Capture rain from rooftop

I have just created another fun mashup that uses Google Maps API and the ArcGIS Server JavaScript API to dynamically calculate how much water you could capture from the rain on your rooftop.  Google Maps is used to draw a polygon, then the centroid is fed into ArcGIS Server to retrieve the mean annual rainfall for your area.  The rest is history…

Check it out here: Capture Rainfall

After posting this demo online, I began to notice how users were actually using the system.  People began to put in their actual locations, not locations on the office floor plan.  I thought perhaps this tool could provide a generic framework for users to add data to maps.  A few examples came to mind:

• PC and other asset mapping
• Facilities management
• Shopping mall administration
• Moving storage unit management
• Warehouse inventory management
• Conference exhibit booth management

Of course, you could really manage any geographically located feature in this manner.  The point if this post is, really, users can now “use” and “consume” GIS systems without even know they are doing so.  GIS is changing.  Apllications lihe this Emplyee Management Demo are opne example of what the next generation of GIS apps could look like.

Check out the employee tracking demo here: Employee Tracking Application

Office Floor Plan

“The firm’s technology would map the circuit just before the race so the virtual track would match up to the one on TV.

The video recording of the track would then be manipulated by the gamer during live coverage.

This data would then be streamed to the player’s computer or straight to a television via the internet.

“We can put you in your own car, within real TV coverage of a real race, and in real time against the professionals,” said Chris Leigh, the company’s head.”

More here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/click_online/8333340.stm

“Recognition and Modeling of Objects from Street View Scans of Cities”
Thomas Funkhouser, Princeton University
Professor Funkhouser aims to develop methods for automatic construction of semantically-labeled, detailed, and photorealistic 3D models of cities from Street View data. The main efforts will be towards the segmentation and recognition of small objects (e.g. mailboxes, fire hydrants, parking meters, etc.) in Lidar data based on shape classification and contextual reasoning. A second objective will be to construct seamless, photorealistic 3D models of complete cities by extracting and fitting parts from repositories of polygonal models.

http://googleresearch.blogspot.com/2009/07/googles-research-awards-program-update.html

Using a simple Google Maps mashup, conference or trade show planners/organizers can easily publish an interactive trade show/conference floor plan map.  The floor plan map does not need to be labeled using a CAD system as Google Maps labels on the fly.  Attendees can now type a few letters of the meeting room/exhibitor, and, the location is automatically displayed on a floor plan, right in Google Maps.  The attendee can then click on a vendors booth to get more vendor information.

The beauty of this system is in its simplicity and cost.  Most internet users are comfortable with Google Maps, Mapquest, or Yahoo Mapping experience.  This conference floor plan mapping system (Expocad) boggles the mind.  Which is fine for a CES type of conference I suppose.  But what about the thousands of other conferences out there that require a simply way for attendees to navigate the facilities?

As for cost, to implement a Google Mashup for a trade show exhibit floor plan will run you anywhere from $150 -$750.  To use one of the established trade show floor mapping products like ExpoCad, BoothBoss or A2Z will run you at least five to ten times that amount.

Keep it simple and cost effective.  Most bang for buck I figure.  What do you think?  Is a conference/trade show floor plan mapping system useful?  I would love to hear your comments!

Geocortex has been furiously working on a new website showcasing their latest REST API work with ArcGIS Server. It looks great! Plenty of demos and code samples. Take a look.

It would be great to see the progression of the Swine Flu in Google Earth, so, voila, I have posted an hourly updated KML file. Click here to download the latest Google Earth KML file of the Swine Flu Outbreak. Check back every hour (or so) to get an updated view of Swine Flu spread.