MagTrack

About MagTrack Android App

Do you like to explore caves or other underground environments? Are you an aspiring investigator of paranormal phenomena? Do you want to know where buried treasure may be hiding? MagTrack may be a good tool for your toolbox!

MagTrack was designed and written with one purpose in mind (recording, logging, and visualizing 3D sensor information) - but that one purpose can be used in many ways:

Cave exploring: MagTrack tracks and logs steps, angular orientation differences, and magnetic sensor readings with each step you take. That information is then displayed as a fully interactive 3D track that you can zoom (pinch or single-finger tap), rotate (dual-finger drag), and pan (single-finger drag) to your heart's content. Once you are dizzy enough with doing that, tap the screen with three fingers and the view will return to the track origin. Once you are done exploring, export your track (orientation and 3D magnetic readings included!) for further analysis on your PC - or just show your friends where you have been!

Treasure hunting: MagTrack can be used as part of your treasure hunting tool kit - start it up and walk in a grid over a field, looking for magnetic anomalies (displayed as different colors on the track). Or, if you're like me, go prospecting in caves and watch for areas that display significantly different magnetic readings - they may indicate concentrations of ...metal... nearby!

Paranormal investigating: Along with all your night vision equipment, sonic imaging devices, and e-field detectors, add this sensor as a backup b-field detector! The background of the track map changes color as the 3D b-field changes, and is recorded (and exportable) in the logs for future discussion and analysis.

There are many plain old every-day uses, as well! Use it in your daily trudge to try to answer those deep philosophical questions that may (or may not!) have been bugging you:

-Does George really have a magnetic personality?
-Are there any hidden spacecraft bunkers underneath where I'm walking?
-Is Jane's "bad electronics day" caused by her oscillating personal magnetic field?

The possibilities are endless!!!

How does it work?
MagTrack uses the accelerometers in your device to detect when you take a step, and records the 3-dimensional magnetic values each time a step is registered (x = device's left and right, y = orthogonal axis to the x, in the plane of the display, and x = orthogonal to x and y, or "into" and "out of" the display). The information is recorded on the device, and tracks can be exported from one device (text format) and imported into another device. I use this functionality to record tracks on my phone (really good sensors) and view them on my tablet (lots of screen space). MagTrack uses your device's gyroscopic sensors for orientation sensing; if one is not present, it will use your device's magnetic orientation sensors instead. Be warned - the magnetic orientation sensors will be inaccurate in the presence of a magnetic source, similar to a compass.
MagTrack is NOT intended for:
-Functioning as your primary navigation device - know your activity and your area, and observe all recommended safety guidelines for your activity!
-Functioning as your primary magnetic detection device - it runs on electronic devices, and while shielding technology has improved, there may still be some leakage from your device.
-Harassing (or otherwise annoying) extraterrestrial, extradimensional, or metaphysical beings - if you start an interplanetary or interdimensional incident, neither MagTrack nor the developers are responsible!
-Harassing any other beings - as a man who owned a spaceship named after a bird once said, "It's not my fault!"