A Handheld Application for Remote Geo-Tagging

The objective of this proposal is to demonstrate a mobile application capable of determining the location of a remote target. When a photo is taken with a GPS-enabled camera, the GPS location of the actual camera is appended to the photo in a process known as Geo-Tagging. Remote Geo-Tagging (RGT) differs from this process in that RGT determines the coordinates of a target within the picture as opposed to the location from where the picture was taken, only using the embedded sensors within a smartphone. This allows a user to determine the GPS coordinates of a target without the need for single-purpose ranging equipment, referencing the target on a map, or needing to physically travel to the object with a GPS receiver. As conceived, the RGT application will be especially effective in homogenous environments, lacking in landmarks or other identifying features that can be referenced on a map. RGT has the potential to increase the accuracy of intelligence gathering and field reporting systems without the addition of major hardware, software, or other resources. In the commercial realm, RGT would enhance the social networking experience by making it easier to share the location of interesting objects, such as climbable rock faces.