Times are changing : how new technologies diversify the role of the surveyor
Thomas, Vincent & Matthieu Bach
Times are changing. New technologies bring people closer, making the world smaller. Smartphones are now democratized and loaded with miniaturized hardware components that were expensive and hardly compatible only a decade ago (GPS receiver, digital compass, accelerometers and gyroscope). By combining data from these components, an absolute position and orientation of the device at the surface of the Earth can be calculated. Also, the main players in the smartphone market (iOS, Android, Windows Phone, Blackberry) all offer a software development kit (SDK) enabling developers to build their own applications and easily publish them afterwards. Therefore, the table is now set to provide context-related geospatial information at mobile users. For instance, a tourist in a foreign city wants to have dinner, but he cannt read the signs. A dedicated mobile application can help him find a restaurant suitable for his needs: under a certain price, serving typical food and at a reasonable walking time from his position. In addition to the common map view displaying the selected restaurant, an icon representing its direction can also be drawn directly in real time over the camera video stream. Augmented reality triggers the imagination and creativity since it is possible to display any virtual object at a specific location on Earth. Imagine visualizing through your mobile device a virtual 3D model of a new building to be built at site. You could then send your comments on the fly to decision makers about the way the building integrates in the existing environment. Augmented reality can also be used as a tool to look into the past. Monuments destroyed centuries ago can be bring to life once again by this technology at the exact place they once stood. Looking at the business side, Juniper research estimates an extraordinary annual growth, from 2M$ in 2010 to 1.5B$ in 2015 (Levett 2011).
Event: FIG Working Week 2012 : Territory, environment, and cultural heritage
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