Mobile Friendly Campus Map for PSU

The Campus Planning Office of Portland State University has engaged the Gartrell Group to design and build a mobile-friendly, web-based campus map that will showcase some of the Office’s excellent cartographic products. This interactive application is intended to support the wayfinding needs of prospective students and campus visitors and also to help community members quickly locate key resources (e.g. the “bike hub”,“Market Street Pub”, etc.).
It will also provide easy means for producing maps for re-use in campus publications and reference materials. The tool will be developed through the use of a responsive design framework to help assure a great user experience for people using mobile devices and desktop browsers alike. Our team is delighted to have the opportunity to help the University develop this new capability and we look forward to using it ourselves.

The map is due for production rollout this coming summer. More on this as we get further into the project…

Lighting Out & Bringing It Back Home: Patterns in Mobile Mapping

Native apps. HTML 5. Responsive design. Checkin. Checkout. QC. Disconnected Editing. Local Storage. Post to server. Define, assign, dispatch. Working offline. Wi-Fi Detection. Switch from web to native functions.

These terms all mash into the tag cloud that hovers over most of our technical projects these days. Every solution involves mobile GIS and, more and more, mobile solutions involve a little of everything. What’s cool is that with a bit of planning and innovative thinking, people can get most of what they dream up as the optimal set of capabilities for dealing with the fickleness of working in the great out of doors.

A few examples of working mobile mapping solutions now in the hands of our clients:

Updating Content to Devices Used Offline

One client sends field personnel into remote areas to perform data collection on utility assets. The asset condition forms they use are ever-changing, but the mobile data collection tools need to function in disconnected settings with no Wi-Fi or cell signal. The client now has a web-based management portal that allows authorized users to rapidly update the content of survey forms. They can send updates to targeted personnel indicating they need to update their forms at their earliest convenience, and field staff will receive prompts and be able download updated field forms as soon as Wi-Fi is detected by their tablet.

Integration with Enterprise Security Frameworks

Several customers are now using mobile solutions that integrate with corporate security frameworks and mobile device management systems. We have collaborated with our clients in affecting careful hand-offs and integration between local and server-side resources to design solutions that satisfy the policies of specialists who are responsible for ensuring that corporate data is safeguarded from unapproved access.

Local Storage of Data When Offline

A number of our customers have field workers that are crossing in and out of connectivity over the course of their work days. They now are able to store field observations in local data stores on their mobile devices and then post new content to servers as soon as they receive prompting triggered by the auto-detected presence of Wi-Fi networks and/or restored cellular connectivity.

Creating, Editing, and Storing Features

Creating and updating spatial data is exactly what mobile mapping is all about. Dropping markers; attaching voice memos, pictures, and videos; delineating and classifying areas and zones; drawing and connecting lines and creating linear references. We’re continually surprised the variety of different ways these capabilities can be developed to meet the diverse and unique business needs of our customers. Some clients are working in the bush with no hope of connectivity and check-in their field work after hours of off-net data collection. Some are syncing individuals’ field observations into versioned databases implemented in the cloud. Some clients are now using data collection and storage solutions which leverage simple text files for storing and transmitting their data, providing them with ultra-light, high performance means for data editing with and without connectivity.

Using the Web When You Got It

A couple recent projects have provided the opportunity for us to explore how to elegantly blend functions supported by web connectivity with functions supported by the native mobile platform.  Allowing users to download pre-made, georeferenced maps and then allowing them to plot their current GPS-derived position on the maps, even after connectivity is lost, is one example of this kind of work.

Managing Mobile Work from the Office

We don’t all get to go out on the field. These tools are for the coaches. When companies have a team of mobile workers, they often need staff who have an overview of the work being done and who are able to assess the progress and quality of the team’s efforts. A number of our clients are now using a suite of web management tools that allow them to quickly assess and visualize the status of work, both in general and very specifically (e.g. by project, unit, staff person, data set, etc). These web management tools include functions to support data review and quality assurance efforts, capabilities for creating data packages and making field assignments for particular staff, and tools for sending posted field data for processing.

If you are wrestling with any of these challenges, or are feeling boxed in by what seems a limited or overly rigid set of choices for your mobile work effort, feel free to drop us a line and talk. We love fresh challenges and there’s a lot of cool stuff that can be done when one blends geospatial with mobile.

Find out where to hunt and target shoot in Oregon on your mobile device

The Oregon Hunting Access Map

We’ve recently completed work on a new hunting and target shooting web site for the Oregon State Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) that was built specifically for optimal use on mobile devices. The Oregon Hunting Access Map has been around for several years now. We built the original version back when people accessed the internet from their desktop or laptop computers. In the few years since, mobile devices have taken over as the computer of choice when accessing information on the internet. It seems only natural that the Oregon Hunting Access Map would be adapted to fit this growing need. Now, when you go to oregonhuntingmap.com on your mobile device, you will be directed to the mobile-friendly version. Desktop/laptop users will continue to see the version optimized for their use.

Modern coding makes it accessible on any mobile device

The mobile market is split pretty evenly between Android and iOS, so rather than develop an application specific to either operating system, we built a web site that scales well and works on any browser. Using the AngularJS framework, we were able to provide ODFW with a solution that will work on any mobile device, saving them time and money on developing a unique app for every operating system, while giving the end-user the experience of using an app. By using Angular, we were able to quickly build, test and deploy the site.

Modern, interactive map

The site is essentially an interactive map that gives users the ability to filter the contents, either by species or by shooting range type. Looking to hunt for Wilson’s Snipe? Or perhaps to find a range near you that hosts Cowboy Action Shooting competitions? We’ve got you covered. You simply select what you’re looking for – whether it be a particular type of animal or a shooting range type – and then see all of the places that match your selection on a map. With the phone’s GPS turned on, you can see your location in relation to the spots that fit your selection. Using your phone’s default mapping application, you can get driving directions to the spots that you’re interested in.

More than just a map

This isn’t an application that simply shows you dots on a map. It provides you with all of the information that you’ll need to not only find a location, but to learn more about that location. On the hunting access map, there is contextual information provided for every hunting area – information such as the acreage, a description, who manages the area, access, regulations, if there’s camping, and any alerts related to that area. The shooting range map provides information such as facility details, available range types, and services offered. Contact information is available for all hunting areas and shooting ranges.

Powerful, Offline Functionality

With the power of GeoPDFs, not only can you can use the app to plan your hunt, but you can use it while you’re in the field. Out in the wilderness, your phone may not be connected to a cellular network, but it is still connected to GPS satellites. Most of the hunting areas in the app have an available GeoPDF, which is a detailed, PDF map of the area. It is Geo-enabled, so it will use your phone’s GPS signal to show your exact position on a the map. Additionally, you can add photos, record your GPS tracks, drop pins (where you parked, your camp site, where you bagged that deer, etc.) – and when it’s all done, share your map with others (if you really want to give away your secret hunting spot…). In our field-testing, the phone combined with the GeoPDF did just as good a job at way-finding as a stand-alone GPS unit. With the Oregon Hunting Access Map on the phone in your pocket, you can leave home with one less piece of equipment!