The second time I went to Sydney I took my cell phone with me. Because I could. It was nifty when I turned it on, and I got a message from Telstra saying "Hello and welcome to Australia", this is how to get help etc. It was cool. It was also somewhat good to have my phone tell me I was in Hyde Park. I could have probably figured it out, there a signs and things, but not so for other areas of the city. Not reaaaaly to helpful but better than nothing.
The idea of using your camera phone and building recognition software to locate yourself in a city is a great improvement.
You are lost in a foreign city, you don't speak the language and you are late for your meeting. What do you do? Take out your cellphone, photograph the nearest building and press send.
For a small fee, photo recognition software on a remote server works out precisely where you are, and sends back directions that will get you to your destination.
Sweet. Good idea. The only problem with the idea is that I imagine that the databank of buildings and locations that the system knows will be small. Imagine the man and machine power and time necessary to go out and build a database of images of all of the buildings in Sydney. Even if you only do the CBD, or downtown, this is still a lot. Then do this for the entire world, or at least all of the major cities in the world.
This is a mammoth task. More power to it if it goes ahead, but MAN it seems like a lot of work.
Of course, I'm sure it will be done for say the UK and USA, but I don't expect downtown Auckland done anytime soon.
Rah.