Chapter 11. GIS Fundamentals - The Power of Mapping

When it comes to GIS, which is the abbreviated form of Geographic Information Systems, and data and usage in AR programming, it comes in many flavors and usages. However, before we get into how to use GIS data in AR games and applications, we must first understand what GIS actually is. So, we will go over things like: when GIS was developed, who the father of GIS is, where GIS can be used, and how GIS works with game and application development. The reason this is important is that the history of GIS plays directly into how data is used today in AR applications and games; it also allows us to appreciate the hard work of those in the past who made it possible for us to take advantage of readily available data online. We will go over some examples of how we can use what we have learned from the history of GIS to create applications and games later on in this chapter. The following topics will be covered in this chapter:

• Understanding what...