A dynamic and up-to-date city guide on the move
Travellers prefer to spend their vacation time collecting experiences rather than information and brochures from tourism offices. Although most of them are used to reading 2D maps, offering them the option to use a digital 3D map would be more than a realistic alternative. 3D maps are considered as more intuitive for people, and if better navigation interfaces were provided, they would be easier to use. To answer this need, this project developed new data structures for interactive representation of 3D maps on mobile terminals in combination with mobile location services. More specifically, they developed the TellMaris Guide prototype that supports city navigation and route/location identification to city attractions, hotels, restaurants and other points of interest. The user can select between view modes including flying, walking and aerial and/or adjust his position using the GPS delivered coordinates. Furthermore, the users are capable of switching between 2D and 3D maps of the city to be displayed on the screen of a HP iPAQ mobile device. Selection of target places is achieved with the aid of pull down menus. When the user selects a target building, the 2D map shows the tourist's current and target positions as dots, while the 3D map provides direct guidance to this target. Apart from navigation, the user may also collect additional information about buildings by clicking on the object on the map with a pen. This provides the respective URL link to the tourist database from which the web page of the point of interest is derived. In addition, advanced model formats were used for the 3D server in order to represent models such as textured buildings and complex structures more realistically. For further information, click at: http://www.tellmaris.com(opens in new window)
