Car tech: VW, Google team up on vehicle navigation systems

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February 7, 2006 (Computerworld) -- PHILADELPHIA -- Vehicle navigation systems built into many of today's cars and trucks can help drivers to find their way from Point A to Point B. But digital route mapping is only as accurate as the location data included in the on-board DVDs used by the integrated Global Positioning System (GPS) hardware.
Now, researchers at Volkswagen of America Inc. and Google Inc. think they have found a better way to build navigation systems using wireless access, real-time data collection and onboard displays that include photos, 3-D images and touchpad keyboards. The goal is to give drivers information that can be updated continuously rather than rely on DVDs -- which can become obsolete quickly and have to be replaced regularly with updated disks.
"They don't give you dynamic information," said Arne Stoschek, director of displays, sensors and materials at Volkswagen of America's Electronic Research Lab in Palo Alto, Calif. Starting last year, the Auburn Hills, Mich.-based automotive company began building prototype vehicles -- Stoschek wouldn't say how many -- that include real-time navigation systems.
Stoschek declined to say when the new systems might be available in production vehicles. "We are pushing aggressively to bring it into our cars as soon as possible," he said. "Both VW and Google are fast-moving companies."
The prototype system was shown off last month at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. It relies on high-bandwidth wireless access that can be provided using cellular or other wireless networks, and uses Google's online mapping services -- along with Google Search and Google Earth imagery capabilities, he said. "It is real-time and we want to provide photorealistic imagery instead of [DVD-based] symbolic maps, plus it is searchable. It's an exciting project."
The prototype onboard navigation system includes a dashboard-mounted display that can show maps, photos and other images or be used as a touch-screen keyboard so drivers can enter starting-point and destination data. Also included are buttons to instantly find gas stations, VW dealerships or other destinations along a route in real time, Stoschek said. Test drivers can use the system to determine the cheapest fuel prices along the way, which are then displayed on the screen.
Other possible advances would allow drivers to go shopping and use the onboard wireless navigation system to search out the best prices for items before even leaving the driveway, Stoschek said.
The system could also be set up to give the driver a "heads-up" display projected onto the vehicle's windshield, so the driver could literally follow the route as it is driven, Stoschek said. "You could virtually paint your destination or put an arrow on the road," he said.

The GM Sequel hydrogen concept car at the Philadelphia International Auto Show.

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