BuildingAnatomy application: 3d model superimposed on Layar browser AR view at 29m from point of interest. The 3d model is slightly misaligned from the reality view. Map view shows user location relative to point of interest.
2.1.6 Building a native mapping app with Route-me Summary - Using the Objective-C map client framework called RouteMe we implemented a simple iPhone mapping application using Digimap historic map data. Functionality included panning, zooming and geo location. To get an idea of the work involved in building a native application we developed a simple mapping client for the iPhone. The application was tested with Digimap Historic Town Plan maps and Ordnance Survey Mastermap maps. We employed the Route-me open source library [4] to get a head start in developing the application. The Route-me library provides a skeleton mapping client with full support for zooming and panning, layering and vector graphics.
The main challenge for us was that the Route-me framework does not support WMS [14] directly. Instead it prefers the Tile Mapping Service (TMS) [15] approach adopted by Google and OpenStreetMap. Fortunately, our WMS usually sits behind a TileCache service [16], that stores most of the maps in fast memory and it turns out the tile cache service can be configured to accept TMS requests without any need to change the WMS backend. While convenient, the workaround does in some instances reduce the quality of the rendered map as the stack of map products and layers used for zooming has been optimized for a WMS client where more fine grained control over the zoom level is possible. Some more investigation is required to understand if a purpose built map stack optimized for the TMS addressing system would create acceptable quality of rendering.
This evaluation also gave us a better understanding of the learning curve for developer to get up to speed with iPhone technologies such as Objective C and Cocoa Touch. There are excellent resources available for learning and developing code but nevertheless the time and effort obtaining and retaining necessary skills is high, particularly as the technology base is changing very rapidly with major releases of the operating system and hardware occurring almost every year.