Interesting GPS applications?
August 20, 2008 2:16 PM   Subscribe

What are useful/fun/collaborative things that can be done with a PDA, computer and a small GPS device these days?
posted by vizsla to Technology (4 answers total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
Geocaching!
posted by grateful at 2:23 PM on August 20, 2008


When I first read the question my first thought was also Geocaching, probably something you're gonna want to look into.
posted by Deflagro at 4:00 PM on August 20, 2008


It sounds like Wherigo fits your description perfectly. It's created by the same folks that run Geocaching.com.
posted by OpinioNate at 4:51 PM on August 20, 2008


Yep! Geocaching all the way. That's the most obvious use for your tools, it's fun, easy and (can be) fast, and it's a good family activity.

Other stuff:

- Plundr, where you use your computer to travel to islands (wifi hotspots), trade goods, and attack other ships.

- There are some programs that will synch up your GPS location with photos you take, which can be translated onto Flickr or Google Earth (I have a Trackstick which does this but you'll have to search for whatever device you have).

- GPS Drawing, which reminds me of momo's New York City graffiti.

I really like geolocative games and projects and think there's a lot of possibility in them. But there aren't a lot of things available (yet) - for example, Pac Manhattan is awesome! But they use their own software on hacked phones.

(Pac Manhattan is really intriguing to me because although the players are all people running around, the ghosts are only on the screens you carry. So you still get the very real adrenaline rush and have to run to flee them, even though they're not 'really' there.)

Anyway, the technology is still improving (narrowing down location to within a few feet, speed of connecting, etc) so there will surely be more in the future.
posted by lhall at 6:01 PM on August 20, 2008


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