Boy Do I Need This!Researchers Roberto Cipolla and Duncan Robertson at the University of Cambridge in the U.K. are developing photo recognition software that one day may help provide navigationally challenged travelers information on their location and how to get to where they're going. The user simply snaps a photo of a nearby building and presses send. A database matches the photo to a database of building images, and can accurately identify where the caller is standing to within one meter. This is superior technology to GPS or cell phone base station tracking systems, which are useless in cities with tall buildings interfere with direct line-of-sight transmissions. "Telling people 'You are in the vicinity of X' is no good to man nor beast," says John Craig of Cambridge Positioning Systems, which develops software for locating mobile phones. The Cambridge University software would give detailed instructions on how to get from point A to point B, such as "turn left and start walking." Cipolla and Robertson are currently working on a prototype that will cover all the buildings in Cambridge's central downtown area. (New Scientist 10 Apr 2004) http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994857
Posted by sachauncey at April 12, 2004 09:57 PM