Nokia is a little late to improve its mapping service HERE Maps spherical panoramas of the type of “Street View.” However, Nokia is going to get around Google in the second generation of machines that are the main tool in the development of such services.
With the new updated mapping system, which is based on a laser scanner and LIDAR data processing technology company Earthmine, dedicated 3D-mapping, Nokia promises panoramic images of higher resolution than Google and more accurate three-dimensional models of buildings. Recall that the company Earthmine, which Nokia acquired in November 2012, with the help of special vehicles shoots spherical three-dimensional images by analogy with StreetView from Google. Resource SlashGear managed to make out more detail one of the prototypes and find out whether the new 68-megapixel Nokia mapping system to ensure the team Google sleepless nights.
The first generation of the mapping system Earthmine used four cameras with wide-angle lenses, which were installed on the roof of special machines.
The second generation of Earthmine got better than its predecessor in almost every aspect. Resolution cameras was increased more than 2 times. Each of them the strength to capture 16.8 megapixel resolution images that will create a total of spherical panoramas resolution of 68 megapixels. Cameras use wide-angle lenses, “fisheye”. The system is designed so that the panoramic images are created every six meters.
In the configuration of the second generation of the mapping system Earthmine addition to cameras and laser scanner also includes a satellite navigation receiver GPS.
With the camera data is written to the hard drive capacity which is enough for 3 days – 140 GB of data per day. It is worth noting that the control system is carried out using a special application HERE True Control, working on a tablet Microsoft Surface, which is attached to the vehicle dashboard.
The application is written by experts and founder of Nokia Earthmine. It not only controls the camera, but also follows the route of the car communicates with the Nokia servers in real time and provides information about the location of the vehicle, as well as the amount of free space on the HDD.
Earlier, the 3D-card HERE were available only in certain countries in Europe and North America. At the same time, the second generation of the mapping system Earthmine this year will be launched in 27 countries in Africa, South America, Asia, North America and Europe. It is also reported that, after mapping the car will be engaged in other systems, responsible for the areas that were inaccessible to vehicles.
Founder Earthmine John Ristevski (John Ristevski) believe that in the near future HERE Maps will become much more popular than Google Maps.
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