YourLo.ca/tion: A way for Search and Rescue to help find lost people using their smart phone

A Search and Rescue team member has developed a way for teams to locate lost people by smart phone.

This can make all the difference during a rescue, but it can also complicate matters when the batteries run low, or the signal is not strong enough.

From the blog describing the service:

With the arrival of HTML5 and specifically the Geolocation API there is a simple way to get a web page to access the phone’s location. This API provided the foundation for writing a service that allows one party to request the location of another party by asking them to click on an URL. YourLo.ca/tion is that service.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: With the arrival of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTML5" target="_blank">HTML5 </a>and specifically the <a href="http://dev.w3.org/geo/api/spec-source.html" target="_blank">Geolocation API</a> there is a simple way to get a web page to access the phone's location. This API provided the foundation for writing a service that allows one party to request the location of another party by asking them to click on an URL. <a title="YourLo.ca/tion" href="http://yourlo.ca/tion" target="_blank">YourLo.ca/tion</a> is that service.

The system works by someone, Search and Rescue for example, going to YourLo.ca/tion and filling in a request form. That is then emailed or transmitted by text message to the party whose location they want to find.

When the recipient hits the link, the page then requests permission to access their location. Once permission is given, the page finds the location of the person and their phone and then emails it to the person requesting the information.

For more information, check out YourLo.ca/tion