TECH TRENDS: In-car navigation goes beyond getting from point A to point B

Whether the task in our daily lives requires commuting to and from work, running errands, or chaperoning children from activity to activity, most drivers get from Point A to Point B without the aid of a navigation system. In fact, according to a report from Jupiter Research, 95% of the time spent behind the wheel involves people driving around their home towns. It is becoming clear that consumers want much more than driving directions from their navigation systems.

Demand for content
There are two primary trends compelling consumers to purchase in-car navigation devices today: Customized content and safety. While the ability to get from Point A to Point B quickly and accurately is an expected fundamental capability, the ability to communicate what is of interest along the way based on driver and passenger preferences is becoming more and more of a selling feature.

Drivers want to know more than just the location of the nearest service station—they want to know which has the lowest fuel prices. They want current road and traffic conditions. They want to know what four-star movies are playing at what theater and at what time (and whether there is time to get there before the show starts and is a notable sushi restaurant along the way).

But how does all that data get to the vehicle's dashboard navigation screen? How is it packaged, displayed, and made useful to drivers and passengers in a manner that is efficient and, above all, safe?

Today the door is open, albeit not wide open, to pushing more and more information to the navigation device quickly and efficiently. With MP3 device connections and other media ports, wireless capabilities, passenger DVD systems, and a host of electronics monitoring safety and performance, today's automobile has more technological prowess, memory, and computing power than the average office.

Meeting rising consumer expectations for customized content and other features from their navigation systems is a formidable task—but one that offers great rewards to the automaker. These benefits are increased customer loyalty and satisfaction, increased profit through a high-margin add-on electronic device, and increased safety for the driver and passengers as navigation devices converge with Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) and other road and vehicle safety features.

Convergence of technologies
A number of developments in the telecommunications industry are coming together to make the previous example of using the navigation device to safely plan a night on the town a practical reality. These include: Lower costs and technology advancements in telematics to transfer data from the source to the vehicle; the subsequent increase in accurate and current map data and related content; as well as increasing availability of electronic road and vehicle safety data.

Telematics has proven its capabilities and value from the most basic automated toll collection applications to vehicle tracking, fleet management, and emergency warning systems. The technology lies in wait to satisfy consumer thirst for customizable content as off-board and on-board connectivity converges.

Mobile vans: Mapping on-the-fly
From a data standpoint, Tele Atlas continues to collect and package information that is both vital to consumer safety and meets consumer demand for content. Mobile mapping vans are a key tool in gathering this information.

Equipped with high resolution digital cameras, laser scanners, and precise distance measuring and positioning equipment, Tele Atlas vans capture a multi-dimensional, 360° view of their surroundings. The vehicles can map roads while traveling at posted speed limits—which is up to five times faster than traditional survey cars, meaning they cover more ground in less time.

The specific equipment varies slightly from vehicle to vehicle, depending on the information that needs to be captured. For example, some vans travel with a spherical digital video system using six cameras. Nicknamed "The Ladybug," the cameras collect continuous video from more than 75% of a sphere, so even the tallest buildings are in view.

Each of the vans has as many as eight high resolution digital cameras pointing in every direction—all capturing an image every five to eight meters of travel, delivering an uninterrupted, 360° picture of the road.

The images are tagged with their location, position, and orientation, showing exactly where the traffic lights, buildings, and other features and landmarks in these images should be placed on the digital map. Using a laser scanner, a GPS system and precise distance measuring and positioning equipment, Tele Atlas can determine an object's location within one meter. These lasers can also determine the size of bridges, buildings, road widths, and clearances.

In addition, Tele Atlas cross-checks the data collected against information received from a network of more than 50,000 sources, such as government agencies, satellite imagery, as well as commercial users and consumers. Such redundancy not only verifies data and but helps the company anticipate change to make its maps as accurate and up-to-date as possible.