GPS magic: Space signals and atomic clocks trigger tour narrations stored in computers

IntelliTours uses the U.S. Global Positioning System (GPS) and small computers to marry the ancient craft of navigation with old-fashioned story telling.

GPS is a free navigation system provided by the U.S. Air Force. Always on, all-weather and accurate to 15 meters, guidance is provided by 24 satellites that circle the globe. Radio signals from atomic clocks in the satellites travel at the speed of light to small antennas on GPS receivers. A computer calculates the arrival time of each satellite signal and “triangulates” the receiver’s latitude and longitude. The service works anywhere in the world.

Our computers use small GPS antennas to continuously fix their position. When the computer approaches a set of latitude and longitude coordinates stored in memory, the computer extracts multimedia files linked to that position, and plays it over a PA system. See how this is done (PDF).

The science is called “location awareness,” but IntelliTours is a not a mapping navigator. Visitors don’t need to know a lat-long from a latte. The navigation is invisible and automatic. What customers hear, see – and remember – is the story.