By allowing the use of photos for location, Veezer allows users to create accurate, up-to-date, and autonomous support maps.
Photos offer a level of detail unmatched by conventional maps, aerial photos, or 3D models, and are a valuable aid in the field, especially in difficult terrain.
When you take photos with the app, all the shooting parameters are recorded: geographic position, orientation, and optical properties.
For even greater precision, registration points can be added.
This information allows you to use the photos as a real background map once you’re on location, pinpointing your GPS position.
Yes, the app primarily uses your phone’s camera and GPS and works perfectly offline, including in airplane mode.
Veezer allows you to take your own photos in the application, or to import photos shared by other users in OVZ format (from the main menu, ‘Open file’).
To import existing photos, photos taken with a drone, DSLR, or any other device, you must use the photo import function (from the main menu, ‘Import a photo’). This feature requires a Veezer Plus subscription.
Positioning accuracy depends on the photo’s referencing and the user’s real-time positioning.
Photo referencing accuracy is related to the quality of the GPS signal at the time of acquisition, the capabilities of the device’s sensors, and calibration. Accuracy can also be improved in the field with adjustment points.
The accuracy of the user’s real-time positioning depends on the quality of the GPS signal in the field and the observation distance in the photo.
Under standard conditions, the absolute accuracy of photo referencing reaches a few pixels (typically <0.5% of the photo size); and the absolute error of user positioning is less than 5 m.
For example, with a recent standard smartphone, at a distance of 1 km, a positioning accuracy of 5 m in the photo is achieved.
Veezer must know all of your camera’s optical parameters precisely to accurately position a GPS point on the image.
While the phone provides some optical parameters, they are most often approximate and insufficiently accurate for the app.
Camera calibration—performed automatically in the app based on photos—allows you to precisely define all of the camera’s optical parameters: the focal length as well as any lens distortions, to allow for optimal positioning in the photo.
Camera calibration is therefore recommended in all cases to obtain reliable optical parameters and improve positioning in photos in preparation for your outings.
For optimal accuracy, it is recommended to create one control point (or “alignement” point) per photo.
A single control point allows for a 3- to 6-fold increase in accuracy, depending on the phone, and can achieve an accuracy of approximately 0.5% across the entire photo if the camera has been properly calibrated beforehand. This accuracy is suitable for GPS tracking on the photo.
No, if the photo is already well referenced on your side, the recipient of the photo can directly use it as a basemap to track their GPS position precisely, without worrying about referencement.
The photo is also shared with your drawings and annotations.
