GeoVid iPhone and iPad Apps

This page describes technical details of our GeoVid georeferenced video application running on iOS-based mobile phones and tablets. The app is available from the iTunes App Store here.

OBJECTIVES

The purpose of this iPhone and iPad application is to provide easy video recording annotated with location meta-data and to allow uploading of this information to our georeferenced video search services.

NOTE: By its very nature this iOS app will collect location, direction, date and time information and submit it to our server. We do not collect any personally identifiable information. If you have privacy concerns about the collection of such information, please do not use this app!

FEATURES

• Record geo-referenced videos with DVD-quality (720 x 480) video resolution.
• Upload recorded videos to our search server (http://geovid.org), where users can submit geo-referenced queries (such as range or directional queries) and display videos via a web interface.
  

VERSION HISTORY

• v2.6: The latest version contains many bug fixes, live uploading, etc. Records all sensor values (accelerometer, magnetic field, computed compass, light level, GPS signals, and WiFi fingerprints).

INSTALLATION

The iOS app is available from the iTunes App Store here. The installation works like any other iOS app.

USERS GUIDE

After launching the GeoVid app, the user will see the main screen.

• RECORDING
  When clicking the START button, a default-style camera window will pop up to let the user capture a new video clip. During recording, the GeoVid app will store the GPS location and compass direction information related to every video frame in the background. The app will ask for permission to access this information.
  

  

  
  
• PREVIEWING A RECORDED VIDEO
  After a video has been recorded, the user can press the play icon to preview the video clip. Meanwhile, after pressing the USE button, the video will be stored in the Camera Roll as well. Therefore, users are able to watch the GeoVid videos from the photo/video albums.
  

  

  
  
• UPLOADING
  After pressing the USE button, the camera view will disappear and the user can see the upload view. Now, the user can choose from two different uploading modes: uploading in the foreground or in the background. Furthermore, since the user may be out of range of a WiFi or 3G zone at that moment, the GeoVid app will store the video clip and its related sensor information on the device if the user presses the UPLOAD LATER button. Then, when the user reaches a spot with good network coverage, he or she can upload previously captured videos and georeference information from the Continue Uploading view.
  
  

  Upload screen	Continue uploading screen

  
  
• UPLOAD RESPONSE
  When the user uploads video and sensor data, whether successful or not, the GeoVid app will return to the main screen and display the upload result at the bottom. If the user chooses to upload later, a response will also be displayed and the app is ready to record the next video.
  
  

  Upload now result	Upload later result

  
  
• BACKGROUND UPLOADING
  If a user wants to utilize the multitasking feature in iOS 4.x and press the UPLOAD IN THE BACKGROUND button, the GeoVid app will instantly upload the sensor data at first (this data is small and uploads quickly). Then the user can press the HOME button and use the device for other things. When the uploading process is finished, a local alert will pop up to notify the user of the result.
  
  

  Background uploading view	Background uploading result

  
  
• CONTINUE UPLOADING
  When a user gets to a place with available network coverage, he or she can press the CONTINUE UPLOADING FILES button to finish uploads which they suspended before. Users will also receive a status notification of the result of continuing to upload a videos and sensor data files on the main screen.
  

  

  
  
• FILE ORGANIZATION
  A user can find all the stored video clips and sensor data files (in JSON format) by pressing the FILES tab button on the right side of the tab bar. Of course, user can delete unwanted files by clicking the DELETE button at the right hand side of navigation bar.
  

  

  
  

FUTURE PLANS

Currently, we do not implement any authentication mechanism as to whether contents are uploaded by a valid user. For user identification, we plan to use the "OpenID" approach, using a social media account such as Twitter or Facebook. For full user privacy protection, we will use "OAuth", where our application does not store any privacy-sensitive information such as a user's password.

We are also working on support for a real-time, low-bandwidth uploading service, where a user can upload meta-data instantly during video recording while submitting the actual video content later.

SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS

We may provide some of the format specifications and APIs at a later point in time, if there is community interest for this.

CREDITS

The GeoVid iOS app is maintained by Min Htoon. If you have questions, feedback, or suggestions, please drop me an email (see the Contact Us page).