Panoramascope : Augmented Reality

Features

Is the Panoramascope Internationalised?

Although placename data covers the world, only names using Western European characters will display correctly. We may be able to improve on this in the future.

Placenames seem to be visible through mountains.

Yes, the Panoramascope doesn't currently hide markers that would be hidden by intervening mountains. We may change this in the future, though it is sometimes useful to be shown that, for example, a particular town is behind a foreground hill.

Terrain Data

Where does the terrain data come from?

Most of the data comes originally from NASA who collected it from the Space Shuttle in 2000. It's freely available for anyone to use. For more information, see this Wikipedia page or the official NASA page. In the U.S. and Canada it instead uses freely-available data from the national mapping agencies; this has better quality than the NASA data in areas of steep terrain. Gaps in the NASA data in other parts of the world have been filled using data collected by Jonathan de Ferranti, described here. Our servers store copies of all of this data.

How much of the world is covered?

Almost the entire planet. Currently the only areas that are not covered are Canada North of 70 degrees (i.e. the Arctic islands) and parts of Northern Siberia and Antarctica.

How accurate is the data?

The terrain data has a horizontal resolution of 1/1200°, which is approximately 100 metres at the equator improving to about 50 metres in the east-west dimension only at 60° N or S. The vertical resolution is 1 metre.

It is possible to find places where the terrain data does not agree with the reality on the ground, though many of these have now been fixed by the addition of other data to NASA's coverage.

Layer (placename) Data

Where does the placename data come from?

Most of the layers come from OpenStreetMap. This is a free world map constructed by volunteers that has constantly improving worldwide coverage. The Panoramascope downloads layer files based on this data from our servers.

There is currently one layer, "US Peaks", based on data from the U.S. Geological Survey. We may add more layers based on this source in the future; let us know if you have any requests.

On what terms is the OpenStreetMap data distributed?

The OpenStreetMap data is subject to Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike version 2.0 terms. This means that if you were to distribute views created by the Panoramascope that included OpenStreetMap layers (e.g. by taking a screenshot of a view) then you would need to use the same distribution terms.

On what terms is the USGS data distributed?

The USGS data is in the public domain and you can do anything you like with it.

How much of the world is covered?

Placename data coverage varies across the world, from excellent to non-existent. If coverage of a particular area is important, please visit the OpenStreetMap site to see how good the coverage is in your area before you install the Panoramascope.

How have you divided the world into continents?

We've divided the world into six rectangular areas for these layer files; they approximately correspond to continents but because the borders are straight lines the naming is inappropriate in some cases. In particular, areas of Central America, the Caribbean, the Mediterranean and the Middle East may not be included in the expected file. Here's a map of our divisions:

General

Why is the app rated 17+?

The help screen could be abused to get uncensored internet access, and Apple allow this only in 17+ apps. It's unfortunate that the description of 17+ in the app store is so vague, but only Apple can change this. There is, of course, no adult content within the app itself.

Support

I have a suggestion for a new feature.

We already have lots of ideas for new features, but we'd love to hear your ideas too. See the Contact page for how to get in touch.

How do I get support?

The level of support that we can guarantee at this price is limited, but you are welcome to get in touch via the Contact page.

The app crashes / I've found a bug.

Please let us know, especially if you can reliably reproduce the problem. We can't promise to be able to fix the it, but we may be able to suggest a work-around.

Google Earth

Why would I want this when I can get Google Earth?

We imagine that most Panoramascope users will also have Google Earth installed. It's an excellent application, but the satellite imagery that it uses gives a fundamentally different sort of view than our line drawings. Unlike Google Earth, Panoramascope can function when no network connection is available if you have pre-loaded the required terrain data.

Can you add "Go to Google Earth" to the Maps buttons?

Unfortunately Google Earth doesn't have the required hook to make this possible. If Google adds this, we'll add the button.

Technical Questions

Can I use your layer files for other purposes?

Yes, our OpenStreetMap-derived layer files are distributed under the CC-BY-SA terms and you're welcome to download and use them for your own purposes. For more technical details please see this document.

Does Panoramascope : Augmented Reality have a URL handler?

Yes, Panoramascope understands com.panoramascope: URLs. You can use this to launch it from other iPhone apps or from web pages. The syntax requires a query string with coordinates in any format that's acceptable when entered in the app's Coordinates box, escaped in the normal fashion for URLs. For example, com.panoramascope:/?3W,39.5N uses latitude and longitude and com.panoramascope:/?NN090595 uses an Ordnance Survey grid reference.