HERE Maps and LiveSight

We told you a lot about how exactly we create our maps, what technologies we use and how responsibly we approach the development of cartographic services.
Recently, at the Direct conference, the new cloud-based geolocation technology HERE was introduced, which carries the navigation platform, content and applications suitable for any type of screens and any operating system.

“Geolocation services should evolve from an application-oriented model towards a global user service. Consumers want services that are optimized for a large number of mobile devices and are available anywhere in the world, ”said Tilo Kozlowski, vice president and lead analyst at Gartner.

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It is logical that we use our own cartographic development primarily on our own Lumia phones, but we are not limited to them.

HERE for iOS

We are preparing to launch a free HTML5-based HERE Maps application for iOS, which will soon appear on the App Store. The application will support offline mode, voice guidance on the route and the construction of routes, taking into account the movement of public transport. In addition, over the next few months, the HERE Maps API version for Android and the SDK for OEM developers will be presented.



HERE for iOS will allow users to receive navigation directions when traveling by car, on foot, or by public transport.
It is possible to download maps of a specific region for later use of maps offline. A fourfold approximation will be available.



Another interesting feature is voice-guided walk-by-turn navigation. Moreover, the application will be available laying routes, taking into account sidewalks, parks and lanes.
The application for iOS already has public transport routes for more than 500 cities in the world, this will allow you to navigate around the city and receive detailed information about transfers. And real information about traffic jams and accidents on the roads will allow you to estimate traffic and spend less time on the road.

In HERE Maps for iOS, you can organize your favorite places by category and quickly share with friends about the new cafe through Facebook. HERE.COM also allows you to share your location with one click, by sending a simple link via SMS and email.

HERE Maps for Firefox OS

It is worth mentioning that HERE Maps will also be available for Firefox OS in the near future. Following the ideology of openness HERE, we will continue cooperation with Mozilla in this direction.

HERE Android API

And another very good news: over the coming months, developers will be available HERE Android API. With the help of applications created in it, users can search for specific buildings, interact with three-dimensional models and view the paved route in full detail. This will allow you to see all the way clearly and realistically.
Here is an example of what an application created using the HERE Android API might look like.


The video shows not a real-life application, but the capabilities of the HERE Android API.

Livesight

Another big announcement is LiveSight, a technology that is based on our 3D world map. The first application that uses the LiveSight technology is Nokia City (Nokia City Lens), an augmented reality service that runs on Lumia phones.



LiveSight is a series of mechanisms, namely: 3D-vision, viewing direction, freeze-frame and building directory. Let's tell a little more about each.

3D vision - buildings are recognized by our data acquisition technology with high accuracy and a sense of depth.
Direction of the review - only those places that are directly in sight are displayed.
Freeze frame will allow you to save the real picture in order to examine it in more detail without directing the camera at the target.
The building directory allows you to click on a building to view what is inside it.
With this technology, you can easily find a store in a mall or parking space, where they left their own car.

To understand how LiveSight works, watch the video.



The main difference between HERE cards is that they allow users to manually mark points on the map. These data will be accumulated and, over time, copied to the main maps, which will allow keeping data in a more up-to-date state.
In addition, in order to improve the 3D maps of the world, we plan to acquire Earthmine, which offers a comprehensive solution for the collection, processing, management and hosting of 3D data and terrain panoramas. About this at the event, held in San Francisco on November 13, 2012, announced the head of Nokia Stephen Elop (Stephen Elop). Earthmine from Berkeley, Calif., Supplies the so-called 3D Street Level Imagery Solutions , that is, solutions for creating 3D images and street-level panoramas using its own MARS system. MARS includes special sensors and cameras, which are equipped with cars that collect information, as well as a number of software solutions for processing incoming data and combining them into a single whole.

Collecting data using Earthmine technology will provide the wealth of visual and other data that will bring closer the main goal - cartography automation. By next year, we with Earthmine are planning to expand the number of countries in which 3D information is automatically collected, to 31. Earthmine solutions will be able to supplement the existing Nokia’s own methods, which we have already mentioned in our blog .