GPS + Photo + Map Application

by Yi Sun

The purpose of this project is to tag the photos on the Google Map or Google Earth.

How it works:

1. I used my PDA which built in the GPS, and a third party GPS log program. I turned on my GPS, and let it log an entry every two seconds. Each entry ($GPGGA) contains the time, latitude, and longitude, etc. (for more information, check the NMEA specification online).

2. I took photos outside using my digital camera. The camera's time should be same with the GPS's. (try your best)

3. I wrote a Java program to combine the GPS log and the digital images. The images were updated with the GPS tag in the EXIF header (for more information, read the EXIF specification). A .KML file was generated as well. The algorithm to do it was very tricky. I tried and tested many times in order to get the best result (best matches). Here are two tries. The images are not very good, since I took it in the moving car (and at night). I just want to show you a basic idea.

First try, from school to home.

View Larger Map

Second try, also from school to home. (slightly different route)

4. Then I uploaded everything on my web server. It just works fine.

The process is shown below:

There is a thing I want to point out. The photo updated from my program was inserted with the GPS tag. That means the photo itself keeps the information that where it was taken. Therefore, I am thinking it is good, because in the future, photos can be organized by location.

Last year, I created web application which can read the GPS tagged photo, and display it on the Google Maps. You can take a look here. http://www.sunnyspeed.net/gps/

Starbucks in Victoria, BC

Here, I had an interesting project. I went out to take a picture on all Starbucks in this town. I tried my best, and I got 23 Starbucks photo at the end. It is funny to see all the Starbucks, and how they were distributed in the town.

BTW, I just couldn't understand how come 2 Starbucks are just next to each other, like 20 seconds walk.

View Larger Map

Starbucks Show Click the mark to see the photo

Author: Sunny