Starting with Web-based offline Data Collection
Based on the lesson learned with OOPS technology, we have prepared a very simple but complete proof of concept: it is a first page of a survey for a Food Security Assesment, optimized for tablets and mobile devices.
The application is 100% web based, thus cross-platform and cross-device, but works offline, as it is aimed to the fields. Simply accessing the URL downloads locally the entire application. The demo use WebSQL (HTML5 Storage) or Google Gears enabled browsers to store both the application and the data offline. The 'upload' button is a fake to show the behavior when the user wants to send the data to the online server. It's also very easy to distribute, install, update, and a local server could be used to distribute the application and then collect the data without Internet connectivity.
Embedded in recent browsers, the application can use an integrated GPS of the device, again using HTML5 standards.
Usability will be the key in developing such applications, and would greatly benefit from all guidelines and best practices in web application design and web form design.
See the DEMO page: http://www.reflab.com/survey/#index

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