Go the radio-beacon GPS system... the panoramic images are a waste of bandwidth - you can just have the system know where you are and know where the objects are and take it from there...

Anyway, original article is here or read on below...

A new wearable computer system could prevent people becoming lost inside an unfamiliar building.

The prototype system broadcasts video captured by a camera mounted on glasses or a headset to a central cluster of computers. These computers hold a database of previously collected panoramic images of key locations within the building. Software is then used to compare the images and identify where the location of the user.

The system, developed by Masakatsu Kourogi of the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology in Japan, can then display directions or other helpful information onto a translucent screen worn over the user`s eye.

This could include signposts showing the way out, or the route to the nearest coffee machine, for example.

Smart reminders

Kourogi says the system could have other uses. "It could be used for `smart reminders`," he says. "If you are passing by a particular object it could remind you that you have to do something."

There is a drawback to the system, says Kourogi. Hundreds of panoramic images are typically needed to create a database covering just one floor of a building. Significant computing power is needed to identify a location quickly.

However, he has tried to overcome the problem by making the system remember where it was last. Once it has identified a particular location, it knows to look at the most relevant images.

Kourio thinks radio beacons placed at key points could also be used in conjunction with the video system to reduce the amount of processing power and storage required.

Zentek International