ELECTRONIC FIELD GEOLOGY PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE

The time of paper geologic maps, the analog compass/inclinometer, and film cameras has passed with the development of modern devices. Modern technology puts field geology on the verge of a revolution, but only if software and hardware developers pay close attention to the needs of field researchers. Over the past 12 years, we have developed a simple GIS system for field geology that uses ArcPad software together with handheld or tablet computers (Pavlis et al., 2010, Geosphere). Our approach is to keep the field system as simple as possible in order to emphasize basic data collection needs. ArcPad has been an excellent tool for this purpose because of its simplicity, yet the latest releases of the software show signs of software overdevelopment. “Bells and whistles” seem critical to developers, but when excess clicks and embedded menus are involved, the software wastes valuable field time. Similarly, there are disturbing trends in hardware, where smart phones have replaced handheld devices, resulting in smaller screen sizes and designs that favor appearance over robust hardware. A critical problem is a lack of mainstream display technology that is adequately readable in direct sunlight, a major requirement for field science. Encouraging developments are the recent appearance of light weight devices with larger screen sizes (e.g. electronic books and tablets such the iPad) but none of these devices are suitable as field tools because of their displays and/or multitouch screens that lack the precision of a stylus input. However, new screen technologies (e.g. hybrid LCD-E-paper displays), the rise of the Android platform, and Midland Valley’s work on porting a geologic software package (Move) to the field environment may resolve these issues soon. We would have an ideal tool if developers could produce an electronic book sized device with stylus input; an outdoor-readable, color, stereo display; and interfaced wirelessly to: 1) a mobile phone sized device containing an electronic compass-inclinometer-GPS, and 2) a digital camera containing a GPS, orientation sensors and a laser rangefinder. Most of the technology for such devices has existed for 5 years, but has yet to be realized. We hope that this GSA session will encourage developers to produce something approaching the functionality of ideal field device.