A Survey of Marker-Less Tracking and Registration Techniques for Health & Environmental Applications to Augmented Reality and Ubiquitous Geospatial Information Systems

Most existing augmented reality (AR) applications are suitable for cases in which only a small number of real world entities are involved, such as superimposing a character on a single surface. In this case, we only need to calculate pose of the camera relative to that surface. However, when an AR health or environmental application involves a one-to-one relationship between an entity in the real-world and the corresponding object in the computer model (geo-referenced object), we need to estimate the pose of the camera in reference to a common coordinate system for better geo-referenced object registration in the real-world. New innovations in developing cheap sensors, computer vision techniques, machine learning, and computing power have helped to develop applications with more precise matching between a real world and a virtual content. AR Tracking techniques can be divided into two subcategories: marker-based and marker-less approaches. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of marker-less registration and tracking techniques and reviews their most important categories in the context of ubiquitous Geospatial Information Systems (GIS) and AR focusing to health and environmental applications. Basic ideas, advantages, and disadvantages, as well as challenges, are discussed for each subcategory of tracking and registration techniques. We need precise enough virtual models of the environment for both calibrations of tracking and visualization. Ubiquitous GISs can play an important role in developing AR in terms of providing seamless and precise spatial data for outdoor (e.g., environmental applications) and indoor (e.g., health applications) environments.

Sustainable Applications of Remote Sensing and Geospatial Information Systems to Earth Observations

The Special Issue on “Sustainable Applications of Remote Sensing and Geospatial Information Systems to Earth Observations” is published. A total of 20 qualified papers are published in this Special Issue. The topics of the papers are the application of remote sensing and geospatial information systems to Earth observations in various fields such as (1) object change detection, (2) air pollution, (3) earthquakes, (4) landslides, (5) mining, (6) biomass, (7) groundwater, and (8) urban development using the techniques of remote sensing and geospatial information systems. More than 100 researchers have participated in this Special Issue. We hope that this Special Issue is helpful for sustainable applications.

Geospatial information systems in business process management

Systemy Informacji Geoprzestrzennej (GIS), zazwyczaj kojarzone z zastosowaniami kartograficznymi, rozszerzają swój zakres wykorzystania. Internet Rzeczy w połączeniu z formułą otwartych danych zwiększa powszechność i dostępność danych geograficznych. Możliwe więc staje się zwiększenie zakresu zasobów informacyjnych utrzymywanych dotychczas w postaci znakowej. Narzędzia GIS wzbogacają funkcjonalność rozwiązań informatycznych w obszarze zarządzania poprzez coraz szersze wykorzystanie zarówno analiz geoprzestrzennych, jak również własności samych systemów GIS. Artykuł jest próbą pokazania możliwości wykorzystania wymiaru geograficznego dla potrzeb analiz biznesowych.

Esri Association With Open Source

Everyone involved in geospatial information systems has heard of Environmental Systems Research Institute (Esri)company. Most people have tried ArcGIS software at least for one time. Esri has been the pioneer in this industry for a long time; it also defines the future of geospatial trends. In this chapter, the author adopts a neutral position to discuss the relation of Esri and open-source community. They cover almost every aspect where Esri and open source co-occur. Even the latest achievement of Esri, which is R-bridge, is discussed here. Going into the details of everything is not the goal of the chapter; however, a minimum description is provided for each section. Proper references are given to the reader for further study.