Talk:WikiGPS

What should this precisely be about?

I don't quite understand how WikiGPS or Wikigeo should contribute to map generation. Maps are a result of large scale surveying. I don't know how GPS can be used to get, for example, the outline of the USA. So any clarification in that regard would be quite useful.

Secondly, I don't (yet) see the value of a traffic jam reporting system. Firstly, I believe that GPS navigation AND internet connection in a car is still not too common (and even if it's available I'm not sure whether it is used in a way that it would contribute to the wiki). Secondly, and perhaps most importantly, in order for a wiki traffic jam reporting system to function, you will not only need a lot of users who are aware of the wikisystem and ready to use web and GPS to submit wiki updates while driving... you also need several of these to be experiencing the same traffic jam consecutively in order to update its status. And that is a very ambitious project. But saying that, who would have known a couple of years ago where Wikipedia was going to go. However, wikipedia users just need a webbrowser rather than a high tech vehicle. Perhaps in a few years internet and GPS in cars is as common as iPods on the subway today. – c00ch 03:42, 18 Jun 2005 (GMT)

Yes, this would be aimed for a very ambitious project. It would not work these days, because GPS hardware is still not very common. It would also look very different to wikipedia these days, because no one is able to handle a web browser while driving. :o)

But as I put my hands into a university project using GPS positioners connected to some handheld computers with GPRS data interconnection, and GIS, I could clearly see that comunication is a huge advantage.

Well, maybe in the future (three or so years) it might be really a killer application. -- slady 09:29, 26 Jun 2005 (UTC)

I suggest 'geowiki' / 'geowiki.org' as a name.

I think we should follow with the style of wiki-something as in wiki-pedia, wiki-media, and so on. There is no reason to switch to something-wiki names. We can suggest for instance wikigeo or something like that. Thus wikigeo.org would be registered. – slady 18:44, 9 Jun 2005 (UTC)

This proposal, as it stands in June 2005, seems very immature. Could you set up a small and simple prototype that is useful for you and your friend, to which the Wikimedia Foundation could add scalability? Yes, GPS can, at least in theory, be used for generating maps. Not the coast outline, but the road network. Two examples of this are http://www.openstreetmap.org/ and http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/ which are fine prototypes that could be developed further. Digital maps are developed in different "layers", where the road network is one layer and coast outlines are another. There are hundreds of websites and projects on free GIS (geographic information systems) already. For a new Wikimedia project to be useful and successful, it will probably need already to have been developed to a stage where you just need to add people. --LA2 14:40, 29 Jun 2005 (UTC)

You are right in all points. But we have no working project yet. Sorry. It seems that I would be the only one to make the project. Project this huge is not a work for one programmer.--slady 7 July 2005 12:33 (UTC)

hey that was my idea too

The issue with having a live update system is that you need a large number of "very" accurate GPS recievers. Currently in the USA the recievers are only accurate to 3 meters by federal law.

However you should start working on the system because i think this will change. The system should be a client similar to Google Earth or GpsDrive except it would be continously connected to the internet somehow and the "traffic data" and other datastreams could be done in layers like Google Earth. Basically take the GE client, add in capability for live location updates from a GPS reciever, then add in an interface for the individual users to send data to the central server.

5:29 P.M. EDST Monday July 24, 2006

Begin

Begin now with the project. --82.159.136.238 07:07, 13 October 2006 (UTC)

Geo microformat

Please make sure that any coordinate published as part of this project use the Geo microformat. Thank you. AndyMabbett 17:11, 23 March 2007 (UTC)