Casio EX-10HG 'hybrid GPS' prototype taps into accelerometers for pinpoint accuracy

It's not a completely new idea, accelerometers have been enhancing GPS devices for a while now with additional velocity and directional information when the GPS signal is weak, but now Casio is giving it a shot in its new Exilim EX-H10 prototype camera. The "hybrid GPS" shooter does the regular geotagging thing with its onboard GPS, but when signal is weak (like when indoors, for instance), the camera augments the location data with guesstimates gleaned from its onboard accelerometers. The camera also has pretty detailed maps, so you could almost use the device for navigation, though the "pushpin" view is a good start. Hit up the source link for some more shots.

[pir800 Posted Jan 12th 2010 10:53AM]

rugged? if so this could be pretty nice.

[mikmik111 Posted Jan 12th 2010 11:00AM]

as I read the headline, I thought it can use accelerometer to have accurate and not blurry pictures. haha!

[Liberty Posted Jan 12th 2010 10:02PM]

@mikmik111
Same. Maybe it should have been "pushpin accuracy" :)

[Ryan Trevisol Posted Jan 12th 2010 11:05AM]

I've thought that GPS should be built into all cameras for some time now. The Geo-Tagging options available right now are weak at best. The worst is that EyeFi. It only tags the photos when you're near a WiFi that supports their location technology. Most of the great pictures I've taken have been miles away from the nearest Wifi.

[gillat Posted Jan 12th 2010 5:18PM]

@Ryan Trevisol Several corrections:

* Routers don't need to be special, to support our method of geotagging. Even if the router is secure, hidden, etc..., the Eye-Fi Card will see it. Then, our server will contact SkyhookWireless to see if the router has been mapped by their cars/trucks. If yes -- we'll geotag. You can be pretty far away from routers, and not connected to any of them at all, and yet the Eye-Fi Card will pick up the beacons, and will geotag.

* Most photos are taken indoor (80%, I believe). So although I appreciate that most of your photos are taken outdoor, I just wanted to comment on the fact that most photos are actually taken around the home, around town, and in the home. There, our approach of geo will work.

* agreed that the best combo is if the camera has built-in GPS, which works outdoor, and geooocation through SkyhookWireless & Eye-Fi, which works indoor.

Thx --

Ziv.

[csnoke Posted Jan 12th 2010 11:47AM]

It's a great idea.. but this is only a prototype, we probably won't see a version we can actually buy for quiet a long time.

[pbase Posted Jan 12th 2010 4:49PM]

Please excuse my ignorance. How can accelerometers assist in geolocation?

[D3rwin Posted Jan 12th 2010 5:28PM]

@pbase
They help the computer in the camera calculate what direction you continued moving in, at what rate, and how you stopped or turned. Tacking this onto where your last-known-good coordinates were, a guess can be made of about where you are.

The classic example is driving through a tunnel. You lose signal, but the accelerometers can tell if you're maintaining speed or changing speed and make a very good guess about how far you've progressed.