Student develops new iPhone map application

If you see a bunch of students walking around looking down at their iPhone displays on campus, don't be alarmed; they're just trying to find their way around.

Thanks to a new UCF map iPhone app that launched Dec. 12, students can now navigate the campus armed with just their iPhone.

Justin Taylor,  a senior digital media major on the interactive systems track, developed the app in an independent study course that helped students learn how to use mobile application software.

"I'm walking around on campus and I see a freshman and he clearly doesn't know where he's going and he's literally got his nose pressed up against one of those maps," Taylor said. "So it struck me that it's kind of hard to navigate on campus when you're brand new to school."

Jon Friskics, an instructor in the School of Visual Arts and Design, was Taylor's instructor in the course.

"The ultimate goal of the independent study was to give our design and development students experience working with an emerging platform like iOS on the iPhone and iPad,"  Friskics said. "They already have experience building websites and web applications on the desktop, so adding a mobile aspect seemed like the next logical step."

Friskics worked with Taylor and two other students during the fall semester of 2010.

"I wanted students to be motivated, so I worked with each of them individually to craft a goal that best fit their need," Friskics said.

Though Friskics did not require the students to submit their finished work to  Apple's App Store, Taylor was able to complete his application right before the end of the semester.

The app itself functions like Google Maps, using an arrow that shows the person the location they are currently at using the iPhone GPS function.

From the map there are three different views, which include a map, a list of buildings and a compass that works with the iPhone camera.

"If you're looking through the viewfinder the compass will tell you what direction you are heading in," Taylor said.

Just by touching one of the buildings from the list, a pin will show up on the map and you can look on the display to see if you are going in the right direction.

Something that's stood out to Taylor is where the app has been downloaded.

"What's interesting though is it's not all people that are UCF students, because I'm getting downloads in Saudi Arabia and England," Taylor said.

Version 1.1 was released last week, which eliminated some of the minor bugs from the original version launched in December.

"If you have a bunch of markers on your map you can delete them all, but some reason it deleted everything including your arrow so somehow you were no longer on campus," Taylor said.

Along with these minor setbacks, Taylor would like to add pictures of the buildings and the ability to find specific places within buildings like Wackadoo's.

Taylor is already being approached by UCF to make the application more official and integrate it with all the data the university has in order to make his application more expansive.

Right now, Taylor is taking a class also taught by Friskics that involves designing websites specifically for mobile phones.

"Mobile devices like the iPhone can bring tremendous value to many aspects of products and services, and while the job market is growing rapidly, I believe that digital media graduates will soon be expected to be fluent in these design and development skills," Friskics said.

Recent UCF graduate Michael Seifollahi was also in the same independent study course as Taylor during the summer of 2010.

Seifollahi developed a streaming radio client for Knightcast and is now working for Purple, Rock, Scissors as a mobile developer at its downtown Orlando office.

"The independent study set a great precedence for proper planning when tackling a new project," Seifollahi said. "It's very easy as a developer to get excited about an idea and just start writing code; unfortunately, this typically leads to bloated, inefficient code and a very long debugging process.  "

With the proper planning, a large project quickly becomes easily manageable in smaller components," he said.

Seifollahi heard about Taylor's app  and was very impressed with the app's use of geolocating and mapping.

"The growth of the mobile market and proliferation of platforms has created a massive amount of opportunity for developers," Seifollahi said. "I think that anyone who has an interest in development for mobile will be extremely satisfied with a fast-paced, evolving industry."

As a senior graduating this summer, Taylor said he would be glad to take a job developing apps for other smart phones like the Droid, which he recently started learning how to program.

Until then, Taylor will continue learning about the market and watching the sales from his own app continue to rise.