Small Area Map Application

Small Area Map Application This project will develop a IOS app which will provide basic map display and geofencing. It is intended to be used as a directory for small areas, such as a town district, shopping area, or golf course. The project will be completed in two phases. The first phase will provide basic mapping function and the second phase will add geofencing. Maps will be created and stored in standard graphics formats, such as PNG, TIFF, and/or JPG. There will be a training step for each map which will assign GPS coordinates to positions on the map, allowing the map to be oriented in coordinate space. After the map has been “trained” the app will display an icon overlayed on top of the map to indicate the user position as the user (and the mobile device) moves. Once trained, the app will retain the map and training information. Multiple maps will be loaded and maintained by the app, and will be considered application data. When the mobile device is located in an area that is included on a loaded map, a menu will be available showing those maps (by filename title) that can be brought up for display. The app will support standard gestures to move, rotate, zoom (in and out), and tap to center with the map responding accordingly. If the user is outside the map area, a default image will be presented. Phase two will add regions within maps. When the user is in the region, the app will take an action specified for the region. This may include: (1) adding an entry to the menu of possible maps and calling up the menu function, (2) automatically switching to another map, (3) displaying a specific web page within the app with a “close” box, and (4) displaying text including possible HTML links in a popup window. Regions will defined for given maps using an overlay image. The overlay will be created either by the app itself by marking corners of the region (not necessarily rectangular) or with an image overlay in a file format to be determined. In either case, the regions will be retained in datafiles associated with the application and transferable as app data via iTunes. Based on success of this application, additional development may be considered.