Tag Archives: iPhone

Feb 01, 2011

An NEH Digital Humanities Start-Up Grant to Enable PhillyHistory.org to Experiment with Augmented Reality

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We’ve been announcing loud and clear that we are adding augmented reality capabilities to PhillyHistory.org, a web application we built for the Philadelphia Department of Records that enables the geographic search and management of tens of thousands of historic photos and maps.

Currently, PhillyHistory users are able to search the website from their smart phones and compare the historic images from PhillyHistory.org with the location where they are standing.  If they are not standing in the street, they can also access  contemporary 360-degree street level views on PhillyHistory.org,  thanks to the system’s integration with Google Street View and Google Earth, to see what a location looks like today.  However, augmented reality technology is different in the sense that it enables users to access additional information about the world around them in relation to their location as they point their smart phone directly at a building or street.

Why are we involved in this?

Research.  While we hear and have read about unbelievably exciting projects using augmented reality, like the app released a few months ago by the Museum of London, augmented reality technology is still in its infancy and not much has been written about what is and is not possible.  The Philadelphia Department of Records was awarded an NEH Digital Humanities Start-Up Grant to research both the creation of historic photographs as overlays and how augmented reality scales with a very large database of assets. Remember, PhillyHistory.org currently holds over 93,000 assets (and is still growing)!

The Department of Records will initially provide point-and-view access to a subset of approximately 500 historic photographs of selected sites around the city (thanks to Deb Boyer and our great PhillyHistory interns*) for a prototype application we are building as part of our research. Users will be able to automatically access and view the historic photographs by simply pointing a smart phone at the contemporary site and selecting an available image.  The prototype application will focus on images from several neighborhoods in the downtown area although images from other neighborhoods will also be used in order to evaluate issues such as tree cover, building height and other sources for multi-path error that may affect the accuracy of the augmented reality display.  In addition to the 500 photographs, the project team will work with an advisory committee, three of whom are the co-editors of the planned Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia, to provide additional interpretive information for up to 20 of the 500 sites.

Josh Marcus who is working with Erik Osheim on the prototype application is already recording his progress in a Developer Journal on our Labs blog, but we are also planning to publish a white paper through NEH later this year to summarize our findings, which we will make available for free.  The white paper will outline our research into various methods for creating an augmented reality application as well as the implementation process in both iPhone and Android platforms.  We hope our conclusions on the successes and challenges will prove useful to other organizations considering implementation of augmented reality applications.

* Read captivating blogs written by Hillary Kativa, Timothy Horning, Leslie O’Neill, and Deb on PhillyHistory.org’s blog.  Great thanks go to our guest PhillyHistory bloggers as well: Steve Ujifusa, Ron Hoess, Shawn Evans, Christopher Dougherty, Harry Boonin, Ron Avery, and others.

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Sep 17, 2010

Four New GNSS Satellites and an Augmented Reality iPhone App Launched

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Russia’s GLONASS constellation moved a step closer to full global coverage with the launch of three new satellites on September 2, 2010.  At present, twenty-one GLONASS satellites are operational, and two others are considered spares.  Three additional satellites are scheduled for launch in November, and the first in a series of GLONASS-K satellites is scheduled to launch in December.  The new GLONASS-K series will feature a longer lifespan of up to ten years and additional signal capacity.  With a full constellation expected to be complete by the end of the year, Russia is currently promoting its GNSS technology to both foreign and domestic manufacturers of navigational receivers and related products.

On September 11, 2010, Japan launched the first in a series of three satellites that will provide enhanced navigation signals for Japan and portions of the surrounding Asia-Pacific region.  The Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) is named for the asymmetrical Figure-8 orbit that will keep at least one satellite almost directly overhead – at the zenith – at all times.  For high accuracy positioning, the ideal satellite geometry is to have one satellite at the zenith and three others broadly scattered around it.  The new satellite, also known as “Michbiki,” will send signals that are interchangeable with those of the United States’ GPS constellation, thus allowing the QZSS to augment the eight to eleven GPS satellites that are normally available over Japan at any given time.  When fully operational in 2013, the three QZSS satellites will reduce ranging errors and increase positioning accuracy even in areas of Japan where urban canyons or mountainous terrain have previously been an issue

Even before Michibiki was launched, it had its own iPhone/iTouch application. QZ-Finder allows users to keep track of QZSS and GPS satellite positions overhead with a compass-like skyplot view as well as a world map view that shows how the satellites are distributed around the globe and even tracks the QZSS orbit trajectory.  The new app also features an augmented reality view of the satellites that can be accessed through the user’s iPhone camera and even incorporated into a photograph for an image that is truly “out of this world.”

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Feb 22, 2010

Solar Activity May Impact GPS Users

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A solar flare that occurred on February 12, 2010 may signal a return to high solar activity after several months of sustained low activity.  Intense solar flares can cause temporary disruptions in GPS signals due to the high levels of radiation they release into the Earth’s atmosphere. 

Solar activity generally occurs in eleven-year cycles, with the next peak expected by 2012.  Increased solar activity is particularly troublesome for the navigation devices many drivers reference in their vehicles.  GPS blackouts may last for a number of minutes during periods of peak solar activity and may occur several times each year.  In addition to GPS blackouts, the atmospheric charge can impact the amount of time it takes for a GPS signal to make it to a GPS receiver, which causes inaccurate readings.  Positioning may be off by as much as thirty feet during these periods, which will have the greatest impact on GPS survey equipment. 

For iPhone users that want to keep track of solar activity, NASA has helped implement a new app called “3D Sun” that allows users to access a live global view of the sun.  Data is provided in near real-time fashion by NASA’s STEREO mission, a pair of satellites that provide coverage of both sides of the sun simultaneously.  More information on the app is available at http://3dsun.org/.

A high resolution 2D image of the sun taken by NASA's STEREO mission. STEREO is monitoring solar activity that may interfere with GPS and other signals. (Public domain image courtesy of NASA.)

A high resolution 2D image of the sun taken by NASA's STEREO mission. STEREO is monitoring solar activity that may interfere with GPS and other signals. (Public domain image courtesy of NASA.)

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Nov 10, 2009

Augmented Reality for Smart Phones

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Smart phones combine Internet access and camera capabilities with conventional cell phone functionality.  The most recently released smart phones have global positioning systems (GPS), magnetic compass and accelerometer capabilities built in that determine where the phone’s user is standing, in which direction the phone is pointing, and at what angle the phone is tilted.  This past summer, the Google Android and Apple iPhone platforms were enhanced to enable software developers to interface with the camera display controls and overlay additional information. Referred to as “augmented reality,” these new capabilities enable smart phone users to automatically access selected information about the world around them in order to augment their reality experience.

Augmented reality technology is extremely new, and its full potential still remains to be seen.  Applications have already been developed to help users identify landmarks, learn about architecture, locate public transportation stops and even find their cars in crowded parking lots.  Once an augmented reality application has been downloaded to a user’s smart phone, there is no need to access a traditional website or even enter a street address or other search criteria in order to use it.  The augmented reality data simply appears on the smart phone’s camera screen in response to the phone’s location.  For example, a smart phone user could point the phone’s camera at a local street scene and instantly access prices, room sizes and other information about available real estate within camera range.  Depending on the application, the augmented reality data might appear as an overlay at the bottom of the camera display, or as lines of text superimposed directly on a selected site in the camera’s viewfinder. 

Azavea recently assisted the Department of Records City Archives with a  grant application that could bring augmented reality to the City of Philadelphia.  If funding is approved, the proposed application will enable point-and-view access to designated historic photographs from the PhillyHistory.org website for selected locations around the City.  The Department of Records believes that augmented reality will provide an innovative means of engaging students in the study of history, architecture and photography.  A secondary benefit of this exciting technology would be the enhancement of local tourism, since tourists will be able to access archival photographs and background information about an historic building while literally standing at its doorstep.  Best of all, users will be able to download the proposed augmented reality application at no cost directly from the PhillyHistory.org website. 

The example image below is courtesy of Mobilizy/Wikitude World Browser (www.mobilizy.com).

 

 

 

Augmented reality applications, like the Wikitude World Browser shown here, allow users to access information about the world around them in relation to their locations. The augmented reality data appears as an overlay on the camera display and can be paged through much like standard web pages. The Philadelphia Department of Records is pursuing a grant that could provide point-and-view access to historic photographs of selected=

Augmented reality applications, like the Wikitude World Browser shown here, allow users to access information about the world around them in relation to their locations. The augmented reality data appears as an overlay on the camera display and can be paged through much like standard web pages. The Philadelphia Department of Records is pursuing a grant that could provide point-and-view access to historic photographs of selected locations in a prototype augmented reality application. Users will be able to automatically access and page through the historic photographs by simply pointing a Smart Phone at the contemporary site.

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Sep 25, 2009

The Dawn of Background iPhone Geolocation

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Maybe AT&T and Loopt are reading our blog?   It would be nice to imagine, but either way I’m glad of the news that Loopt and AT&T are working together to support background updating of geolocation from iPhones.

The concept of a continuously published stream of locations for a user is immensely powerful.  Imagine if the iPhone would publish updated geo-location which was shared with applications that the user granted access.    Loopt could let me know that my friend is nearby without me having to open the application to update my location.

I held off writing this post in the hopes of being part of the trial, but unfortunately haven’t been able to use the service first hand.

I can understand charging for the availability of this data, but the charge shouldn’t be associated with only one service — Loopt.   How about a standardized feed of my iPhone’s location that requires authorization to use, AT&T?   Then, I could share this feed with whatever services I wanted.  Now that I would pay for.

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