We are enjoying a getaway to the mountains, watching the vivid and colorful landscape and breathing pure air of the fresh fields with our friends. Suddenly, we realize that one of them is missing. It’s then when we wish we had shared our real time location with him.
There are many options in the market to use when searching for somebody on the mountain. We could send our real time location or call our friend. However, sending the location is not the best choice if we need to get found. Also, sending it individually to any of our hiking mates seems very boring.
If we call our friend he could explain us where to go, but unless we are experts in the area we will easily get lost. Wave is a complete app that positions groups of people on the same shared map, so they can all take advantage of the same real-time positioning.
How does real time location work?
At Wave we use a native backend that we have customized to reduce the load times of the position. Once the the smartphone reports the real time location, we are able to process that data and update it immediately on the smartphone of the people with whom a session is shared.
The algorithms of Wave are based on the use of GPS in conjunction with mobile networks and accelerometers. That way we achieve maximum precision. It can locate people while walking, hiking, driving, sailing, you name it.
What are the challenges of location in natural environments?
On the mountain it is usually more difficult to locate a real time position because there are no nearby references, such as streets, buildings or crossings. This is a challenge when it comes to painting the location on a map so that it is understandable to the user. Luckily, the cartography has advanced a lot. Almost any mountain, natural route or park in the world is perfectly mapped.
The second great challenge we have faced is the connection to the internet in remote areas. This issue prevented, just a decade ago, applications like Wave. Nowadays, however, 3G is very widespread. In practically all the routes that travelers make there is internet coverage. It has become a necessity, both for inhabitants and for athletes.
The last big challenge that we have faced is to achieve high quality precision. This is for both for the most advanced smartphones, as well as for low-end devices that have very basic gps. We can affirm that there are great differences between them.
We have worked hard to adapt our technology, our charging times, battery optimization and accuracy to the characteristics of each phone. So, instead of focusing on being bright with the best conditions. For example, a smartphone of last generation, we have managed to offer the best possible technology for each user. No matter which device they keep on their pocket.
Pablo Clemente Pérez 