VW and Google team to explore future vehicle navigation systems

The next battleground in the ongoing war for humanity’s digital future emerged this week – first it was business, then the home, and now the attention of the giants has focussed clearly on the automobile. Earlier this week Fiat and Microsoft announced their jointly-developed automotive telematics system Blue&Me would launch at the 2006 Geneva Motorshow later this month. Now VW and Google have announced their collaboration in building an in-car communication and entertainment system and have released significantly more detail. Volkswagen, Google, and graphics chipmaker, nVidia, are working on an in-car navigation map system and display that is 3-dimensional and more realistic than anything currently available. Users will instinctively recognize their location in relation to the surrounding topography, especially in urban areas that are depicted with depth and accurate size relationships between buildings and roads. The group is also working with the likes of Sun Microsystems and Splashpower on other advancements, including automatic personalized content updates for its vehicle navigation systems, and a wireless in-car charging system for handhelds.

Highlights of Volkswagen’s prototype vehicle include a vehicle-centric touchscreen interface to Google Earth with state-of-the-art graphics, accurate 3D maps and real-time traffic updates and routing. This open system harnesses the power of the web to maintain a dynamic database of current information on restaurants, dealerships, gas stations and other points of interest that can be overlaid directly onto the user’s 3D map. With the increasing accuracy of GPS, dead-reckoning and laser-radar imaging, as well as ever-improving car-to-infrastructure communication, this prototype will be available on showroom floors in the near future.

High-quality 3D and satellite-based representations of the world are becoming an exciting feature in on-line search engines and navigation. These photo-realistic, high-resolution 3D images are not only more engaging for the user, but they are also more efficient and accurate at conveying information than traditional 2D mapping representations.

About the Electronics Research Laboratory

Volkswagen’s Electronics Research Laboratory (ERL) focuses on providing customers with smarter cars, sooner. It aims to identify new technologies and accelerate their development into future production vehicles. Located in Palo Alto, California, the ERL is a high-profile think-tank representing the Volkswagen Group in North America. Its presence in the heart of Silicon Valley allows the Volkswagen Group to work directly with the world's leading high-tech companies, start-ups, and universities. Working closely with these partners allows the ERL to design and develop innovative features and applications, which are then integrated with Group vehicles for evaluation and testing.