OpenTrail - Augmented reality navigation for hikers

Nick Whitelegg

Details about the talk:
Many interesting augmented reality applications have been developed in the past year or two. To date, most have focused on locating points of interest: by contrast, there has been little emphasis yet on the use of augmented reality for navigation and route finding.

Building on the OpenTrailView concept introduced at last year's State of the Map, this presentation will detail initial work on an Android-based open source augmented reality tool for hikers and other countryside users. Using the phone's GPS chip to determine location and compass to determine direction of travel, the application aims to overlay OpenStreetMap footpath data on the phone's camera feed to aid in-the-field navigation for hikers, particularly in open and mountain areas where it can be tricky to use traditional maps. It is hoped to include a demonstration of a prototype of the app in action.

Details about the speaker:
Nick has been involved in OpenStreetMap since the early days, back in 2005 and is particularly interested in the use of OSM for countryside users. He developed Freemap - a countryside-orientated mapping site making use of OSM data, along with spin-off projects such as OpenTrailView, which aims to collect StreetView-style panoramas of off-road routes, and is active in mapping countryside areas of southern England and organising local mapping parties. He works in higher education teaching Java and web development.

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