A global positioning system (GPS) tracking unit identifies a location or tracks a movement of a vehicle or a person when the vehicle or the person is in close proximity to a GPS device. The location or movement is recorded via GPS devices or phones. GPS information is utilized in navigation systems. For example, individuals may search for information based on their present GPS location for driving or walking directions to a destination location.
The increasing popularity of location-acquisition technologies and their use in people's lives results in GPS information being collected daily. The data collection includes tracking movements of people or vehicles and their visits to various locations. The GPS data may be uploaded to the Internet by people to show their positions, to share travel experiences, and for a variety of other reasons.
The GPS data in raw form is not usable for a number of reasons. One problem with the data in raw form is that there is no semantic meaning to identify the data. For example, there is no indication of whether the location data is for a lake, a restaurant, or a store.
Another problem occurs when individuals enter a building, which causes a loss of a satellite signal. This loss of the satellite signal makes it difficult to identify whether to include the information.
There is an increasing opportunity to find ways to transform the raw data to a usable form and to use the data collected.