Walking on a Guidebook with GPS: A Framework Geo-Enabling Pages with Illustrated Maps in LBS

Abstract

The current location-based mobile applications for tourists usually use Web maps as base maps with attached objects like POIs (points of interest) to provide tourists with relevant information, which relies on positioning functions of the current handsets. However, the diversity of maps and geo-information representation methods are insufficient, and are regardless of the differences in cultures as well as target users. The conventional paper-based guidebooks and magazines are still popular because they are good at dealing with subdivided topics, content arrangement, illustrations and stories to provide tentative travel plans with attractiveness and readability. In this chapter, the authors propose a framework to create geo-enabled pages to combine the advantages of positioning-enabled devices and well-designed guidebooks with considering of better user experience in the real world. By analyzing the components of the pages of a guidebook, a structured description of both graphic and geographic information of each page component is established. Different georeference methods are discussed, among which the method of positioning using illustrated-maps is focused. Possible location-based events and interactions with users are enumerated. Finally, a preliminary prototype is developed to test the usability of the framework, followed by a discussion of future issues of this research.