Spatial Dynamics

The big news concerning Steve Job’s announcement of the July 11^th release of the 3G iPhone is its GPS capability. While the demo of the iPhone’s GPS is slightly underwhelming, it’s the first device capable of bringing location-based services to a critical mass.

In ancient times (pre-3G networks), GPS devices were closed mechanisms; a consumer was indentured with manufacturer-provided software. The 3G iPhone is unique since widgets will be available (wirelessly) to satisfy precise needs; from geotagging photos and virtual graffiti (and applications not imagined yet), there will soon be hundreds of free GPS-applications available.

Currently, major companies such as TomTom, (a Dutch maker of global automotive GPS systems) have announced plans integrate its GPS software with the 3G iPhone. Other companies such as Loopt already provide social mapping software on Apple’s AppStore.

Although some analysts may feel that after a surge of initial use, there will be a decline in GPS popularity due to privacy issues. However, younger consumers will likely have fewer privacy concerns as GPS technology becomes increasingly ubiquitous.

The release of the 3G iPhone is enormously important for both location-based services and GIS.

This is going to be huge.

Tags:   GPS · iPhone · location based services2 Comments

Two weeks ago on the BBC, there was an article about a study that was published by the journal Nature that tracked the movements of 100,000 mobile phone users in an undisclosed industrialized country outside the United States. Researchers used cellular towers to track individuals’ locations whenever they received or made phone calls or text messages over six months.

The results indicated that the vast majority of people rarely traveled long distances, most people rarely traveling beyond several miles of a central point. People’s movements appear to follow a power law (or scale invariance).

The study established that nearly half of cellular users usually kept to a circle slightly more than six miles wide, while 83% of the people stayed within a 37-mile wide ring. Only 3% of the population regularly travels beyond a 200-mile wide circle, whereas less than 1% travels often beyond a 620-mile buffer.

Reading about this study provided me inspiration to better analyze the data I’ve collected from my GPS for the past 6+ months.

When examining my data points, the results indicate that over 25% of my data points occur within a mile from my primary residence. Additionally, roughly 65% of my GPS points fall within 3 miles of home. Some of this pattern is because I currently live in a dense, walkable part of DC; the distance between home and work less than 3 miles.

Here are the results in tabular form:

As GPS becomes more integrated into mobile phones, density maps will be effortlessly available to consumers. Furthermore, as location-based services continue to evolve, analysis of travel patterns on a massive scale will improve transportation design and allow for better containment of infectious disease.

Tags:   BBC · GPS · location based servicesNo Comments.

There was recently an article on CNN about a service called Trapster that allows users to share real-time locations of speed traps.

Subscribers are able to use the service using cellphones or PDAs and it has been integrated into Dash Navigation devices. Due to time sensitivity requirements, Trapster combines WiFi technology (provided by Skyhook Wireless) with GPS to provide instantaneous locations. This likely allows Trapster to perform near populated areas due to WiFi coverage.

The service appears to free, though it is unclear how the site makes money since there aren’t any advertisements on its website.

It could be interesting to see what Trapster will do with its historical record of speed traps, future versions may be able to predict where speed traps will be, based on prior reports. This information could be especially valuable on infrequently used roads and areas with less WiFi coverage.

It appears the technology behind Trapster could easily be used for more benevolent purposes, perhaps other services could be able to alert local police/firefighters of accidents, crimes, or fires.

Representatives of Trapster contend that one of the benefits of a service like Trapster is that it will get people to slow down. While this view could be considered arguable, it’s certain that this is the beginning of spatial social networks.

Tags:   CNN · Dash Navigation · location based services · Networked GPS · Wifi · WiMaxNo Comments.

The Economist recently had an article on the evolving locations of server farms throughout the world. Since data processing and warehousing are becoming funtamental to virtually every industry , it’s becoming an essential “utility”.

While it will always be requisite for many servers to be located near population centers for speed requirements (search engine results, real-time financial data, etc), data processing and data back-up facilities can be located practically anywhere on earth, provided the data center has access to fiber-optic lines.

The article mentions how remote Quincy, Washington has become one of the bigger data centers in the United States. Being located on the Columbia River, it not only has access to a cheap hydroelectric power, it has abundant water to cool the fiber-optic lines, and its isolation provides security. According to Wikipedia, the local utility district offers server farms electricity at 3 cents per kilowatt hour, which is about half the national average.

Since almost half of the electricity used at data centers is used for cooling the facility, it makes sense to build these server farms in colder environments. Currently, Iceland is marketing both its cooler climate and abundant geothermal energy to lure data centers, and Microsoft plans on building a data center in Siberia.

In the future, there will likely be options for using the most environmentally friendly data servers. Perhaps there will eventually be a “green search” button on Google’s homepage, allowing consumers to conduct searches using (slightly slower) services of remote data centers.

Tags:   Economist · green technology · server farmsNo Comments.

With the American elections occurring this year, many people have probably witnessed CNN reporter John King at his “magic” wall: an enormous multi-touch map.

Using “on-the-fly” GIS technology, he analyzes voting patterns by turnout, ethnicity, age, religion, education, and even by television markets. It even seems to work well; unlike ArcGIS, I have yet to see it crash.

While the software appears to be custom made for CNN, it’s built on Perceptive Pixel ’s Multi-Touch Screen; a tool that has been limited to presenting data for defense, finance and other government areas.

Perceptive Pixel is a 10-person, New York-based company founded by Jeff Han , a research scientist at NYU (see YouTube demonstration here ). A basic version of Perceptive Pixel’s Multi-Touch Screen costs about $100,000, and CNN’s version is loaded with extensive custom software, making the price considerably more expensive.

Perceptive Pixel is helping to bring GIS technology to the masses. For GIS professionals, perhaps multi-touch interfaces will one day replace the mouse.

Tags:   CNN · GIS3 Comments

As a daily user of a Garmin eTrex Vista HCx , I’m convinced it’s only a matter of time before Garmin handhelds become absorbed within cell phones. While there will always be a market for handhelds, it will likely dwindle as cell phones evolve and incorporate navigation technology.

Garmin has already foreshadowed the demise of handhelds with its introduction of Garmin Mobile . For $10/month, this service appears to transform any modern mobile phone into a navigation device (using cellular signals to acquire coordinates instead of GPS).

It seems GPS is being integrated into mobile phones similar to (once independent) mitochondira being assimilated into more complex cells.

Fortunately for Garmin, the potential opportunities relating to location-based services far outweigh the (relatively minor) losses in the handheld GPS market.

Its obvious Garmin will remain at the forefront in both navigation hardware and software; it appears to be in a good position to take advantage of the growth in both the GPS microchips (embedded in cell phones) and the services/software market.

Tags:   Garmin · GPS · location based services1 Comment

The Washington Post recently had an article regarding a consortium of companies who plan on spending $14.5 billion (more than Bolivia’s GDP) in the creation of the WiMax network. According to the article, delivering maps is one of Google’s main considerations for joining the project.

WiMax is like WiFi, but with a much longer range; it should have the capability to cover most major population areas in the United States and have similar coverage to current cell phone networks.

WiMax has geographic implications and it should revolutionize location-based services, the technology can provide:

Digital graffiti

Networked GPS will enable people to create “virtual graffiti”, allowing users to create and receive messages based on coordinates. While primitive versions of this technology are used in some museum or college tours, WiMax will allow networking on a massive scale. Consumers will be able to see text or video reviews of a restaurant simply by standing near its entrance. Personally, I would like my GPS (which will soon be embedded in my cell phone) to signal when I’m near historical markers.

Vehicle safety

WiMax can provide information to navigation systems that would provide warnings when driving on roads with higher accident densities. These alerts could be calibrated depending on weather and time of year; for example: an icy bridge alert would only occur if a cold front has arrived and recent temperature measurements are below freezing.

The unnoticed power of street signs could be enhanced through warnings based on weather conditions.

Also, the many terabytes of data of Google Earth will finally be available on mobile devices.

It appears the dawn of networked GPS is near.

Tags:   Google Earth · GPS · location based services · satellite navigation · WiMax1 Comment