Super Maps for the 21st Century

Roland Piquepaille writes "After five years of trials, Craig Knoblock and his team at the Information Sciences Institute of the University (ISI) of Southern California, have developed Heracles Maps, an easy-to-use laptop package to optimize routes in the whole world for both military and business travelers. This news release, "A SuperMap for Soldiers -- Or Business Travelers," says that the application integrates various sources of geospatial information, such as satellite imagery of mapping data. From this data, soldiers can easily find a safe route between two locations without being seen or shot from an enemy in another location. this package can easily be adapted to civilian applications, such as a powerful travel planner. You'll find more details and references in this overview."

Comments

Uhh, what if both sides have the product?

[jdawg]

I mean, will the software generate the same suggested route given the same input conditions?

"Ok. We know they're here. And we know that they think we're here. So...their software is going to tell them to take this route..."

Automatic enemy avoidance?

[MrRTFM]

I dont think so.
If I were a soldier I wouldn't trust a route from a laptop. Not unless I knew exactly when it was told where enemy 'C' was located so I could allow for movements.

And of course, there is the whole beta testing problem - imagine a squad of troops walking through an 'empty forest' which just happens to contain a platoon of troops (Enemy 'D') doing an exercise not picked up by the spy satellites.

I'm not saying this is bad- I think its great, but no soldier will ever blindly follow the route it plots.

But is it worth it?

[theLOUDroom]

"A computer with a bullet in it is just a paperweight. A map with a bullet in it is still a map."
-Maj. Keith Hauk