Ricoh Introduces the World's First GPS Ready Digital Camera

Ricoh Introduces the Worlds First GPS Ready Digital Camera
Ricoh Corporation a leader in specialized digital imaging devices today launched the Pro G3. The Pro G3 is a high-resolution digital camera that embeds captured images with GPS coordinate information received from either its on-board GPS unit or from external GPS devices.

Once these captured 'geo-images' are transferred to a PC, they are automatically converted to shape files or merged to geo-databases for instant integration into Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Points representing each image's position may be hovered over to display a thumbnail, or clicked on to access the full-size image.

In addition to storing GPS data in the image, the camera also utilizes a user-configurable data dictionary for tagging pictures with workflow-related information. These attributes are easily accessible from the GIS layer table for automated database integration.

"The Pro G3 is designed to provide GIS users with a simple and seamless method to integrate images into mapping applications," said Jeff Lengyel, Marketing Manager of Ricoh's Digital Camera Division. "Until now, there has been no single-unit solution to address the imaging needs of the GIS community."

The ruggedized camera uses a CompactFlash(R) slot to accept WAAS-enabled GPS cards.