressed with how good the AR model looks in the real-world environment it’s being projected into, and how responsive it is. The SmartAR seems to be able to handle movement in the 3D space really well, and the virtual object is not tied to the marker surface, which is really important in making the augmented reality compelling. Another aspect of SmartAR technology allows a user to capture an image of an object and then access additional information about that object through the device. For Sony, of course, implementing technology like Smart AR for gaming and other commercial uses is certainly a main focus, but I can see tons of other applications for markerless, high-speed augmented reality.

Via Engadget

Emergency Location to the Centimeter

Frank — Wed, 04 May 2011 12:04:06 +0000

It makes sense that emergency response can be quicker and more efficient if they know exactly where to go. GPS is ok, but being off even 10m can be too much. Australia’s Ergon Energy has teamed with Nokia and Samsung to create a system that’s cheap and versatile enough to find callers down to the centimeter. It involves a series of pole mounted GPS stations in a local area working in conjunction with special chips located in cell phones. Being LBS nuts here at VS, it’s obvious to us the commercial applications of this technology beyond emergency response. Knowing exactly where something is happening down to the centimeter is the last major domain to realizing LBS, I think. Look for this to eventually reach US shores, I would imagine.

Via Engadget

World’s First GLONASS Smartphone

Frank — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 14:12:38 +0000

In a world where GPS enabled smartphones are as passe as intermittent wipers on cars and coffee makers with clocks in them, it’s neat to read some exciting new location based technology news. It’s inevitable that phones would begin to launch with alternative location infrastructures than GPS, but I have to say I’m slightly shocked it was this early. Obviously the phone is only available in Russia for now, but there’s nothing inherent to say US phones couldn’t start supporting the system in the future, although that’s highly unlikely anytime soon. What will be interesting is when Europe gets their Galileo system up and running and China gets their Compass system as well. I wouldn’t be shocked to see tri-band phones that support more than just GPS coming in our future.

NASA and Gowalla team up for a nationwide scavenger hunt

Sue — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 05:15:12 +0000

For all of you out there who use Gowalla as your mobile location-based social sharing app, you’ll want to check out the new partnership between NASA and Gowalla that includes a fun virtual scavenger hunt called “Search for Moon Rocks.” Any time you visit a museum, science center, or planetarium that has a real moon rock on display, you can check in and get a virtual moon rock for your Gowalla account. Since NASA astronauts successfully brought lunar samples back to Earth during the Apollo 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, and 17 missions, there are plenty of places where you can find them. To help you out, NASA has posted a fun map visualization of the places where you can find lunar samples on display.

The NASA-Gowalla partnership also allows users to collect 3 other virtual items – a NASA patch, a spacesuit, and a space shuttle – when they check in at NASA visitor centers and other museums and facilities that are part of the NASA Museum Alliance. And, as if that weren’t exciting enough, the 100 Gowalla users to collect 3 out of the 4 NASA patches will receive a copy of the Search for the Moon Rocks map in the mail!

Via GeekSugar

If Google Maps Were Real

Frank — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 13:00:04 +0000

Mashable (perhaps one of the cooler sites I visit each day) has a nifty story about an artist who drew Google Maps icons as if they existed in the real world. It’s rather interesting to think about these big push pins existing in real life, or a pop-up box over a building. Take away the surprised looking people and I think we’ll have a pretty good idea of what large scale augmented reality is likely to look in the near future.

Urbagrams – Mapping the social city

Sue — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 17:52:28 +0000

In order to investigate the idea of a social archipelago, the notion that our cities are “fragmented islands of social activity separated by large areas dedicated to commercial workplaces, flows of vehicles, residential sprawl or industrial sites.” Anil Bawa Cavia analyzed more than a million Foursquare check-ins in a number of cities and mapped those data as points to create a series of social activity density maps, which he calls urbagrams. By looking at the resulting maps for cities such as New York, Paris, and London, we can get a picture of the spatial distribution of social activity through Foursquare, and see where social activity is clustered and how the patterns differ from city to city.

Via Gizmodo