Geotagging adds geographic information to electronic data through metadata, allowing for access to the exact site mentioned in the data. GPS-equipped devices provide the most accurate information, but manual systems are also available. There are no official standards for geotagging, and different types of media have their own preferred methods. Geotagging is common on the internet, allowing for personalized travel diaries and trip planning.
Geotagging involves adding specialized geographic information to images, videos, and other electronic information. This information is contained within the data structure rather than in the data itself. This means that a geotagged photo and an untagged photo look the same. Geotagging allows people to access the exact site mentioned in the tagged data, such as the place where a photo was taken. While it is possible for a user to add geographic information, the most accurate forms come from recording devices equipped with a global positioning system (GPS) and geotagging system.
Geotagging data stores information in a specialized form called metadata. This specialized data contains information about the file itself, rather than the data it contains. On basic files, the metadata will tell the computer whether it is read-only or hidden. In more complex files, such as media files, it will contain a large amount of information. On a music or video file, there might be registration information, artist names, album titles, production companies, or a number of other miscellaneous items.
The metadata created by geotagging varies by system. At a minimum, it will include the latitude and longitude where the information was created. Other systems add more, such as time, altitude, or orientation information. Almost any information held by the GPS logger can be added to the file without affecting its usability.
Most systems do this via the satellite-based global positioning system. A device equipped with a GPS chip can connect to the system and find its exact coordinates. These satellites provide a huge amount of information, but GPS chips are often only designed to collect certain types of data. Some devices, such as digital cameras, allow users to manually enter geographic information. While some users do it on the spot via a handheld GPS device, these manual systems are often underutilized due to the cumbersome nature of the technology.
There are no official standards for geotagging. As a result, there are several competing methods for adding and retrieving information. Each different type of media, including video and images, has its own preferred method of recording data. This makes it more difficult to create a unified recovery system.
Even though the processes are still quite new, geotagging is common in many places on the internet. Websites dedicated to geotagged images and movies allow the user to create personalized travel diaries. Each of these images has coordinates that other users can use to travel to that exact spot. This allows people to plan trips to see interesting sites, just with a GPS and navigation system.
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