Emerging Technologies Offer New Ways To Look At Cities

Rapidly advancing web technologies are enabling planners to merge location and data like never before. UCLA's Jeff Burke explains how embedded sensors, 'mash-ups,' and a host of other technologies are helping planners and everyday citizens alike.

1 minute read

August 23, 2006, 12:00 PM PDT

By Josh Stephens @jrstephens310


"What we find extremely intriguing involves the combination of several technologies: positioning technologies like GPS; Geographic Information Systems (GIS), which enable the mapping of spatial information from GPS and other location-based systems; and finally sensor networks that observe physical environments and contribute those observations to large-scale data sets."

"An everyday example of a sensing device is a cell phone, which can capture images and sound, and often has both positioning capability and a connection to the internet. We are interested in thinking about these not as just phones but as data-capture devices and tools to participate in documenting our cities."

Thanks to Josh Stephens

Monday, August 21, 2006 in The Planning Report

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