Mobile technology self-locates in a new direction By STEPHEN BALLANTYNE A new technology under development in New Zealand looks likely to appear in many mobile devices over the not too distant future. After nearly a year of operations in New Zealand, San Francisco-headquartered GeoVector is beginning to reveal what it has been working on: direction-finding for portable devices. Many mobile telephones can already locate themselves to a limited degree, as is demonstrated by displays indicating which cell a phone is operating in. Location-aware mobile phones are already well established in Japan and Korea, and thanks to the US government, even more phones will soon be appearing that will be able to locate themselves within metres to assist emergency services. Thank al Qaeda for that - recovery of some bodies at the World Trade Center site was aided by cellphone signals from the rubble and this news apparently provided enough additional momentum to US legislators to persuade them of the utility of self-locating mobile phones. With the US adopting self-location, expect the rest of the world to follow soon. But as far as GeoVector goes, location is of less interest than direction. How self-location is accomplished (by triangulation from cellular transmitters, GPS or some combination of technologies) is unimportant to GeoVector; combining that information with the bearing of a hand-held device opens up a new range of possibilities. Christchurch has been chosen as the site for the technical development of GeoVector's product, although the company also has an office in Auckland. Meanwhile, GeoVector's US staff work on the problems involved in forming relationships with the companies that will eventually buy the technology. GeoVector's founder John Ellenby was attracted to New Zealand for the usual reasons - a small but technologically sophisticated English-speaking country with (in this particular case) good wireless data services, a useful mix of terrains and geographic isolation. Support from Industry New Zealand didn't hurt either. The goal is to produce a technology that can be licensed to makers of mobile telephones, PDAs, portable computers and other mobile information devices. It is unlikely the GeoVector name will make an explicit appearance on consumer products. Currently the technology handles only compass-bearing information but the goal is to eventually include information about elevation. According to its New Zealand director, Arron Judson, GeoVector is "building the prototypes of the technology that will soon be deployed. By adding heading information you can create compelling user applications that significantly enhance the usefulness of mobile devices." For starters, GeoVector has a portfolio of demonstration applications, including visitor guides, information utilities and games. If a device knows where it is and the direction it's pointing and it has access to an information database, it know what it's pointing at. Tourists could access an intelligent guidebook that could lead them to the shops; alternatively, town planners could point their phones at structures and immediately be informed of ownership, building consents and suchlike. For development purposes, GeoVector is using relatively bulky iPaq handhelds equipped with experimental direction finding cards and wireless but the production devices will be much smaller - according to Mr Judson, a device the size of peppercorn is likely. At that size, direction sensing will probably be taken for granted in the next generation of mobile telephones, along with a slightly larger display suitable for showing maps, images and pointers. The iPaq's screen is ideal for direction finding for now, with GeoVector's software indicating the way to various local landmarks in its database. Auckland's Viaduct Basin makes a good demonstration site, packed as it is with both potential investors and little cafes suitable for earnest discussions over coffee. Mr Judson demonstrates an application (unfortunately only a mockup in Macromedia Director) that shows how police equipped with next generation phones or PDAs could be presented with an onscreen map showing where trouble is occurring and where their closest reinforcements can be found. Other applications are less momentous - position and direction-finding technology are ideal for games and GeoVector has a thick file of game proposals ready for development. Given the huge size of the computer game industry this is a far from trivial use. Some proposed games involve variations on treasure hunts, while others automate cowboys and indians, with cellphones standing in for guns or bows and arrows. http://www.nbr.co.nz/search/search_article.asp?id=4776 Please read the Terms & Conditions for Use. These include guidelines governing appropriate use, and viewing or download of material in this section is considered acceptance of those Terms & Conditions.