Location tracking API spec

[stefanb]

In long distance events (marathons, orienteering, mountain running, sailing...) it is common to provide real-time GPS tracking of individual athletes/teams. Current specification does not support this and would make sense to agree on a standard.

The only mention of latitude and longitude is currently in the general event location (eg a stadium).

[espinr]

Thanks @stefanb.

So, I see this as a new property of competitors (i.e., athlete) taking part in a competition (CompetitionAction). Apart from the transponderId, bibNumber, etc., a trackingURL property? Should it be a URL to a web service that produces lat/long coordinates? Could it be just a webpage with a map and the representation of the athlete's location?

[stefanb]

The use cases I see are:

• A GPS-enabled device (eg wristwatch or phone form factor) sends coordinates to some REST service - currently each (device or phone app) manufacturer provides some service in a cloud, all incompatible with each other, isolating their customer in a bubble, not supported anymore as soon as a new model comes out. Manufactures could feed the data trough their cloud for older devices, but newer ones (certified) would need to send it to a service designated by event organisers directly.
• Fans track the athletes (regardless of their device or app manufacturer), all on the same map (could be provided either by event organiser or their sponsor website or phone apps (eg an overlay on a navigation device)
• An athlete (cyclist on bike or tactician on a sailboat) analyses their competitors on a laptop or a tablet (eg just a simple time gap or advanced telematics)
• TV broadcasters consume the data to make nice visualisations and overlays.
• After the competition the athlete (or coaches, or fans) can download all the data for thorough analysis

[espinr]

Great! Thinking in broader terms and, in order to accommodate this property for those requirements, I propose something like this:
trackingUrl: URL of a webpage, service or endpoint that represents the location of an athlete during a competition or while performs an exercise workout.

Schema.org already has a trackingUrl property, that is similar but for deliveries.