sportsgeography

Is Swanky Ants a killer mAp?

2009-08-19T01:03:00.000-07:00

Going on a trip? Check out Swanky Ants.

Here is an interactive map that I think is dynamite. If you want to know what’s going on in your area this is one cool map.

Pins on the map are colour-coded into one of several categories: kids, night life, markets, educational, sports and recreation, community events, and arts & entertainment. Zoom in on the map and you get a calendar listing of events on a panel to the right. The panel lists event name and dates. Click on a pin and you get a pop-out balloon outlining the event with an option to get more details. I clicked on Kelowna, British Columbia, and discovered a Rock Climbing Exhibition at the Okanagan Heritage Museum between 21May-19December, 2009. A really cool feature is the time slider at the top. This slider allows you to bracket dates in which you are interested. The events panel is refreshed.

Want to promote your event? Easy! You can enter details into a friendly form and help build a really useful community-based events map and calendar. It’s the type of platform that I think tourism departments should tap into and adopt.

I anticipate Swanky Ants to grow in popularity as word spreads. If this is the BETA version of the product I am impressed.

My two suggested improvements include:
Colour-code the events shown on the events calendar panel (text or graphic) so that the pin on the map can be better linked to the events listed to the right.

Have a small SwankyAnts logo that can be shared and placed on your own website, to show you are a member of the Army of SwankyAnts.

Swanky Ants provides the platform to create a truly community-based product that has tremendous value. A lot of thinking has gone into this product. It has potential for tremendous growth into other map-based products (hospitals, police stations, information booths, eating places, churches, video, audio etc.) and in licensing/franchising the system to other geographic countries/regions. I also see huge potential for geographically/event-targeted advertising, aside from Google Ads.

Go make a land grab and post your event on this great platform.

Swanky Ants is owned and operated by Swanky Ants Enterprises Ltd. out of Victoria, British Columbia and can be reached at info[at]swankyants.com.

Mapping ethnix mix in community sports

2009-08-17T06:07:00.000-07:00

SportingEquals of Birmingham, England, is working with the Black and MinorityEthnic (MBE) communities all over England to map sports clubs, their location, ethnic mix, type of sport, and associated groups.

The objective is to promote ethnic diversity across sports and target services to help disadvantaged communities . An email survey campaign is on-going to collect the necessary data.

SoundOfMotion launches a VeloComputer

2009-08-14T19:46:00.000-07:00

Vancouver company, SoundOfMotion has developed a VeloComputer -- a GPS enabled mobile smart phone for cycling enthusiasts. It's a small computer that is wrapped around the cyclist's leg. It measures speed, spot speed, distance, acceleration, and cadence, and can provide audio feedback. The unit tracks location that can be uploaded to Google Earth for later analysis.

The VeloComputer is sensitive to one degree of rotation and records within a one second delay, according to SoundOfMotion.

Road-smart GPS

2009-08-14T19:42:00.000-07:00

IFR Automotive: GPS to help adjust car to road conditions

Spanish carmaker IFR is exploring a GPS system that measures the road characteristics and adjusts the automobile setup to match existing road conditions. IFR has designed a sports car, the two-seater AspidIFR. This car allows almost infinite tweaking of the suspension, throttle mapping, steering and ECU while on the move. They have already designed an electronically adjustable suspension that features electrovalves in the dampers to control pitch and roll. LinK: AspidIFR GPS plan.

Track sports with MapMyTracks

2009-08-14T19:37:00.000-07:00

MapMyTracks locates you on earth and tracks you in real-time, or not.

August 10, 2009 by sportsgeographer

MapMyTracks tracks sporting activities and sports events live over the internet — such as sailing, running, cycling, wind surfing, motor racing, dog sledding, hand gliding, canoeing, skiing, walking, orienteering, horse riding and hot air ballooning — using a web-enabled mobile phone with a data plan, a GPS receiver and some software provided for your phone. If you have a GPS-enabled mobile phone then all you then need is to install Map My Tracks Mobile.

Spectators, coaches, media and sponsors can follow the action as it happens. They know where you are in real-time. “All track data is automatically uploaded as you track. There is no need to upload data after your activity.”

MapMyTracks blog shows where and how their system is being used. These activitiy locations are displayed on a GoogleMap. Mobile phones that haveMapMyTracks API installed act as “personal, real-time GPS tracking devices”. The MapMyTracks API allows developers to access and update activity data, to make widgets or create “applications that seamlessly integrate MapMyTracks with other services.”

I explored the website to see who was using MapMyTracks. Robi of Hungary, for example, had tracked his 25km cycling route over variable terrain 15 hours earlier. Details include:
Maximum speed
Average speed (in miles/hour, or kilometres/hour or in knots)
Activity Time
Activity Distance
Current Latitude-Longitude position
Altitude
Pace (time per km)

Robi uploaded GPX data to MapMyTracks from a Garmin Oregon.

Robi’s activity and position could be seen live and in playbackback mode over a map. One could also drag a marker in a separate display that graphed his speed over time or speed over distance. As you dragged this marker the position of Robi moved along his route on the above map. There are several ways to display your sports activity:
Map on a Blog
Personal geoRSS feed
Update location to Fire Eagle, Twitter or FriendFeed
View at MapMyTracks or on MapMyTracks Mobile

MapMyTracks is free for activities that are less than one hour per month. Beyond that there is a fee. MapMyTacks works with mobile phones and devices from SkypePhone, Blackberry, Lenovo, LG, Nokia, Panasonic, Samsung, Siemens, Sony Ericsson, and Windows Mobile 5.0 and 6.0.

Some testimonials are posted with: YachtsandYachting.com, GPSLodge.com,Dingy Sailing Magazine, Tech Crunch Europe.

MapMyTracks is a product of TinderHouse Limited, registered in England and Wales. They specialize in, among other things, communications, online design and development, content management and hosting.

Navigate via the MobileNavigator iPhone

2009-08-14T19:32:00.000-07:00

website for the Mobile navigator iPhone application

“Amazingly, even though the mighty iPhone has offered GPS for more than a year, only now are turn-by-turn driving applications beginning to appear in the App store”, writes OnMilwaukee staff writer Andy Tarnoff. The Mobile Navigator iPhone is “the first professional navigation solution for the iPhone”. Even if you are out of cell phone range the Navteq-content built-in maps of USA and Canada can help locate or route you.

The Navigon software is available worldwide (except Japan) for all T-mobile, iPhone 3G or iPhone 3G S users worldwide through Apple’s iTunes App Store.

If you receive a call during the navigation, the navigation will pause and automatically restart after ending the call. The unit also works while you listen to audio.

Navigon states that “by clicking on the button with the estimated time of arrival during the navigation, you can switch to the remaining distance. By clicking once more, you can switch to the current speed.”

A thorough user review of the MobileNavigator iPhone appears GPSreview.netand a video demonstration appears on YouTube.

Have you used the MobileNavigator in a sporting event?

Real-time GPS mapping in sailing

2009-08-13T12:59:00.000-07:00

The 2009 Pure Michigan Bayview Mackinac sailing race website is a great example of mapping a sports event for participants, spectators and media. It's refreshing to point out here that "Pure Michigan", the official travel and tourism arm of the State of Michigan, sponsored the website because they believed the website hits would help brand Michigan as a tourist destination.

The website retraces the 85th sailing of this event with a GIS-collage of multiple, optional displays. It includes hourlyGPS-tracked location of vessels , wind fields (speed and direction) and barometer readings -- in both still and movie modes. Boats were tracked hourly with positions relayed to iPhones and Blackberries.

iBoat Track technology, a division of Horizon Marine Inc., was used to map the race.

Seven navigation tabs direct website visitors to:

iBoat Track.com website
iBoatTrack details their tracking formats: Racers, Cruisers, and Workboats.
Discussion Board
A discussion group is available for boat tracking using phpBB bulletin board technology
Progress Board
Each and every boat's progress, location and time and local wind is displayed.
Quick View
All/selected boats can be tracked in real-time with a an optional background wind field
The Fleet
All boats are presented: name, class, sail number, type, home port, and possible photo
Boat Mapper
A track of selectable boats and backgrounds: Wind Fields, Google Map, Nautical Chart
Help
Contains website information and user instructions

PS Did you know that Michigan has the world's longest freshwater coastline, according to Pure Michigan.

Poll: August 2009

2009-08-13T05:23:00.000-07:00

What is your main interest in sports geography?(online surveys)

Mission Statement

2009-08-13T05:20:00.000-07:00

Objectives and goals

If a sport can be enhanced through geography and geomatics, this is the site to visit.
This site looks at geography and geomatics in sports from the perspective of all stakeholders

Participants
Spectators
Coaches and managers
Technical Support
Statisticians and Analysts
Sponsors
Media
Agents and Promoters
Event Planners
Tourism and Economic Development Groups
Geographers
Engineers, Geomatic and Applied Science Researchers

The Geography of Sports on this site involves locating, monitoring, tracking, mapping, and presentation.