MapNav is a Geolocation Engine for Unity and a powerful tool to develop parallel worlds or map-based mobile apps and games, thanks to its 2d/3d object geolocation tools and GPS navigation system.
For a sample demo please try SonicMaps, a Locative Audio (GPS Tour) app for sound geolocation, powered by MapNav. If you own a compatible iOS device you can use one of the following promo codes for a free copy of the SonicMaps Editor:
As you might have noticed, the MapNav Geolocation Toolkit can be used in many different situations, but these can be essentially grouped in two main branches:
1.Development of GPS and map-based games/applications where a map is visible to end-users as a base layer to overlay your own Unity content.
2.Development of “Parallel Worlds” or games/applications with custom scenery/content that can be navigated via GPS (map layer is displayed only during development to facilitate content geolocation and it is finally hidden to end-user).
We’d love to know your opinion so we have just created a poll to ask which of these two options you find more useful/interesting?
This information will help us identify your preferences and improve the MapNav asset with the most required features.
Version 1.2.1 is now available on the Asset Store.
With this version you will be able to geolocate multiple game objects at once (without having to stop the game) as each instance of the GetGeolocation script now stores its own location data. It also features an improved and smoother response to compass sensor readings plus other minor bug fixes.
I have been trying it out on the iphone 4. It was very easy to get running, even for me. Great work.
Taking the heading or bearing from the compass is causing problems though. I would like to see the option to take the heading from just the GPS co-ordinates like here http://www.movable-type.co.uk/scripts/latlong.html .
Is there an option to switch off online maps, as I don’t need them? Maybe there is and just didn’t notice it.
Have you tried calibrating your compass sensor (magnetometer)? Sometimes it is affected by large metallic objects, etc. This is an example of calibration method: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sP3d00Hr14o
However, you should usually expect a 10-20 degrees margin of error on this type of sensors for mobile devices. I checked your link but it looks like they are just calculating heading as the result of the path between two geographical locations, which might not be really useful when trying to update your current heading from actual live GPS readings. Even if this calculation was performed between two consecutive GPS reading (let’s say, every second or so), the heading accuracy would be conditioned by the accuracy of the GPS sensor making it very unreliable. Also, if you change your orientation while you are static, it would be impossible to register any heading change. We really hope new devices will integrate better sensors as there is a huge market out there for AR and location based applications.
Regarding the map question, we have already included a “disable map” option in the next update release, which should be available in few days.
This is a hardware problem you are right. And calibration solves it. But it is difficult to do this when the device is in a cradle and you are driving :).
I see I haven’t updated to your most recent version which actually has a fix for “smoother response to compass sensor readings plus other minor bug fixes”. I may have spoken too soon.
Unfortunately, caching, or storage of maps violates the TOS of most providers like google,etc. so we do not implement offline maps in our asset. Although you could use online maps during development (content geolocation) and include offline open-source imagery for a small specific area if you know where your game/app is located (so your users won’t need an internet connection).
Yes, you can get location data indoors using Wifi only, however the best accuracy is provided by the GPS sensor, which in most cases will only work outdoors. Here is some useful information on how location data is obtained in mobile devices:
GPS chipset
Most accurate
Slow
Need to be outside or near window
Requires the GPS chipset to be on
MACs visible on WiFi (by querying a central DB such as Google’s)
Often surprisingly accurate (10-100m depending on how many WiFis are present and if they are have been seen before)
Quite fast
Requires the wifi to be on
Requires a data connection to the Internet to be on (not necessarily on WiFi)
Requires Google services to be installed on the device (some cheap devices may not have this)
The location of the cell-phone mast you are using (Network Provider)
Accurate to hundreds of meters to kilometers
Often immediate
Requires telephony to be on
is it possible to create routes or get streets? I see we can geolocate objects on the 3d demo… can one set destination points that are bound to an actual road?
Then, MapNav will do the GPS to Unity World Space conversion for you so you can navigate the map and explore your integrated Unity content (2D/3D Meshes, Physics, Animations, sounds, etc.).
Raster tiles only at the moment. I had a look to Mapnik Vector Tiles with Geojson data and looks promising but not sure if it is ready for commercial use yet.
The MapQuest free open services are great and they have routing services, but if you need satellite imagery then you should go for their Licensed content or Google.
I am happy to announce that MapNav 1.3.1 is finally available on the Asset Store, including: touch interactions (Zoom to Pinch Drag to Pan), a brand new 2D-view engine (with orthographic camera), disable map option, free camera mode (3D-view), Bing maps support (in addition to Google Maps and MapQuest-OSM) and many other minor fixes and improvements.
