The system of the present invention includes a hardware device (40) and
software, which are configurable and operable in three modes: recording
mode, indexing mode, and playback mode. In the recording mode, the
hardware device (40) is connected to a GPS receiver (44) and video
recording device (42), and permits GPS data to be recorded on the same
recording medium that images are recorded on using the video recording
device (42). As a result, a particular geographic location associated with
particular images can be directly referenced by GPS data. After recording
the images, the hardware device (40) is connected to a computer (46)
having the software of the present invention installed, and the system
causes GPS data to be transferred from the recording medium to the
computer (46) as the recorded images are replayed. During this step,
called the indexing mode, the computer (46) draws a map showing all of the
GPS referenced locations recorded on the recording medium. Each map
location represents a location where images were recorded with GPS data.
Once the indexing mode is completed, the system can be used to play back
the images recorded, in accordance with the selection of a location on a
map. During this step, called the playback mode, a marker may be selected
on the computer (46) generated indexed map, and the system will cause the
video recording device (42) to play back the images that were recorded at
that selected location. Alternatively, if the recorded images have been
transferred to some other media, for example CD ROM or hard disk, the
system will cause the computer (46) to play back the images that were
recorded at that selected location.
