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Almost 30 geospatial enthusiasts attended GeoRabble #7 at the Republic Bar in Hobart on Thursday 10th November 2016. This was yet another light-hearted romp through the latest activities of an eclectic mix of local Tasmanian GIS connoisseurs. There was also one presenter from interstate.

Hamish our visitor from Mappt kicked off the event and spoke about his experiences with data collection on a mix of projects from mapping Ebola in West Africa to asset management in Sydney.

Next was the laid back red wine loving Ian Clarke who also spends his spare time piloting paragliders, and hopefully avoiding the combination of these two passions. Who would have thought that such a simple vehicle would have so much technology on board? All those toys could almost overparaglider-cockpitcome my ingrained fear of heights and attract me to take up this sport. That, and the gorgeous Tasmanian scenery on display in his photographs. It seems that all paraglider pilots must carry with them a GPS, a flight computer, a mobile phone and/or a camera. The GPS is essential for such things as retrieval, airspace conformance (to avoid fines), assistance with tasks set in competitions, and flight record completion. Ian enthusiastically shared details of thetechnologies he was using to great effect for pre-flight, post flight and in cockpit activities. He also managed to score a free red wine even though he was determined not to have one during this presentation.

Duckie, aka Eloise Macdonald-Meyer, gave a very enthusiastic presentation on augmented reality. She spoke about her passion for gaming and how augmented reality was used in that space (who hasn’t heard of Nintendo Go). She also discussed how the technology could be put to work. One example of this is Augview which is software that can be used to augment real time imagery on your tablet or phone with underground assets (www.augview.net).

The relaxed atmosphere supported by wholesome food and refreshing beverages ensured that the GeoRabble went overtime. Unfortunately, I couldn’t stay for the last presentation by Richard Mount, this was a disappointment, as Richard is always entertaining and informative. Richard was due to speak on the complex spatial design challenges for ecosystem accounting production systems. If you wish to find additional commentary on this presentation you will need to search elsewhere or talk to Richard directly.

See you at Georabble #8!