Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/70379
scruff of the neck" into wider adoption. To help further this goal, the Open Geospatial Consortium has several working groups and existing standards that can be used to further cross-pollination between GIS and AR (e.g., GML, Indoor/City GML, ARML2, WFS, WMS, etc.). Better than a Map? GIS professionals have been working for years to col- lect, collate and improve location-based data for all areas of business and public life. There are advanced analytical solutions, spatially enabled databases and open-standard-based formats for easily sharing geo- spatial data. GIS is a powerful tool and still on the rise in terms of use; and with free online mapping, govern- ment agendas, satellite navigation and crowdsourcing, location awareness has never been more prevalent in public consciousness. However, maps aren't always the best way to display location-based information. They're still confusing to many, requiring physical orientation for alignment and a general spatial awareness when trying to interpret them, especially in the "real world." A digital compass overlaying mapping applications helps, but on more than one occasion I have found it necessary to twist a phone upside down to work out where my destina- tion really is. This is where mobile, location-based AR applications come into their own. AR solutions allow spatially referenced content to be displayed on a screen that's associated with a physical location, overlaying or obscuring real-world objects in the field of view. This process can be used to make the invis- ible visible (e.g., underground infrastructure, construction designs, floodplains, demolished buildings, etc.). And because digital content can be queried, linked, animated or shared (as with GIS applications), users can interact with this "enhanced" world quicker A variety of datasets can be selected directly from a mobile device. and more intuitively than possible with a 2-D map, because the information already is displayed in the correct geographic location. Recent advances in depth- aware cameras and graphics processing, such as the Microsoft Kinect system, also allow digital content to be occluded by real-world objects, blending scenes ever-more realistically. Adding computer vision back into the mix, the areas of business where a contextually relevant, digital overlay of real-time information could be useful are almost endless: ards through buildings or know where colleagues are within a search area. toms and current treatments in a triage situation. sites with historic drawings, planning applications house sales in their immediate locality to help provide on-the-spot evaluations. And this doesn't touch on the myriad applications specifically created for recreation and entertainment. Mobile users can view underground asset information and points of interest over a WMS layer. 20 GEO W ORLD / JUNE 2O12 Questions and Concerns But if AR is so great, why isn't everyone using it? As with any emerging technology, there are a few niggles. To start with, it's quite difficult. Mobile AR is a mul- tidisciplinary field. On the hardware side, there are numerous sensors, a visual display, user input, mobile Data Display