In an interview with CNET, Christof Hellmis, the head of mapping platforms at Nokia has let some interesting bits out!! We know how Nokia is playing a big role with HERE Maps, in bringing self-driving connected car concept alive developing 3D best-in-class precision maps with claimed cm level accuracy.
Going one step ahead, the HERE boss talks about how HERE Maps version 2.0 will evolve to serve smartwatches, self-driving cars, & even drones.
“Mapping 1.0 is done,” says the head of Nokia Here. He envisions a world of constantly-updating, infinitesimally precise maps guiding us on through the world on our smartwatches and smartphones, as self-driving cars zoom past and delivery drones soar overhead.
“First we had paper maps with lots of colourful lines,” says Christof Hellmis, head of map platforms at Nokia Here, “but now the world is moving to the next generation of maps, which will be 3D, and will include Augmented Reality, like our CityLens app.”
He believes that future of precision maps, which can be used in self-driving cars is in cloud, the focus of HERE, NSN and Nokia.
Not only will a car know where it is and where it’s going, but it will take you there too. Hellmis believes that maps are crucial for self-driving cars, which rely on accurate sensors and high-quality map detail to go where they need to. A world of cars that drive off and park themselves is “not too far off…we already have park assist, where you take your hands off the wheel and the car parks itself.”
HERE Maps for Drones will even have maps of the concrete canyons and steel valleys of the cities.
Soon, we’ll even have maps of the concrete canyons and steel valleys of our cities. Ultimately, Hellmis envisions Here will be “as close as possible to a representation of reality, with data for autonomous cars, for pedestrians indoors, even for drones, with maps to navigate around cities and skyscrapers”. It will collect “real-time data from probes in vehicles, in cars…as cities become smart cities, tracking how people move around processing several million updates per second,” he says.
Nokia Smart watch is something which we have heard about coming in Q3 and one recent tip claims that all the future Nokia hardware will come from HERE division.
