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<h2 id="poi-collections">POI collections</h2> <p>Digital maps for modern GPS devices typically include a basic selection of POI for the map area.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a> </p><p>However, websites exist that specialize in the collection, verification, management and distribution of POI which <a href="/facts/End-user/7IM9qu7N">end-users</a> can load onto their devices to replace or supplement the existing POI.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> While some of these websites are generic, and will collect and categorize POI for any interest, others are more specialized in a particular category (such as speed cameras) or <a href="/facts/GPS/DKVLnzF3">GPS</a> device (e.g. <a href="/facts/TomTom/KBAVAsxg">TomTom</a>/<a href="/facts/Garmin/ogjlaRwp">Garmin</a>). End-users also have the ability to create their own custom collections. </p><p>Commercial POI collections, especially those that ship with digital maps, or that are sold on a <a href="/facts/Subscription/CNForGLH">subscription</a> basis are usually protected by <a href="/facts/Copyright/7GHEWEx9">copyright</a>. However, there are also many websites from which <a href="/facts/Royalty-free/jygPgwe5">royalty-free</a> POI collections can be obtained, e.g. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160506072606/http://gis.zcu.cz/spoi/">SPOI - Smart Points of Interest</a>, which is distributed under <a href="/facts/ODbL/oyb1Tmlu">ODbL</a> license.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="applications">Applications</h2> <p>The applications for POI are extensive. As GPS-enabled devices as well as software applications that use digital maps become more available, so too the applications for POI are also expanding. Newer <a href="/facts/Digital_camera/LSGTserm">digital cameras</a> for example can automatically <a href="/facts/Geocoded_photograph/6gASjE27">tag</a> a photograph using <a href="/facts/Exif/KHFgGnk6">Exif</a> with the GPS location where a picture was taken; these pictures can then be overlaid as POI on a digital map or <a href="/facts/Satellite_imagery/V8LQh7jI">satellite image</a> such as <a href="/facts/Google_Earth/jjJmIjmb">Google Earth</a>. <a href="/facts/Geocaching/vtHabHfo">Geocaching</a> applications are built around POI collections. In <a href="/facts/Vehicle_tracking_system/6TKuWqkX">vehicle tracking systems</a>, POIs are used to mark destination points and/or offices to that users of <a href="/facts/GPS_tracking_software/7E082t8Y">GPS tracking software</a> would easily monitor position of vehicles according to POIs. </p> <h2 id="file-formats">File formats</h2> <p>Many different <a href="/facts/File_format/qrXbwJaH">file formats</a>, including <a href="/facts/Proprietary_format/9j6BjD7t">proprietary formats</a>, are used to store point of interest data, even where the same underlying <a href="/facts/WGS84/V9wSJnjX">WGS84</a> system is used. </p><p>Reasons for variations to store the same data include: </p> <ul><li>A lack of <a href="/facts/Technical_standard/P4orT1SM">standards</a> in this area (<a href="/facts/GPS_eXchange_Format/w4LPXvF7">GPX</a> is a notable attempt to address this).</li> <li>Attempts by some software vendors to protect their data through <a href="/facts/Security_through_obscurity/GvF87wz1">obfuscation</a>.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Licensing/xaP3U6ga">Licensing</a> issues that prevent companies from using competitor's file specifications.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Computer_storage/wPHKFpdx">Memory</a> saving, for example, by converting <a href="/facts/Floating_point/eIckahxe">floating point</a> latitude and longitude co-ordinates into smaller <a href="/facts/Integer/PUwwrawx">integer</a> values.</li> <li>Speed and battery life (operations using <a href="/facts/Integer/PUwwrawx">integer</a> latitude and longitude values are less <a href="/facts/Central_processing_unit/Jxp1bqMV">CPU</a>-intensive than those that use <a href="/facts/Floating_point/eIckahxe">floating point</a> values).</li> <li>Requirements to add custom fields to the data.</li> <li>Use of older reference systems that predate <a href="/facts/GPS/DKVLnzF3">GPS</a> (for example <a href="/facts/Universal_Transverse_Mercator_coordinate_system/uXdWEVV3">UTM</a> or the <a href="/facts/British_national_grid_reference_system/1Njz9TP0">British national grid reference system</a>)</li> <li>Readability/possibility to edit (plain text files are human-readable and may be edited)</li></ul> <p>The following are some of the file formats used by different vendors and devices to exchange POI (and in some cases, also <a href="/facts/Track_(navigation)/CWexuXNF">navigation tracks</a>): </p> <ul><li><a href="/facts/ASCII/vGUI33Qu">ASCII</a> Text (.asc .txt .csv .plt)</li> <li>Topografix <a href="/facts/GPS_eXchange_Format/w4LPXvF7">GPX</a> (.gpx)</li> <li><a href="/facts/Garmin/ogjlaRwp">Garmin</a> Mapsource (.gdb)</li> <li><a href="/facts/Google_Earth/jjJmIjmb">Google Earth</a> <a href="/facts/Keyhole_Markup_Language/6L7da3xC">Keyhole Markup Language</a> (.kml .kmz)</li> <li>Pocket Street Pushpins (.psp)</li> <li>Maptech Marks (.msf)</li> <li>Maptech Waypoint (.mxf)</li> <li><a href="/facts/Microsoft_MapPoint/xtnAPzko">Microsoft MapPoint</a> Pushpin (.csv)</li> <li>OziExplorer (.wpt)</li> <li><a href="/facts/TomTom/KBAVAsxg">TomTom</a> Overlay (.ov2) and TomTom plain text format (.asc)</li> <li><a href="/facts/OpenStreetMap/Hd3yejum">OpenStreetMap</a> data (.osm)</li></ul> <p><a href="/facts/Third-party_developer/6gbHyvDu">Third party</a> and vendor-supplied utilities are available to convert point of interest data<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a> between different formats to allow them to be exchanged between otherwise incompatible GPS devices or systems.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a> Furthermore, many applications will support the generic <a href="/facts/ASCII/vGUI33Qu">ASCII</a> text file format, although this format is more prone to error due to its loose structure as well as the many ways in which GPS co-ordinates can be represented (e.g. decimal vs degree/minute/second). POI format converters are often named after the POI file format they convert and convert to, such as KML2GPX (converts KML to GPX) and KML2OV2 (converts KML to OV2). </p> <h2 id="see-also">See also</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Automotive_navigation_system/WKCh5wt8">Automotive navigation system</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Geocoded_photograph/6gASjE27">Geocoded photograph</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Map_database_management/gIvnKPAQ">Map database management</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/OpenLR/zVqG1Mmb">OpenLR</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Tourist_attraction/MVHeCkMd">Tourist attraction</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/World_Geodetic_System/V9wSJnjX">World Geodetic System</a> (Used to represent GPS co-ordinates)</li> <li><a href="/facts/Photogrammetry/KoXsRImj">Photogrammetry</a></li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Yuan, Q., Cong, G., Ma, Z., Sun, A., & Thalmann, N. M. (2013, July). Time-aware point-of-interest recommendation. In Proceedings of the 36th international ACM SIGIR conference on Research and development in information retrieval (pp. 363-372). ACM. <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>"Garmin POI Loader". Garmin. Archived from the original on 2013-01-04. Retrieved 2008-01-17. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130104171609/http://www8.garmin.com/products/poiloader/" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20130104171609/http://www8.garmin.com/products/poiloader/</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>"TomTom Points of Interest". <a href="https://www.tomtom.com/blog/maps/poi-data/" target="_blank">https://www.tomtom.com/blog/maps/poi-data/</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>"Waypointer - online POI manager". Waypointer. Archived from the original on 2014-12-19. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20141219233045/http://waypointer.info/" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20141219233045/http://waypointer.info/</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>"Pintica - online POI manager". Pintica. Archived from the original on 2015-11-08. Retrieved 2015-12-11. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20151108023931/http://pintica.com/" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20151108023931/http://pintica.com/</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>Čerba, Otakar (23 February 2016). "SPOI" (PDF). SDI4Apps. p. 4. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-07-01. Retrieved 28 March 2016. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160701141304/http://gis.zcu.cz/spoi/doc/SPOI.pdf" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20160701141304/http://gis.zcu.cz/spoi/doc/SPOI.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>CamperVanNZ. "Convert POI (Online)". <a href="http://www.gps-data-team.com/convert.php" target="_blank">http://www.gps-data-team.com/convert.php</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>RJ Davies. "POIConverter". Archived from the original on 2007-12-29. Retrieved 2008-01-18. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20071229233124/http://rjdavies.users.btopenworld.com/html/poiconverter.html" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20071229233124/http://rjdavies.users.btopenworld.com/html/poiconverter.html</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>