Latest GPS Trends in 2017

Featured article by Diana Smith, Independent Technology Author

Ever since the dawn of mankind, proper orientation was one of the most important things for the survival and growth of our species. We had to memorize where that clear water stream, that herd of buffaloes and that hazelnut tree were in relation to our home. Today, things have only changed in form, but not in their essence. People living in major cities can rarely memorize all the addresses, which means you are bound to get lost every now and then even within your comfort zone. All of these problems are something that the GPS (global positioning system) technology can solve with ease. With this in mind, let’s take a look where the latest GPS trends are or are expected to be in 2017.

Enhanced Precision

For years now, the GPS technology helped pinpoint our location or the location of the thing we wanted to track. Still, today this term pinpoint gets a completely new (almost literal meaning). According to researchers from the University of California, Riverside, in the nearest future, this system will be able to enhance location accuracy and reduce the error margin to mere centimeters. Seeing how today it is measured in meters, this will be a great leap forward when it comes to reliability of GPS apps and devices.

Augmented Reality

Even though everyone expected 2016 to be all about VR last year, the whole world got to witness the amazing breakthrough of augmented reality. The skyrocketing popularity of Snapchat and the global phenomenon Pokémon GO showed us where the real interests of consumers lay. Especially when it comes to the latest installment in the Pokémon franchise, we got to see what it looks like when augmented reality gets combined with GPS.

For years now, fitness applications use GPS in order to run their training-enhancing programs, but we have never seen something on such a scale. Unsurprisingly, it first appeared in the entertainment industry. We can only expect to see much more of that in the following period.

Unconventional Uses Becoming More Common

Another great thing about the 21^st century is that people are quickly learning how to think outside of the box. For example, a few decades ago, every device came with a clearly defined purpose. Seeing how these technologies were usually cutting-edge and extremely expensive, people were usually afraid to try out new stuff they could do (especially if they were not meant for them). Today, we see a growing interest in using new devices (like GPS ones) for unconventional purposes. Some coastal guard outposts use it to prevent shark attacks, while various pharmaceuticals use it to track stolen prescription drugs. All in all, thanks to human ingenuity, GPS is used to make the world a better place.

Improved Tracking Options

Seeing how we already talked about both unconventional uses and tracking, it would be simply unfair not to mention one of the greatest improvements in this area. A modern GPS tracker is simple, compact and efficient and it allows you to track a target for various purposes. For example, modern fire stations use them to track firefighters in case of emergency. It goes without saying that such a revolutionary application has already saved countless lives. Apart from this, SMBs find this technology extremely useful, since it allows them to track their fleet without ever setting foot outside of their headquarters.

It goes beyond doubt that GPS is one of the most amazing, most useful technologies that we have available in this day and age. While the idea behind it is extremely simple, it seems as if there is no end to the number of options that this technology opens. Be that as it may, GPS and GPS-based technologies are bound to play a huge role in our society in years to come.