Categories
Thoughts

Wikitude Drive – AR Navigation System :Mobilizy

Mobilizy, the Austrian developers of the first mainstream Augmented Reality (AR) application for the Android Platform have been experimenting over the summer and have developed Wikitude Drive a simple navigation system with as your would expect a AR interface.

As you can see from the youtube video it’s a interesting concept, and certainly something with great potential.

My guess is that the accuracy of the GPS and Digital Compass in the current generation of mobile devices is not quite there yet to make an interface that works well for this type of application, but this is a big step forward.

It’s great to see Mobilizy continuing to innovate in this way, and they deserve every success when the product in launched soon on Android and the iPhone!

Written and submitted from home, using my home 802.11 network

Categories
Thoughts

Webapps the future of LBS ?

openairI have been quoted in a report from ZDNet Asia about the future for stand alone GPS devices. While I agree with the general point of the article in that stand alone GPS devices are not yet doomed, I think we are beginning to see just how useful location is when integrated with other information.

To use location as contextual information the device of choice is of course the smart-phone, which as well as knowing your location also has access personal information you may be storing on the device or via the its wireless the web.

Of course the web also provides access to to other sources of information.

OK, you may say nothing new here, but I would argue there has been a very important change in the last few months..

It is now trivial to build applications that use location as web apps completely by-passing any vendor or network control, and deliver really useful applications quickly. Importantly this is possible via a web standard so the application works in  most modern mobile web browsers and is therefore cross-platform.

A great example of this type of development is the BBC OpenAir app, which provides you with a local weather forecast and the location of your nearest park or open space.

Note : Sorry for the poor blogging service recently, holidays and business travel I’m afraid : Normal service is now resumed.

Written and submitted from home, using my home 802.11 network