U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service

/

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service

San Dimas Technology & Development Center

444 E. Bonita Ave.
San Dimas, CA 91773 /

USFS Mobile Interpreter for PPC

USER’S GUIDE

Version 1.0

Contents

About Mobile Interpreter 2

Sites and Locales 2

Main screen 2

Menu 3

Options 4

Support 4

About Mobile Interpreter

Mobile Interpreter is a GPS-driven software program intended to present interpretive media, in either audio or video format, to the user. Although a GPS (Global Positioning System) unit is desirable, it is not necessary in order to make use of the program. Interpretive media can be selected and viewed as desired.

USFS Mobile Interpreter PPC is designed to run under the Windows Mobile 5 operating system or better, and requires a fully-functional version of Windows Media Player Mobile (version 10 or better).

Interpretive media is available for download free of charge as they are developed from the following web site: http://www.fs.fed.us/

Sites and Locales

A "Locale" is defined as any general geographic area of interest. A Locale, for example, might represent a National Forest, Recreation Area, or Scenic Byway. Mobile Interpreter Locales are stored individually as folders on your computer or hand-held device. Each folder contains a configuration file ("Locale.xml") and a subfolder called "Presentations", in which are the media files for all of the Sites within that Locale.

A "Site" is a feature within a Locale for which an interpretive presentation is available. For example, a Site might represent an historical cabin or a notable feature of the landscape.

Locale folders may be copied to removable storage devices, such as SD cards, or to your device's main memory. When copied to main memory, it is recommended that you create a parent folder under which to store them (for example, "\My Documents\Mobile Interpreter Locales\"). (You may also create a parent folder on an SD card.) You should not copy a Locale folder into a system folder such as "\Windows".

If your device has an internet connection, you may download Locales directly to your device by selecting "Files->Source->Download..." from the program menu.

Main screen

An image of the main screen is shown on the cover page. The main screen consists of a standard title bar at the top, a pane containing six buttons. The name of the currently selected Locale, if any, is located beneath the buttons. The menu bar resides at the bottom of the screen.

The functionality of the six buttons is as follows:

GPS: Turns the GPS unit on or off. Once the unit has obtained a fix on your location, the program begins searching for a relevant Site presentation as you travel. If one is found, it is presented. When the GPS unit is active and has a fix on your location, this button shows a green line; when inactive, a red line; and when attempting to get a fix on your location, a green/orange vertically-striped line.

Player: Displays the Windows Media Player screen. Once displayed, the "Player" button is no longer visible. In order to display the Main screen once again, select "Player->Hide Player" from the menu at the bottom. Hiding the player does not cause any currently running media to stop and the audio will continue to be heard.

Status: Displays GPS location information and status. These include such items as the fix quality, satellite positions, signal strength, and current latitude/longitude. Tap anywhere on the screen to close this window.

Device: Displays certain information about the GPS device itself to the extent that it is made available by the manufacturer of the device. Tap anywhere on the screen to close this window.

Locales: Allows you to select from among previously downloaded Locales that may be present on your device. A selected Locale becomes the active Locale. From this list, you may also view a description of a Locale, if such is available, without making it active.

Sites: Allows you to view the interpretive presentation or the description of a Site within the currently active Locale.

Menu

File
GPS / Start/Stop / Enable/Disable GPS reception.
Status / View location and GPS status.
Device / View GPS device information.
Options... / Set program options.
Source / Select Locale... / Select an available downloaded Locale.
Select Site... / View a Site in the currently active Locale.
Download... / Download a Locale from the internet.
Rotate / Orientations: / Select landscape or portrait screen orientation.
Help / Get context-sensitive help.
About... / View program version and credits.
Exit / Shut down Mobile Interpreter.
Player
Play Media... / Select any available media for playback.
Play/Pause / Pause/Resume media playback.
Stop / Stop media playback.
FullScreen / Display media in fullscreen mode.
Mute / Mute/Un-mute player volume.
Volume... / Adjust player volume.
Controls / Show or hide the Media Player controls.
Show/Hide Player / Show or hide the Media Player screen.

Options

Download: Allows you to change the default website from which to download Locales (copy/paste the url from your browser).

Display speed in: Used in the GPS Status window. Select one of "km/hr", "mph" or "knots."

Lat/Lon Format: Used in the GPS Status window. Select the desired format.

GPS Timeout: Length of time GPS interface will remain active when no signals are being received.

Load last locale on startup: When first starting Mobile Interpreter, load the Locale that was last active.

Support

Visit the USFS San Dimas Technology & Development Center homepage at:

http://www.fs.fed.us/eng/techdev/sdtdc.htm

For links to...

·  The latest information on Mobile Interpreter

·  Technical Support

·  Updates and downloads

Contact information:

Phone: (909) 599-1267

Fax: (909) 592-2309

E-mail:

Hours: 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time, Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.