3D Roads Dataset Intermap Technologies
Intermap Technologies yesterday announced the completion of a comprehensive dataset of 3D Roads of Western Europe.
Intermap claims to have “the only dataset to provide highly accurate 3D models for every road, from the largest highway to the smallest urban and rural roads, throughout Western Europe.“
Intermap’s 3D Roads feature more than 6 million kilometers of all classes of roads in Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Austria, United Kingdom, Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Denmark, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Ireland, and Portugal.
New applications derived from Intermap’s 3D Roads can help enhance a vehicle’s efficiency, utility, and safety. For example, energy management applications can help save fuel and reduce harmful emissions by finding the most fuel-efficient route, accurately predicting an electric vehicle’s range, or predicatively shifting gears in trucks. Also, road slope and curvature can be sensed in advance with vehicle safety systems such as predictive front lighting which optimally directs front headlights in anticipation of upcoming bends and hills in the road ahead.
The dataset was produced by flying aircraft equipped with Intermap radar technology to extract a spatially correct 2D road network, and fusing this with height information from Intermap’s NEXTMap database of digital elevation models (DEMs).
At the corporate level the publicly listed Intermap had a tough year 2010 as shown by the financial earnings published last week. In 2010 the company reported total revenue of $13.9 million, a 54% decrease from $30.3 million in 2009 and a loss of $19.5 million.
Since the beginning of 2010 the company has reduced its workforce by 60 percent. The market capitalization of the company is now $27 million.
Audi New Telematics Solution
Audi yesterday announced that T-Mobile USA, Inc. (soon AT&T) will serve as the U.S. wireless carrier for its Audi Connect systems in its upcoming luxury car lines.
The Audi Connect services include voice-activated Google Earth, Google Local Search, and Sirius Traffic information (powered by NAVTEQ) combined with Google Earth imagery. The 3D terrain and topology of Google Earth is combined with Sirius Traffic data on Audi’s navigational map information (MMI Navigation Plus).
In addition, Audi Connect allows users to obtain real-time news, weather, and fuel prices. Audi Connect is also able to turn the vehicle into a mobile Wi-Fi hotspot.
