8. myWorld vision Simplicity for users, admins, developers Usability / simplicity Scalability without effort Integration through “enterprise mashups” Mobility online or offline, many devices Value low cost of ownership flic.kr/p/3guaAu
17. Ubisense background Ubisense founded by four former executives and founders of Smallworld Many experienced Smallworld technical staff and other managers myWorld lead Peter Batty was VP of Technology at Smallworld and CTO of Intergraph
20. Raster map tiles Pre-render maps into image files Approach used by Google, Microsoft, etc Very high performance and scalability Easy to integrate with Google Maps Matches Smallworld styles exactly
21. Secure web server (in cloud or in house) Google Maps servers Smallworld Initial sync Incremental updates Spatial database (Arc2Earth or PostGIS) Streetview, geocoding Base maps, imagery Raster map tiles myWorld sync myWorld can run in the cloud or in house Desktop or mobile myWorld client Any web browser Desktop or mobile Secure authentication myWorld System Architecture
22. Secure web server (in cloud or in house) Smallworld Initial sync Incremental updates Spatial database (Arc2Earth or PostGIS) Raster map tiles myWorld sync Sync in more detail Two sets of files: Map tiles (.png) Feature data (geoJSON) Just apply same change files to laptops for disconnected mobile
23. Connected wireless architecture myWorld server Hugely reduced admin costs Access to real time data Access to Google Maps and Street View No software install needed: great for contractors, foreign crews, executives Supports smart phones Wireless network connection Needs a wireless connection Any device with modern web browser
24. Disconnected architecture myWorld server No wireless connection needed Flexible sync options High performance More admin Can’t use Google maps locally Periodic sync Local database Windows laptop or tablet* *Other platforms in future
25. Hybrid architecture myWorld server Combines strengths of both options Flexible sync options High performance Wireless link when available Local storage when not More admin versus wireless only Local database Windows laptop or tablet* *Other platforms in future
26. Sync approach Secure web server (in cloud or in house) Smallworld Initial sync Existing myWorld update files Incremental updates Spatial database (Arc2Earth or PostGIS) Raster map tiles myWorld sync Incremental sync nightly (typical) Typical update file sizes: - 100 feature update ~9MB - 1000 feature update ~80MB Simple, flexible, non-proprietary file sync Sync files to laptops (dropbox or other) Local database Apply same changes on laptops
28. myWorld mobile Highly flexible common architecture Connected (wireless) or disconnected Wide range of supported devices Smart phone Tablet Laptop including iPhone and Android including iPad
29. Home Screen Mobile app runs on iPhone, Android and other smart phones Looks like native app on iPhone Zoom using buttons or “pinch”, drag to pan Home, search, locate, send link
30. Feature selection Selected feature summary Can view feature details or street view Tap screen to select feature
33. Directions Turn by turn directions show in Maps application on iPhone Android offers choice of multiple maps apps or browser, and voice navigation Longer than average route in this example!
39. Design concept for network info Will display pre-calculated relationships (e.g. upstream / downstream devices, isolating sections) directly Will call Smallworld / GSS for more complex traces
40. Search and query More flexible spatial and non-spatial queries Search on external data sources Links from Excel to map Grid display in browser
45. myWorld customization Configure Smallworld map layers Configure external map layers Imbed myWorld maps using Google Maps API Access myWorld data using REST API
49. myWorld summary Ease of use Ease of integration Low cost of ownership Designed for Smallworld Leverage technology trends Look to the future, not to the past!
Smart phones will soon be free with a contract … current AT&T is offering a new 8GB iPhone 3GS for $49 with 2 year contract, refurbished ones for as little as 1c!
Smart phones will soon be free with a contract … current AT&T is offering a new 8GB iPhone 3GS for $49 with 2 year contract, refurbished ones for as little as 1c!
You need a wireless connection in general … but this massively reduces admin. No need to sync, no need to install software on any devices, no need to upgrade, no need to do anything when you change your data model. If you have foreign crews, they just need any device with a web browser and some login information.
You need a wireless connection in general … but this massively reduces admin. No need to sync, no need to install software on any devices, no need to upgrade, no need to do anything when you change your data model. If you have foreign crews, they just need any device with a web browser and some login information.
You need a wireless connection in general … but this massively reduces admin. No need to sync, no need to install software on any devices, no need to upgrade, no need to do anything when you change your data model. If you have foreign crews, they just need any device with a web browser and some login information.
You need a wireless connection in general … but this massively reduces admin. No need to sync, no need to install software on any devices, no need to upgrade, no need to do anything when you change your data model. If you have foreign crews, they just need any device with a web browser and some login information.
This is a typical utility basemap in Smallworld – fairly sparse. But you can see with the raster tiled approach that the data looks exactly like it does in Smallworld
Adding in a Google Street Map gives a lot more context. Maintaining base maps is not a core activity for utilities, and is very expensive. It really makes sense to use basemaps maintained by somebody else. There are ways that you can add updates where necessary, for example adding a new subdivision which isn’t on the basemap yet.
And Google satellite imagery is good for many applications. I hear a lot of people say that Google imagery is out of date but I think they are updating it more and more frequently.
What if your data doesn’t match the Google landbase? Many utilities have an old and inaccurate landbase and want to transform or conflate their network data to a new and more accurate landbase, for multiple reasons – sharing data with other entities, using GPS, and working with external data like Google Maps, or imagery from other sources. This is an example of some data from PNG, who went through such a conflation exercise. You can see here how much better their pipes align with a Google map background after the conflation progress. That’s not the main focus of my talk today, but
Google street view can give you valuable extra information about facilities. Often you can see details on pole configuration and so on that may not be stored in the database. We’ve integrated tightly with this, so that when you click on a facility you automatically get the right street view displayed. In cases where the data doesn’t line up exactly it’s easy to adjust the view and save that for next time.
A very powerful feature is that you can display icons in the street view itself and mouse over or click them for more information.
In this example we can see several poles further away as we look along the street.
Another thing we can make far more use of in mobile applications is georeferenced photos. These pictures were taken with my iPhone, the location was automatically recorded by the built in GPS, and the pictures were uploaded wirelessly by email and appeared on the map automatically like this – I have not adjusted anything manually.
These type of photos can be displayed on the map in near real time, and have huge potential for damage assessment after storms … just get members of the public to email pictures from their smart phones (in addition to your crews), and you have a really powerful crowdsourced solution, that can give you a much better near real time view of the situation than you have today.