Mapping the mobile world
By Simon Bisson & Mary Branscombe in Editorial
Posted in Navigation, Mobile on
Some of the more interesting aspects of this years MWC were our conversations with the two main mapping data providers. These aren’t the folk who write your GPS software - they’re the folk who capture the mapping data that’s used by your navigation devices to show you where you are, and to plan your routes.
There’s been some consolidation in the mapping market - Navteq is now owned by Nokia, and Tele Atlas is part of TomTom’s expanding mapping empire. The new relationships aren’t just giving Nokia and TomTom direct access to the mapping data they need. They’re also giving the maps a whole new source of data, feeding back live data from the many millions of navigation devices out there. Instead of having to buy data about the traffic conditions on the M4, live data from PNDs can give the map vendors real time information on just where there’s congestion, and on how traffic is flowing. There’s no need to get data from every piece of hardware out there, either, as Nokia Research has shown that you only need to instrument around 3% of the vehicles on the road to get a statistically valid real time model.
Real time road data is easy to get - there are enough TomTom systems out that have opted into returning traffic and route data to cover the entire European road network four times a day, and once a day for the US. It’s what you do with it that’s more important. Tele Atlas’ database of traffic conditions in major conurbations around the world has a 5 minute resolution for every day of the year. If a navigation application takes that data as part of its routing algorithms it can give you a route that takes into account, as well as letting you develop what-if scenarios. Real time traffic data mixed with historic data can also help navigation software determine if a re-routing is necessary - or if the congestion ahead will dissapate before you’re due to reach it.
Maps also need to be more personal. We don’t go to an address or an intersection - we go to a place. If it’s a shop or a theatre, perhaps we want to go to the nearest car park. If we’re looking for petrol we probably don’t want to backtrack (unless the next petrol station en route is much much to far away, and the one behind is very close indeed). Navigation is changing to deal with these issues, and the underlying map data has to expose the information that’s needed to make these decisions.
Then there’s the explosion in data. GPS maps aren’t just for cars any more - and simply ignoring one way streets doesn’t turn mapping data into pedestrian maps. The mapping providers are having to develop much more detailed city maps that allow you to cross parks and squares, and to use passageways that may not appear in road data. There’s a lot to be done here, from mapping entrances and exits of underground stations, to determining the timetables for public transport. The future of mapping is multi-modal, managing journeys that start in a car, switch to a ferry, and then to an underground train, then foot.
Mapping providers have a lot of problems - and a lot of tools to help solve them. We won’t see the benefits right away, but over the next year or so we’ll start seeing maps that are more accurate, routes that are more responsive to traffic, and pedestrian routes that actually understand the geography of cities.
–Simon
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