UNIMAP - Integration of location-based services from several suppliers with a view to creating a unified map - Application to tourist points of interest (POI) (2012)

Summary:

The UNIMAP project aims to produce a unified cartography presenting the various points of interest (POI) of a territory, from multiple location-based service providers (LBS) such as Google, Microsoft, Michelin, Open Street Map, etc. These suppliers provide complementary data that is sometimes inconsistent and inexact. UNIMAP proposes to seek a solution for this integration both at the level of the data itself and of its presentation.

Integrating points of interest (POIs) requires that existing methods in the area of database integration be extended to take into account the spatial dimension of the POIs. The project seeks to characterise the different types of differences, errors and inconsistencies observed between the different POI suppliers, to compose representative sets of samples on the one hand, and to select similarity measurements and design the most efficient matching algorithms on the other. The use of an ontology whose final vocabulary is graphic represents a new pathway for the integration of keys.

The final goal is to generate initial recommendations for a new type of multi-supplier location-based service that could be offered to the Open Geospatial Consortium, and to implement a functional service providing a unified and personalised map to the general public and to tourism professionals providing location-based services.