Red Hen Systems

Red Hen Systems, Inc. is a technology company focused on geospatially enabled multimedia. Its products combine GPS, imaging, video, audio, and mapping tools so that photographs and moving images can be associated with precise locations and other field metadata. The company’s work sits at the intersection of geographic information systems, digital media capture, and field data collection. Neil Havermale and Ken Burgess founded the company in the fall of 1997 as a software engineering and systems-manufacturing business. Its initial work addressed agricultural applications, including in-field data collection, harvest-yield recording, and input-prescription mapping. Red Hen Systems became an early user of GPS-based methods for sampling agricultural information, producing field maps, and monitoring crop yields. A practical problem in harvest mapping helped redirect the company’s development. Red Hen was seeking a reliable way to detect when equipment entered and exited a field so that yield data could be aligned more accurately with mapped locations. In 1998, the company began experimenting with handheld video recorders. Ken Burgess developed this work into a video-mapping system that allowed crop scouts to document weeds and pests while preserving their geographic context. The approach demonstrated that location-linked imagery could serve purposes well beyond farming. The company’s technology records or associates GPS and related metadata with still images and video as data is collected. Its spatial digital video recorders and other video-mapping hardware are designed to capture geographic context in the field, while its software enables users to review photographs, video, and audio through map coordinates. This creates what Red Hen calls Geospatially Enabled Media, or GEM: media in which the visual record is connected to information about where, when, and under what circumstances it was collected. Red Hen’s video-mapping architecture historically encoded GPS and other metadata as an audible modem-like signal in one audio channel of a stereo video recording. This allowed metadata to remain associated with the image during editing and supported later decoding and synchronization. The company developed multiple video-mapping-system configurations and packaged digital video recorder solutions for different field and operational requirements. The product range also includes geotagging tools for digital still photography. The Blue2CAN accessory connects selected Nikon DSLR cameras to Bluetooth-enabled GPS equipment, allowing location data to be attached to photographs as they are taken. The DX-GPS provides a direct-connect option for applications that do not use Bluetooth and incorporates a Garmin Geko GPS unit. By 2010, Blue2CAN users could also connect an Android smartphone’s GPS capability to compatible Nikon-camera setups. Red Hen’s software originated with tools for decoding and displaying metadata recorded alongside video. In 2001, the company received a patent covering a method for matching metadata with recorded images. Its early VMS Player software supported tape-based media and mapping workflows, including compatibility with maps from ESRI, a major GIS technology provider. As recording technology changed, Red Hen adapted its software from tape to mini-DVD and then to digital media. Later offerings included hardware for photo and video mapping, software intended for both ESRI and non-ESRI environments, and server-based tools for sharing geospatial media across an organization. The company’s technology has been described as applicable to GIS professionals, aerial-video operators, military users, natural-resource and environmental organizations, transportation agencies, and utilities. Publicly available reference material does not establish Red Hen Systems’ current ownership, headquarters, website, financial condition, or operating status; these details therefore remain unconfirmed.

Red Hen Systems was established in the fall of 1997 by Neil Havermale and Ken Burgess. The founders initially organized the business as a software engineering and systems-manufacturing company serving agricultural field operations. Early projects included systems for recording harvest yields, collecting data in the field, and preparing input-prescription maps. By applying GPS to agricultural sampling and yield monitoring, the company participated in the early development of location-aware field analytics. The company’s later direction emerged from a challenge in agricultural mapping. Red Hen sought to identify the points at which harvesting equipment entered and exited a field so that collected yield measurements could be aligned with field geography. In 1998, the company began using handheld video recorders as part of this effort. Ken Burgess developed the concept into a video-mapping system for crop scouts, enabling them to record weeds and pests while associating those observations with locations. The system showed that geographically referenced video could support many industries beyond crop management. Red Hen subsequently developed integrated hardware and software for geospatially enabled media. Its approach linked full-motion video with GPS, coordinated time information, and other metadata. In one historical implementation, a data-conversion system recorded the metadata as an audible encoded signal in a channel of a stereo video recording. The resulting arrangement allowed video to be edited while preserving the associated location and collection information. Red Hen produced several versions of its video mapping system, along with digital video recorder packages intended to capture and store geographically referenced video during collection. The company also expanded into still photography. Blue2CAN was designed to connect selected Nikon digital SLR cameras with Bluetooth-enabled GPS devices, allowing photographs to be geotagged during capture. DX-GPS served non-Bluetooth configurations through a direct camera connection and a Garmin Geko GPS unit. Reference material identifies smartphone integration as another development: by September 2010, Blue2CAN users could link an Android smartphone’s GPS with supported Nikon-camera systems. Software development accompanied the hardware work. Red Hen’s first tools decoded the embedded metadata and displayed it in relation to recorded imagery. In 2001, the company received a patent for a method of matching metadata to recorded images. The early VMS Player application was designed for tape-based video and was noted for supporting mapping workflows involving ESRI maps. As consumer and professional recording formats changed, Red Hen’s software evolved from tape support to mini-DVD and then to digital media. Its broader software portfolio came to include tools for ESRI and non-ESRI environments and server functionality for organization-wide sharing of geospatial media. The technology was positioned for a broad set of professional users, including GIS specialists, aerial-video operators, military organizations, natural-resource and environmental managers, transportation users, and utilities. The available reference material does not provide verified information about later corporate ownership, current leadership, headquarters, financial performance, or whether the company remains active. Its present status is therefore recorded as unknown.

• 2010

  Android GPS integration identified for Blue2CAN

  [1]Red Hen Systemsen.wikipedia.org

  Reference material reported that Blue2CAN users could connect an Android smartphone’s GPS to compatible Nikon camera configurations.

• 2001

  Metadata-to-image matching patent

  [1]Red Hen Systemsen.wikipedia.org

  Red Hen Systems received a patent covering a method for matching recorded imagery with associated metadata.

• 1998

  Video mapping emerges from agricultural field work

  [1]Red Hen Systemsen.wikipedia.org

  The company began using handheld video recorders to improve field-entry and field-exit detection and developed a video-mapping approach for locating weeds, pests, and other crop observations.

• 1997

  Company founded

  [1]Red Hen Systemsen.wikipedia.org

  Neil Havermale and Ken Burgess founded Red Hen Systems as a software engineering and systems-manufacturing company serving agricultural data-collection and mapping needs.

Specialist provider of integrated field hardware and software that connects photographs, video, and audio with GPS coordinates and GIS workflows.

• Photo geotagging accessory

  Blue2CAN

  Blue2CAN is a geotagging accessory for certain Nikon DSLR cameras. It links a Bluetooth-enabled GPS unit to the camera so that location information can be associated with digital photographs during capture. Reference material also describes compatibility with Android smartphone GPS integration, allowing a supported phone to provide location data through the Blue2CAN connection.

• Photo geotagging accessory

  DX-GPS

  DX-GPS is a direct-connect geotagging solution for digital still photography. It was intended for configurations that did not use Bluetooth and incorporated a Garmin Geko GPS unit to provide location information to compatible Nikon cameras. The product addressed field users who needed coordinates attached to photographs at the point of collection.

• Geospatial video hardware

  Video Mapping System

  Red Hen’s Video Mapping System, or VMS, records video together with geographic and other collection metadata. Historical implementations encoded GPS and related information as an audible data signal in a stereo video channel, allowing the metadata to remain associated with edited footage and later to be decoded for mapping and analysis. The company produced multiple configurations for different applications.

• Geospatial media software

  VMS Player

  VMS Player was an early Red Hen software application for decoding metadata recorded with video and presenting the imagery in a mapping context. It was originally designed for tape-based media and supported map workflows involving ESRI products. Later Red Hen software evolved as recording formats moved to mini-DVD and digital media.

• Integrated hardware and software platform

  Geospatially Enabled Media solutions

  Geospatially Enabled Media, abbreviated GEM, describes Red Hen’s broader approach to connecting visual and audio records with geographic, temporal, and collection metadata. The offering included capture hardware, digital video recorder packages, mapping software, support for ESRI and non-ESRI environments, and server capabilities for sharing content within an organization.

1. 1Red Hen Systemsen.wikipedia.org