GPS stands for Global Positioning System. In short, GPS devices uses signals from U.S. military satellites to tell where something can be found on the surface of planet Earth. The same system can be used to not only give precise oral or written directions to reach different locations for walkers, hikers, and drivers of cars and trucks, but can also be used by computers to put a moving dot on a displayed map. For more technical details on how such a system works, see the wikipedia article on GPS. The Europeans are developing a competing and possibly more accurate system under civilian control called Gallileo that should be operational in 2010. Because such devices are frequently used in settings where people and things are mobile, the devices are designed with handheld use in mind.
GPS is easy to confuse with GIS as they are critical "symbiotic" partners to each other. GPS is the technology to provide a precise fix for a location. GIS stands for Geographic Information Systems which provides maps of many layers that enable a GPS fix to be seen in the context of its surroundings on a digital map in a computer display screen. GIS is an important topic in its own right. Many free resources on the web which incorporate GIS design (e.g., maps.google.com; Google Earth). Many commercial GIS software applications are in common use in public schools, universities and business.
GPS is rapidly becoming an indispensable tool for navigation whether using a vehicle, a boat or a plane. For example, GPS devices can be bought today for older cars and trucks or with a new vehicle. These units tell the driver where to turn orally or display a location dot on a map or both. Precise location information is also a critical part of map-making and land surveying.
There are many other applications, including animal control, geocaching, child and pet location, and emergency responder situations. Animal control extends from mapping the location of fire ants, and crop pests to tracking species in need of protection by scientists. Geocaching (wikipedia article) is a game of hide and seek or "treasure-hunt" in which the players (geocachers) hide or find something located in a geocache or cache anywhere around the school playground, the neighborhood or the world. Locator technology also works as well for finding children as for finding pets and remembering the location of productive fishing holes in the middle of a lake. Emergency responders include police, rescue, fire and ambulance services which need to know where a scene or event can be found or even where resources such as fire hydrants are located. Saving minutes saves lives.
New uses are constantly being invented. As more accurate systems are installed in the years ahead, it could allow a plane to land itself if the pilot becomes incapacitated. If you enabled it, they could be used by stores to locate your cell phone and send you a call announcing a special discount as enter an area. One might be able to call up a map of where all the members of some group are located, such as your family, a team or set of friends or simply notify you if a someone in your circle of friends is within a certain distance.
The GPS receivers can lose the signal when inside a building, under tree cover or in a mountain's shadow or be confused by too many signals bouncing off different surfaces such as in the downtown canyons of tall buildings. The more common units have a accuracy variation of some 30 feet which has little impact in a rapidly moving car, but might be of little value to a hiker trying to find a particular tree on a walking tour in a park. More expensive units can have an accuracy variation of as little as 1 centimeter (cm).
There are also social limitations that require some thought. Citizens in general must also consider the further opportunities that such technology can provide for invasion of privacy or false alarms and consider how to respond to such developments. It is a fairly simple matter to take a device purchased for tracking a pet and drop it into your car to track you. Strange containers left under a bridge for a geocaching game brought out an emergency bomb squad. Should there be public policy ethics or laws to address such concerns? Are there ways to measure whether a GPS unit is sending signals from around you? How does one develop social policy to balance its significant value with its detracting features?
Handheld Home | Page author: Houghton | Updated June 7, 2006