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MapBox

MapBox is a cool new technology that allows users to quickly add custom tiles to a Google Map. The example below shows Washington, DC on Google Maps but with customized tiles meant to display Washington at night.

MapBox has a number of tiles you can start working with.

Pachube Data Logger

If you aren’t familiar with the work of Pachube (pronounced “PATCH-bay”) I have written about them in the past. They’ve just launched Data Logger for the iPhone that allows you to capture all sorts of geo-referenced data.

Data Logger for iPhone enables you to store and graph any data of your choosing along with a timestamp and geolocation. You might use Data Logger to store electricity meter readings, to create maps of pollution or temperature sensor readings around your neighbourhood, or animal sightings around the city. You can also set up custom data feeds, with user-defined min and max values, tags, description and units.

Augmented Reality used to fix vehicles

Software has been developed that leverages augmented reality to help mechanics fix vehicles. From Slashdot.com -

“ARMAR, or Augmented Reality for Maintenance and Repair, is a head mounted display unit that provides graphic overlays to assist you in making repairs. An Android phone provides an interface to control the graphics you view during the process. Published in IEEE, and recently tested with the United States Marine Corps on an armored turret, ARMAR can cut maintenance times in half by guiding users to the damaged area and displaying 3D animations to demonstrate the appropriate tools and techniques.”

Check out the video below -

I can imagine this in situations like Haiti when paired with reporting from Ushahidi to avoid certain neighborhoods, locate injured and the dead as well as aid non-professionals when experts are unavailable.