[OSM-talk] Burning Man

[David Earl]

On 18/12/2009 11:51, Mikel Maron wrote:
>beyond that, the layout retains importance as
> geographic context to photos, videos, memories. If you look at the
> flickr map, the background map depends on whether the photo was taken in
> 2008 or 2009.
> [http://www.aaronland.info/weblog/2009/09/18/fivethings/#burningman]
>
> THENWHAT?


Of course, all photos should be geolocated in four dimensions of the 
space-time continuum not just lat,lon but lat,lon,altitude and timestamp.

Silly? Perhaps a bit OTT at present, but...

As maps extend into three dimensions (e.g. cityscape modelling and 
perspective terrain views) people will want their photos located not 
just on a conventional vertically projected map, but on the terrain of 
cityscape model - they'll want to show the photo is at the top of the 
ski lift on a snowy landscape model, not buried deep in a mountain, or 
at the top of the Eiffel tower not at the base on a Google Earth view.

Likewise, many seaside piers burn down. So what's this photo doing in 
the middle of the sea on my map? - ah it was actually at the end of the 
now-vanished pier thirty years ago, and the time dimension of the photo 
could in principle chronolocate it as well a geolocate it.

More sadly, an 80 year old looks back at her photos of a holiday taken 
in her teens in the Maldives in 2009 and sees it located in the middle 
of blank ocean hundreds of km from land. Global warming has wiped out 
the Maldives some time before 2070.

Actually if photos are geolocated like that, they also need a reference 
datum stored too - how else will the space tourists of the future locate 
their photos on the moon and on Mars?

OK, back to the real world...

David