AW: GeoLocation API: 1. Source type of information / 2. Information from specific source type

Hello,

Thank you for your quick reply - we really appreciate to get in contact with you.

The source type of the GeoLocation information doesn't have to be a single source information.
We can image an array of sources, which contribute to the general GeoLocation information. Of course it would be beneficial to get the information which source has the highest impact.

In our use case we need as precise location information as possible.
The location information is used as:

·         a starting point to zoom to a certain area of interest - the accuracy should be between 5m to 20m. Afterwards the user has to digitize point objects (trees, lamp post, manhole,...) in his area without the need for any further map interactions (Pan, ZoomIn, ZoomOut). Alternatively the user has to update parameters for existing objects in his surroundings without any further map interactions, means the users has to be in the correct map extent and map scale. The user should have just to click on an existing object on the map, which is next to him in real life to proceed with updating object parameter.

·         an input parameter for positioning (accuracy 3m to 6m) new or shifted objects, which do not require high precision position information (accuracy below 0.5m) .

Currently we wonder if the GPS receiver of the underlying hardware is used at all.

When benchmarking the Geolocation API location accuracy (using a web page running in IE10/11) against the native GPS receiver location accuracy referencing a well known lat/lon position we found out remarkable differences

*         Geolocation API accuracy 15m-75m

*         GPS Accuracy 2m-3m
i.e. accuracy differs by factor 10 roughly.

This leads to the reason why we issued question Nr. 2 "Information from specific source type": It would be great if the level of control using the Geolocation API could be increased by specifying explicitly the desired source.. We could fetch the location until we get an information explicitly from the GPS hardware.

Best Regards,
Josef Prandstetter

Von: Mandyam, Giridhar [mailto:mandyam@quicinc.com]
Gesendet: Mittwoch, 06. August 2014 16:57
An: Prandstetter Josef; public-geolocation@w3.org
Betreff: RE: GeoLocation API: 1. Source type of information / 2. Information from specific source type

Hello,
Thanks for the feedback.

==> Are there any plans to support this kind of information by adding an additional parameter?

This is not in the current charter.  I'll also note that location engines deployed in many mobile devices may rely on multiple sources in determining location, so a single source type would not always be optimal.  Did you have a particular use case to support this feature request?


==> Are there any plans to support fetching the location information from a specific source by an additional parameter?

No.  As mentioned above, depending on the operating environment this may not be ideal in determining the most accurate location.

-Giri Mandyam, Geolocation WG Chair


From: Prandstetter Josef [mailto:j.prandstetter@mysynergis.com]
Sent: Monday, August 04, 2014 4:54 AM
To: public-geolocation@w3.org<mailto:public-geolocation@w3.org>
Subject: GeoLocation API: 1. Source type of information / 2. Information from specific source type

Hello,

We are a software company, which is using the GeoLocation API inside two of our products (1x WebGIS, 1x Facility Management).


1.       In some situations it would be good to have the information available from which source type the location information has been taken, e.g.:

·         IP Address

·         WiFi

·         GSM/CDMA cell IDs

·         GPS
==> Are there any plans to support this kind of information by adding an additional parameter?


2.       In some situations it would be great to get the location information explicitly from a specific source type, mostly GPS.

==> Are there any plans to support fetching the location information from a specific source by an additional parameter?

Best Regards,
Josef Prandstetter