Over the years turn by turn navigation has improved at a rapid pace. No longer does it sound like your being directed to your destination by the great Steven Hawking or a Speak and Spell from the 1980s. However Apple thinks it can do better and had filed a patent application for “humanized navigation instructions”, which we will no doubt see in its own Maps app.
What this means is that Apple would like to direct you to your destination in a more human-like way. So how would that sound? Well, here are some examples:
- “Exit the parking lot near AppleBees® restaurant and then turn right towards Golden Ave.”
- “Your destination is the apartment complex with the water fountain in the front.”
- “Your destination is behind OfficeMax.”
This would mean that location-based objects such as buildings, monuments and important structures will need to be tracked and known about by this system – a feature no other navigation system currently support and would require a lot of additional data over GPS co-ordinates and Satellite imaging.
To help with this, Apple’s application also proposes that its system will be crowd sourced. So missed street turns and motorway exits will be shared and relayed back to Apple so that directions can be tweaked and become more helpful.
With Apple CarPlay and its own turn by turn navigation Maps app, plus their rumoured entry into the car industry, Apple is making a major play in the automobile market. An area that I feel needs an Apple touch, not only to focus and direct it, but also shake it up a little and evolve how we interact with our cars in this technologically advancing age.
