Apple begins pedestrian surveys in London, Birmingham and Manchester in a bid to improve Maps and Google Street View-rival ‘Look Around’
- Apple employees will wear backpacks equipped with cameras and other sensors
- They will focus on areas of the three cities where it is not possible to drive
- The data will be used to create more accurate maps and improve Look Around
Apple is sending employees out to walk the streets of London, Birmingham and Manchester, to gather pedestrian data for its Apple Maps service.
The employees will wear special backpacks equipped with cameras and other sensors for mapping data collection.
They will focus on areas of the three cities where it is not possible to drive – including pedestrianised streets, parks, city squares and transit stations – in order to create more accurate 2D maps of these locations.
They will also capture images for Look Around – Apple’s answer to Google Street View, which enables app users to jump into the map and get a street-level view of an area to help navigate or find nearby businesses.
Apple employees will wear backpacks equipped with cameras and other sensors for mapping data collection while walking the streets of London, Manchester and Birmingham
The project starts today and will run until mid-May
Apple said areas in Birmingham such as The Bullring, New Street and Edgbaston Street will be part of the focus of the project.
In Manchester, St Peter’s Square, Shambles Square and Albert Square will be among the areas mapped using the backpacks.
Meanwhile, the surveys in London will cover parts of Windsor and Maidenhead.
The company said it will any censor faces and license plates in images that are published in Look Around.
Pedestrian backpack locations in London include parts of the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, including the grounds of Windsor Castle
Areas in Birmingham such as The Bullring, New Street and Edgbaston Street will be part of the focus of the project
In Manchester, St Peter’s Square, Shambles Square and Albert Square will be among the areas mapped using the backpacks.
‘Apple is conducting ground surveys with vehicles around the world to collect data to improve Apple Maps and to support the Look Around feature,’ the technology giant said.
‘These pedestrian surveys allow us to improve and update Apple Maps in areas where vehicles simply can’t go while using the same privacy protections as the Apple Maps vehicles.
‘We are committed to protecting your privacy while conducting these surveys.’
Apple launched its ‘Look Around’ feature in the UK in October 2020, as part of a broader revamp of Maps for UK users, which also featured city guides curated by Time Out and Lonely Planet, and cycling directions.
The US tech giant worked with Ordnance Survey to bring a greater level of detail to its maps of Britain and Ireland, including the shapes and sizes of individual buildings and more blue and green to indicate water and parks.
MORE NEW FEATURES FOR APPLE MAPS 2.0
Additional features in Apple Maps 2.0 include:
– One-tap navigation
One-tap navigation lets users display places they visit most often, such as home, work, the gym or their child’s school, with one tap.
– Real-time transit
Real-time transit information gives detailed transit schedules, live departure times, arrival times, the current location of a bus or train en route, and system connections to help plan a journey.
Maps also includes important real-time information like outages.
Real-time transit is available in many cities across the world including the San Francisco Bay Area, Washington D.C., New York, Los Angeles and, starting today, in Miami, with many more cities to come.
– Share ETA
Share ETA sends an estimated time of arrival to family, friends or coworkers with a simple tap.
The receiver can follow along on the journey, and Maps will even update them with a revised estimate for when the traveller is arriving if a significant delay occurs.
– Flight status
Flight status uses on-device Siri intelligence to scan for information stored in Mail, Calendar or Wallet and proactively serves flight information for terminals, gate locations and departure times, as well as flight changes or cancellations for upcoming travel.
– Indoor Maps
Indoor Maps for airports and malls makes it possible for users to get the most out of their next trip or shopping excursion.
By opening the Maps app, users can see what level they’re on, restroom locations and even which stores and restaurants are open.
– Siri Natural Language Guidance
Siri Natural Language Guidance provides more natural-sounding directions that are even easier to follow, such as “At the next traffic light, turn left.”
Siri Natural Language Guidance is available across the US.
– Flyover
Flyover offers a way to see select major metro areas with photo-realistic, immersive 3D views.
Users can move their device through space to experience a city from above, or explore in high resolution as they zoom, pan, tilt and rotate around the city and its landmarks.
Flyover is available in more than 350 cities.
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