Quakr - done by the big boys

So, some 3 years after we started this here Quakr thing, Google Maps and MS Bing have taken our idea and 'done it'. With their respective street view bubbles and geotagged photos from flickr, Picasa and Panoramio, they have machine managed them into 'place'. Exactly as we imagined all those moons ago, only with bigger resources than we were ever able to muster in our spare time. Perhaps we should have really gone for it and quit our proper jobs and then been bought out by them thar big boys, but perhaps we've had our fun and we should focus on doing something new...

Bing with street images.
Geoblogger talks about Gmap's thing.
Oxford's Carfax Tower with pictures machined into place.

ps - If it doesn't kill you it makes you stronger. And if it kills you you're dead and don't care anyways. So get on with it.

links for 2009

an uncoordinated set of links from the recent blogworld...

A google street view bike - here.
Home made street view - here.
GMaps onto android - here.
Semantic web dog food - here.
Semantic POI's for Mobile Phones - here.
A competition for Geo stuff - here.
GMaps 'more than real-estate' - here.
A cool tool for 3d environment construction - here.
A non-town in GMaps? - here.
Real Time GPS / GPS++ uses known stationary objects? - here.

iPhone overtakes on Flickr

The iPhone (IMHO:rubbish) 2MP camera has overtaken all other camera's taking photos on Flickr. Reported here.

Surely it must be time for us quakr-ites to make an iPhone app like taggr that does ones tagging ready for the viewr? Oooh and we should update the viewr so it works and works in the iPhone's safari and oh dear I forgot we don't have any money or time or energy.

Maybe in a months time.

google does us over

Your pictures and views thereof : http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2009/07/zoom-photo-navigation-in-street-view.html

Timeline : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOR0fPTx-os
Zoom, Tilt, Rotate : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3ytS7fHJf0

Actually, it's not quite all dead for us... we're still in a different focus space from Google - they show maps with the occasional photo, we want(ed) to show photo's with the occasional map tile for context.

A year ago and XTech '08

A year ago, Peter talked on behalf of Quakr at O'Reilly Where 2.0 conference in San Jose, California. Some pictures were taken, and we talked about it here. The talk has now appeared on four sites as an Audio file:
1) itc (check out that angry face!)
2) earideas
3) podfeed
4) mefeedia

We're kind of expecting it to be in video format sometime, but we'll see.

We've all got too busy in our normal lives, or broken our leg, or doing too much generally so we are NOT going to be attending XTech this year - after being accepted. It's a pisser, but sometimes it happens that way.

We haven't done very much to the Viewr or the Taggr in recent months, and do not have any kind of list of urgent fixes to make.

Congratulations OSM

A corner has been turned, the nice people from OpenStreetMap (OSM) have got some cash from Europe... here.

Seems they've given themselves a public name in order to package their offering 'CloudMade' - which is nice - and maybe we should join them - '3DCloudMade' anyone?.

In to XTech 2008

Our submitted Talk Brief / Abstract has been accepted for XTech 2008. It's not clear who and when we'll be there, but I suspect we'll be there somehow.

Meanwhile the idea that although Quakr is the best idea on the world ever, it might not make us all rich is becoming clearer. After talking to XTech 2007, then being headhunted to talk at Where 2.0, then a couple of possible investors, then getting to the last 30 of 268 companies which applied to Seedcamp, then a couple of other nice people... it seems we're a bit ahead of everything and everyone. We're right of course that the new world will be a user generated environment and the other people who are trying to control a single set of 3D map data are wrong, but for now it may be time to leave it alone. Investment is not the thing that will turn this best ever idea into something with a reasonable return. It's still lots of fun and we'll more than likely still bug you all with it until we find the killer app that makes it financially interesting.

related or relevant 03/08

- Upgrade to Google 3D
here

- 3d GPS by Dash
here

- Lane pictures on GPS device
here

- Electronic Compass != GPS
here

----

- Tech Talk on urban neo geo
here

- Google Skymap
here

- Glasto Earth (the expensive mans this)
here

- Panoramia has 4 million geotagged photos (here)
- Flickr has 1.5 million geotagged photos (here
=> maybe quakr should start speaking to Panoramia?

- Sandy learns about Gravity in WOW
here

related or relevant 02/08

- Microsoft Buys 3D Software Firm Caligari
here and here

- The logo changed...
here

- Does your GPS know which way you're facing? - NO!
here

- maps.live.com gets a birds eye view
here and

----

- A review of the ATP Photo Finder - a GPS auto tagger box
here

- Build swf's on the fly? Use an external asynchronous get system?
here

----

- Google MAPS get static ... but don't do satelite imagery?
here

- Taggr updated
here

- Viewr updated
here

- only $795 for a 360 panoramic lens and some software
here

- add the 360 thing with an eye-fi SDRAM memory card...
here

----

- Home made GPS on camera auto tagger.
here

Not a winge, honest

from here.

I've been attempting to use sort with machine tags in the same photos.search api. Seems the sort is working to date level ONLY, even though the original photos are timestamped. I suppose I could attempt to sort inside my application, but ... is this a known bug / is there a workaround?

to reproduce, go to www.flickr.com/services/api/explore/
user id = 85097477@N00
tags = walkhome
sort = date-taken-asc
machine tags = geo:lat=, geo:lon=, geo:dir=
machine tag mode = any
extras = date_taken

first three results:
<photo id="978048548" owner="85097477@N00" secret="ad5dcdb8d5" server="1259" farm="2" title="DSC00289" ispublic="1" isfriend="0" isfamily="0" datetaken="2007-08-01 17:59:32" datetakengranularity="0"/>
<photo id="977179253" owner="85097477@N00" secret="011da408b7" server="1416" farm="2" title="DSC00285" ispublic="1" isfriend="0" isfamily="0" datetaken="2007-08-01 17:57:06" datetakengranularity="0"/>
<photo id="978039486" owner="85097477@N00" secret="df95c760e9" server="1270" farm="2" title="DSC00286" ispublic="1" isfriend="0" isfamily="0" datetaken="2007-08-01 17:58:02" datetakengranularity="0"/>

remove the machine tag bits and the first three results are correctly...
<photo id="978031002" owner="85097477@N00" secret="4a3bd3f881" server="1253" farm="2" title="DSC00283" ispublic="1" isfriend="0" isfamily="0" datetaken="2007-08-01 17:55:29" datetakengranularity="0"/>
<photo id="977176661" owner="85097477@N00" secret="3c646cda47" server="1346" farm="2" title="DSC00284" ispublic="1" isfriend="0" isfamily="0" datetaken="2007-08-01 17:56:24" datetakengranularity="0"/>
<photo id="977179253" owner="85097477@N00" secret="011da408b7" server="1416" farm="2" title="DSC00285" ispublic="1" isfriend="0" isfamily="0" datetaken="2007-08-01 17:57:06" datetakengranularity="0"/>

Meanwhile, I'm sure you've noticed some changes.... http://www.quakr.co.uk got itself a new logo! The Taggr has been updated to match and now has the quakr:zoom tag added. The Viewr is muchosly updated now at alpha 0.40 which must be some kind of milestone. The most recent additions have been a 'World Move' slider which loads into the world view more tiles and images, and a 'play' button which should auto-move the camera across the loaded image set. [due to the above flickr API bug however, it's not quite as perfect as it should be!].

All comments as ever most welcome. There's still a pile of things in our heads which will be rendered into the software in the coming months.

Quakr Paper on Issuu

Alpha 0.39 and Fast vs More?

So we've been quietly updating the Viewr in the past months, and have today released the 'World Move' slider to replace the previous 'Camera Info' slider.

Check it out at http://www.quakr.co.uk/viewr. All comments as ever welcome.

Now. In building and releasing this version (and the last three or four to be frank), we've changed the way we GET from Flickr. In the distant past, we asked Flickr for the whole set of geo-located photos in a specific Bounding Box. Simple really. The only trouble was that a whole pile of them (90+%) were *no use* to us as they had no directional tag. So then we extended the Flickr API query to get ONLY the photos which were geo-located AND had some kind of directional tag (geo:dir, ge:head, ge:heading, kml:heading or geo:heading). Fabulous. And FAST. Now we were only getting usable photos and the response was speedy.

But. Then we started thinking about usability and we added support for point. But point isn't a machine tag, so attempting the fast GET wouldn't be sufficient to capture all the newly tagged photos. Hmmm...

So what'd you prefer? 'Fast' or 'More'??? We're obviously considering a solution which would do both, but for now, give us a vote! We're defaulting to the 'More' version.

related or relevant 01/08

- 2008 the year of the neogeo?
here

- 2008 the year of the 3d web?
here

- 3d Manchester
here

- Sandy now released in AS3 and version 3.0.1 - time to upgrade?
here

- Dartmouth / Kingsweir looking better!
here and here

- POIs - a review!
here

- Uluru with sunset...
here

Happy New Year to all and sundry.

----

- Everyscape - panorama's created by the people (but still not TIME based?)
here

- 3d glasses (again?)
here

- silly, but faces in places...
here

----

- Strange maps
here

- in building the real world, Quakr is a VGI
here

- garmin, macs and the unhappy people...
here

- Ordnance Survey Opens Source Code to Frustration- a review...
here

- Interesting bloke in general
here

- PSP as GPS+Maps = "GPSP"?
here

----
- Physical Map Artists going out of business
here

- 22,000 photographs = New York Mapped!
here

- Physics in 3d for Sandy = WOW
here

----

- A great geoblogger post - are we nearly there yet?
here

- Nokia Location Tagger Launched.
here

- A conference for me and thee?
here

- Un-blur-ing a photo.
here

- Make a 3d thing from a 2d photo.
here

- Garmin invade phone space...
here

- ldodds - his best ever post?
here

New Taggr

A new release of the Taggr application takes it to v0.22. Minor changes include fitting it into a 1024x768 window and promoting the 'See this location in the Viewr' link. Taggr v0.22.

Comments welcome as ever.

related or relevent 12/07

- Accelerometer sensor in N95 = radio control car controller!
here

- N95 as light sabre using accelerometers
here

- The 'Pointers' group on Flickr
here

- The Flickr Pointers Pool
here

- The relatively rubbish Flickr Map of the Pointers Pool
here

- Tracking fingers with a Wii remote -- not wholly related, but cute.
here

- GMiF = an add on for mozilla = the real taggr?
here

- EARTHMINE - a video - pasted from here!


- OS maps available in API from Jan 08...
here

- OpenSpace from OS website...
here

- MapThis! app for map display + GPS on PSP
here
you tube video...

- OpenStreetMap Tiles in VRML (not new!)
here

- OpenStreetMap API Spec (not new!)
here

- Google Map Blog - Confessions of a Search Box (hijacked all Flickr images for pointers!)
here

- Flickr stats.
here

- GPS for the IPhone - coming February 2008 for $89.
here

- a navigation device without a screen! Haptic innit!
here

What's the point of your photos?

Go on! Give your photos a point! It's not hard and it'll make them far more useful and interesting to view.

Currently there are a large number of mapped photos in flickr
- More than 30,320,000 are geotagged... but ...
- 8,215 have a geo:dir
- 3,419 have a ge:head/ge:heading
- 26 have a kml:heading
- 10 have a geo:heading
- 0 have a kml:dir, quakr:compass or exif:GPSImgDirection (at least that's what the searchers tells me)

That's such a huge minority, we decided to make it all easier for you...

As of α0.38, the Quakr Viewr now supports point!

simply add
point=[[north, northnortheast, northeast, eastnortheast, east, eastsoutheast, southeast, southsoutheast, south, southsouthwest, southwest, westsouthwest, west, westnorthwest, northwest, northnorthwest]] or
point=[[n, nne, ne, ene, e, ese, se, sse, s, ssw, sw, wsw, w, wnw, nw, nnw]] or
point=[[0...359]]
and the greasemonkey flickr script will understand and add the link to the Viewr to your Flickr image page and we'll include your images in the generated world.

See http://www.flickr.com/photos/hardbutnot/1534749879/in/set-72157602245100210/
as a simple example from flickr ... and in the viewr here.

Comments as ever welcome...

related or relevant 09/07 to 11/07

- How to become a tagging master!
here

- How much is a 3d model worth?

Roger Rayle has used Google Earth to visualise (pall Gelam) Dioxane Levels/Plume maps and Aquifer locations, of note the system is used not just as a communication tool but also as a decision making system. The data is visualised over time providing a genuinely impressive implementation of the technology developed for the Society of Residents for Safe Water.

Rogers notes that a picture is worth 1000 words, a 3D model is equivalent to 10,000 words and if you add in the forth dimension of time its worth 1,000,000 words.

from here
or only 446 if you read this

- microsoft startup thingy
here

- outsource your brain?
here

- 3d film sequences
here

- Photophlow - worth a go?
here

- Flickr Slide Shows, nice...
here
- make 3d model from video
here

- collaborative geographic information?
here

- tags and everything in one place - a new service
here

- Attempted comment on Joi ito's blog...
here

- Pixel 3d maps - lush
here

- buy a house in virtual for homeless in real...
here

- Twinty - a.n.other new new thing?
here

- Flickr launches 'places' geodata to city/town names
here, and here

- Google Terrain (satelite now has show or hide overlay)
here

New alpha times two

Following some R&R for the last month and a half, the Quakr team have once more returned to work! Released today are two updated αlphα's.

Taggr - the tool to help you tag.
> Now supports GEO:ALT and GE:TILT tag.
> A simpler, clearer help and new look and feel.
> Links to the Viewr.

Viewr - the 3d photo view
> Compass on the ground instead of three lines
> Semi transparent images until selection
> No longer standard 'shabbatagging' - more images displayed in first view

All comments as welcome as ever...

related or relevant, 08/07

- geoblog post about 3d globes...
here

- google vs Ordinance Survey - there are no winners...
here

- Quakr went to the pub
here

- Viewr alph 0.32 = image info + date taken + tags
here

- A Viewr depiction of how to get from the station to my house...
here

- Quakr talk at UCL Brown Bag, 01.08.2007
here

-- more --

- topography on plates & "what it's like to walk up a hill discussed..."
here

- street view VS everyscape VS mapjack in YouTube form!
here

related or relevant, 07/07

- George Wolberg and something he calls Photo Sketch.
here, here, here and here

- we've make'd it!
here

- an important aside.
here

- Yahoo tiles get "better".
here and here

- Flickr 20 Million GeoTagged photos.
here

- Virtual Cogs - GPS + Camera + PSP screen?
here

-- more --

- A personal blimp (not wholly related...)
here

- Google starts a SketchUp blog...
here

- Google Campus 3D and other SketchUp content
here

- map the floods
here, here

- moblog - mobile blogging...
here

-- more --

- Flashr - a actionscript wrapper to the Flickr API
here

- Psynchr - used the above to make a timeline of images
here (I tried and failed to get two photosets into it... http://www.flickr.com/photos/katieportwin/sets/72157594490167134/ and http://www.flickr.com/photos/hardbutnot/sets/72157600047520967/ -- hmmm)

- Flappr - entirely flash based flickr viewr...
here (it's a bit old...)

- Google Map blog post "A world built by its inhabitants"
here

- planning? pfflanning...
here

- pileus - an umbrella with lots of stuff...
here

- tech review of a new service - "the flickr 3d"
here

- flickrVision in 3d...
here