Panoramascope: Augmented Reality
By Phil Endecott
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Description
Panoramascope: Augmented Reality uses worldwide terrain data from NASA to compute the skyline as seen from anywhere on the planet. This is superimposed on the view from the iPhone's camera, oriented using the compass, with labels to identify mountain peaks and other features.
So when you're stood on top of a peak, you can now identify all the surrounding features. Or if the cloud comes down, you can work out what you should have been able to see.
When you're away from the mountains you can search for viewpoints and compute their views - great for trip planning, or just for armchair travel.
Panoramascope: Augmented Reality can also be used in flatter parts of the world, and marker layers are provided for features including tourist attractions and pubs (marker data is mostly from OpenStreetMap.org). However, the most impressive results are definitely obtained in mountainous areas.
In the US and Canada, Panoramascope works with the app Topo Maps, if you have installed that app, to show the view from a point selected on the map.
Because the compass is required, this app only works on the iPhone 3GS.
Note that the 17+ rating is purely because the app's help screen could be abused to provide uncensored internet access.
iPhone Screenshots
Customer Reviews
Very limited
I was excited to get this app because I live near Sedona, Arizona where there's plenty of mountains I've always wanted to know the name of. So I risked 6 dollars on an unreviewed app. Sadly Panoramascope doesn't quite cut it for me. Most of the time it's very difficult to line up the lines with the scenery in the AR mode.
What Panoramascope is missing the most is a map view. Part of the problem with lining things up is when the iPhone GPS doesn't get your coordinates perfect. There's no way to correct it unless you want to manually enter a different latitude and longitude Same problem if you want to simply navigate to another point nearby or further away.
Other problems:
- The labels contrast poorly against a bright sky. So don't try to use it on bright sunny days.
- The labels often crowd beyond the ability to read them. You can adjust the size, but you have to go into the settings menu to do it, back out, and wait for the camera to turn back on and the screen to redraw.
- It took a long time for it to get my GPS coordinates, while other programs got it nearly instantly.
Overall, panoramascope shows promise. The idea is amazing. The execution is poor despite the limitations of the iPhone GPS. Lack of map view severely limits it and 6 bucks is way to much for what it currently is.
Nifty app - a bit disappointing
Having already purchased the developer's superb Topo Maps app, and absolutely loving it, I was very excited about this one. Although it is fairly useful and can be pretty impressive, it could be much better. Granted I'm sure that the raw data being used presents some limitations, however, there are a number of weaknesses that don't depend on the raw data being used.
It is pretty buggy. It crashed so severely that I had to delete and reinstall it. It also seems to be pretty random about deciding when to place a label on a geographic feature, even when all the data has already been downloaded.
Navigation on the screen can be a little tricky when not using the camera view. When you zoom in very far, you lose your bearing labels. You can also wind up looking at the sky if you aren't careful. It would be much easier if there were a small, fixed text display showing the bearing angle and elevation angle of the view. A very nice extra touch would be to display the zoom level of your view.
There definitely needs to be a way to turn off the labels for features that are not in your field of view because they are blocked by other features. These labels are confusing and clutter up the screen. They could be useful at times, so a toggle button would be great.
The ability to change the label color is a must. If you are looking through the camera, the labels blend right in with the scenery. (Ability to change to background color would be nice too, although not as crucial.)
Preloading Terrain Data needs to be improved. Once you instruct it to start downloading, something should let you know that it is indeed downloading the data you instructed it to. Then, once it either finishes or is interrupted by an error (which seemed to happen a lot) you should be able to view what areas of the globe you have data for. It could just be a simple line drawing with the areas you have shaded, but you need some way to know what you've got and what you don't.
Overall, I'm still glad I've got it, but if an update was released with these issues addressed, it'd be a 5 star, rather than a 3 star app.
This is amazing
I live in Portland Oregon. This app is a must have for anyone who treks outdoors as you can see the terrain ahead of you.
- $5.99
- Category: Navigation
- Released: Nov 30, 2009
- Version: 1.0
- Size: 0.5 MB
- Language: English
- Seller: Philip Endecott
- © 2009 Philip Endecott
Requirements: Compatible with iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, and iPad 2 Wi-Fi + 3G.Requires iOS 3.1 or later
