Google Maps Parks

Nice move, soon to be there.

Finally, it’s easier to navigate national parks using Google Maps  inTheVerge

Soon, it won’t be so painful to find your way around a national park using Google Maps.

parks with Google Maps. The updates will start to roll out this month ahead of National Park Week starting on April 22nd, the day entrance fees are waived.

Until now, finding directions to a trailhead has been a crapshoot on the app. Navigating the trail itself can be even harder without a preview of the route on Maps. For national parks at least, that should start to change.

The updates will start to roll out this month ahead of National Park Week starting on April 22nd, the day entrance fees are waived

With this update, when users search for a particular trail within a national park in the US, Google Maps will show the entire route of the trail instead of just a pin. It’ll also serve up walking and cycling directions straight to the trailhead, and let you download a map of the park so that it’s accessible even without internet access.

Not sure where to start at a huge national park? Google Maps can help with that, too. Searching for a park in Maps will now bring up photo highlights for its most popular attractions. You’ll see reviews from other users as well as information about each spot. For trails, there’ll be details like how strenuous the route is and whether it’s best traversed   ...

Sygic Better than Google Maps?

A better Replacement for Google Maps?

Interesting but ultimately not free.   An alternative with potential features and coverage differences?

Also can they beat the vast data and features that Google has?   Will take a look,

Google Maps isn’t everybody’s cup of tea on iPhone and Android, and Sygic GPS Navigation is an application specifically aimed at users looking for an alternative.

Sygic GPS Navigation on CarPlay

 8 photosPhoto: Bogdan Popa/autoevolution/Sygic

Sygic's truck navigation app on iPhoneSygic's truck navigation app on iPhoneSygic's truck navigation app on iPhoneSygic's truck navigation app on iPhoneSygic's truck navigation app on iPhoneSygic's truck navigation app on iPhoneSygic's truck navigation app on iPhone

As such, Sygic’s software has evolved to become a top go-to navigation solution, especially as it offers support for most platforms, including CarPlay.

February witnessed the introduction of several big features in Sygic GPS Navigation.

The parent company says app version 23.0.0 brought important improvements for signposts on CarPlay. Users are now provided with more information about streets, numbers, and roads, eventually making navigation more straightforward.

The mobile experience has received a facelift as well.

iPhone users are now offered a larger font size on the map, but changing these settings is allowed from the settings menu. This is the place where you’ll also find new options to turn off automatic changing colors in signposts.

As far as the map information is concerned, Sygic users are now provided with fuel prices in a more convenient approach. The data is displayed right on the map, alongside date information, so you can easily tell how old it is.

The latest version of Sygic GPS Navigation for iOS devices also includes an option to turn the compass off by default for navigation. The compass continues to be a must-have feature for many users, but others want it to be disabled by default. This is finally possible after the latest update on iOS.

Sygic has also refined the way certain essential data is displayed on the map. For example, accidents and warnings that you come across after a sharp curve use a yellow color on the map and in the notification center. This should make them easier to notice and, therefore, give you more time to slow down before approaching the curve.

Last but not least, Sygic’s software is being updated with new options for satellite maps. The new version of the app comes with a satellite map button added on the POI and address detail screen when searching. As such, you can toggle the display mode much easier right from the search results interface.

All these improvements are included in the latest version of Sygic’s navigation software for Apple devices. The update is already live on the App Store.

The main shortcoming for those who are planning to replace Google Maps with Sygic is the subscription model. The application isn’t available free of charge, so you’ll have to pay a monthly fee to use it. However, the parent company is also offering a trial version that should allow users to take everything for a spin before making a final decision. A premium subscription brings additional capabilities including offline 3D maps, real-time traffic information, sign detection, and a head-up display experience powered by the mobile device.  .... / 

3D Map of Universe

 Durham University Fiber-Optics Help Largest 3D Map of Universe

BBC News, January 13, 2022

Researchers at the U.K.'s Durham University built a component that helped an international team of scientists produce the largest-ever three-dimensional (3D) map of the universe. The component uses 5,000 optical fibers to widen the field of view of the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument at the Nicholas U. Mayall telescope of Arizona’s Kitt Peak National Observatory. The system splits light from galaxies, stars, and quasars into narrow bands of color, measuring their chemical composition, distance from Earth, and their rate of travel. The final 3D map will enhance understanding of dark energy, which constitutes 70% of the universe and fuels its expansion. Said Durham's Victoria Fawcett, "We're finding quite a lot of exotic systems including large samples of rare objects that we just haven't been able to study in detail before."

Facebook Acquires Mapillary, Competes with Street View

First I had seen this.  Generalized tool for looking at location.  Commercial users for now.

Facebook acquires Google Street View competitor Mapillary
The street imaging platform will now be accessible to commercial users.
By Rachel England, @rachel_england in Engadget

Facebook has done a fair bit with maps in recent times — last year it opened up its AI tool to OpenStreetMap users and announced its plans to recreate an AR planet based on a 3D map of the world. More recently, it’s deployed an interactive map to keep users up-to-date with the spread of COVID-19. Now, it’s acquired Google Street View alternative Mapillary. ... "

Google Maps Add New COVID-19 Alerts

Useful updates regarding changes in status of Pandemic.

Google Maps adds new COVID-19 alerts as more cities reopen

Maps will remind you to wear a face covering on public transit
By Chris Welch@chriswelch in Theverge

Google is continuing to build more helpful new features into Google Maps to assist people trying to navigate around cities that have begun emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic. When you look for public transit directions, you’ll now see “relevant alerts” from transit agencies about mandatory precautions you’ll need to take — such as wearing a face covering. And if a public transit line is temporarily suspended due to the ongoing COVID-19 response, you’ll hopefully get a heads-up about that, too. ... " 

Real-time Mapping and Localization

Much work underway in smart mapping ... Given the increasing need for real-time intelligence.   We used aspects of this in forestry asset analysis.

Collaborative simultaneous localization and mapping technique uses available Wi-Fi networks
by Ingrid Fadelli , Tech Xplore

In recent years, research teams worldwide have developed new methods for simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM). These techniques can be used to construct or update maps of a given environment in real time, while simultaneously tracking an artificial agent or robot's location within these maps.

Most existing SLAM approaches rely heavily on the use of range-based or vision-based sensors, both to sense the environment and a robot's movements. These sensors, however, can be very expensive and typically require significant computational power to operate properly.

Aware of these limitations, researchers at the Singapore University of Technology and Design, Southwest University of Science and Technology, the University of Moratuwa and Nanyang Technological University have recently developed a new technique for collaborative SLAM that does rely on range-based or vision-based sensors. This technique, presented in a paper prepublished on arXiv, could enable more effective robot navigation within unknown indoor environments at a cost significantly lower than that of most previously proposed methods. ... "

AI Enhancing Maps and Goal Process

You could add to this the ability to add contextual process knowledge to a map.   Beyond just what is there, and how do I navigate to X.   Say in the goal context of maintaining a road,  I may want to be shown places where proactive analysis needs to be done, what equipment is needed, what would the cost would be,  how does that fit into budgets and schedules.   That defines a process,  some algorithms, AI pattern recognition to be involved.   Leading to a change in some process plan.   A kind of 'task and process navigation'  to achieve a management process.

Using artificial intelligence to enrich digital maps
Model tags road features based on satellite images, to improve GPS navigation in places with limited map data.

Rob Matheson | MIT News Office

A model invented by researchers at MIT and Qatar Computing Research Institute (QCRI) that uses satellite imagery to tag road features in digital maps could help improve GPS navigation.  

Showing drivers more details about their routes can often help them navigate in unfamiliar locations. Lane counts, for instance, can enable a GPS system to warn drivers of diverging or merging lanes. Incorporating information about parking spots can help drivers plan ahead, while mapping bicycle lanes can help cyclists negotiate busy city streets. Providing updated information on road conditions can also improve planning for disaster relief.

But creating detailed maps is an expensive, time-consuming process done mostly by big companies, such as Google, which sends vehicles around with cameras strapped to their hoods to capture video and images of an area’s roads. Combining that with other data can create accurate, up-to-date maps. Because this process is expensive, however, some parts of the world are ignored.

A solution is to unleash machine-learning models on satellite images — which are easier to obtain and updated fairly regularly — to automatically tag road features. But roads can be occluded by, say, trees and buildings, making it a challenging task. In a paper being presented at the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence conference, the MIT and QCRI researchers describe “RoadTagger,” which uses a combination of neural network architectures to automatically predict the number of lanes and road types (residential or highway) behind obstructions.  .... "

Brains and Maps

Freeman Dyson, a favorite source, talks brains and maps ......

The Brain Is Full of Maps in The Edge

A Talk By Freeman Dyson [6.11.19]

 I was talking about maps and feelings, and whether the brain is analog or digital. I’ll give you a little bit of what I wrote:

Brains use maps to process information. Information from the retina goes to several areas of the brain where the picture seen by the eye is converted into maps of various kinds. Information from sensory nerves in the skin goes to areas where the information is converted into maps of the body. The brain is full of maps. And a big part of the activity is transferring information from one map to another.

As we know from our own use of maps, mapping from one picture to another can be done either by digital or by analog processing. Because digital cameras are now cheap and film cameras are old fashioned and rapidly becoming obsolete, many people assume that the process of mapping in the brain must be digital. But the brain has been evolving over millions of years and does not follow our ephemeral fashions. A map is in its essence an analog device, using a picture to represent another picture. The imaging in the brain must be done by direct comparison of pictures rather than by translations of pictures into digital form. .... 

FREEMAN DYSON, emeritus professor of physics at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, has worked on nuclear reactors, solid-state physics, ferromagnetism, astrophysics, and biology, looking for problems where elegant mathematics could be usefully applied. His books include Disturbing the Universe, Weapons and Hope, Infinite in All Directions, and Maker of Patterns. ..... "

Betrayed by GPS and Assistants

What does this mean?   Can it also imply that visualizations are more trusted than they should be?   I have only been betrayed by GPS/Maps  a couple of times in a long history of using them.  By my own navigation skills many more times. 

Been a long time promoter of visualization of data and process.    But have also always cautioned that visualizations can be a means of delivering confirmation bias via a clever picture.   An assumed narrative of truth.

Note also that in the example below only part of it is a map.  It is an assistant giving directions, a different thing.  So does this means we need to take different kinds of cautions with step by step directions?   What does that look like?    I point back to my post on 'alerts', which if done intelligently can give us early warning we have gone astray.

Running in Circles: Why Our GPS Devices Can Betray Us  in UnDark
Our unshakeable faith in maps — digital or otherwise — has its roots in the cartographic revolution.

05.31.2019 / By M.R. O’Connor ... 

Finding all the Trees in the World

Akin to my previously mentioned Agriculture Deep Lens problem.   No Deeplens appears to have been tried here.   In Flowing data:

Finding all of the trees in the world with machine learning

Descartes Labs used machine learning to identify all of the trees in the world where at least one-meter resolution satellite imagery is available. Tim Wallace with the maps:

The ability to map tree canopy at a such a high resolution in areas that can’t be easily reached on foot would be helpful for utility companies to pinpoint encroachment issues—or for municipalities to find possible trouble spots beyond their official tree census (if they even have one). But by zooming out to a city level, patterns in the tree canopy show off urban greenspace quirks. For example, unexpected tree deserts can be identified and neighborhoods that would most benefit from a surge of saplings revealed.  ... "

The full article, via Tim Wallace, with map images,  shows the complexity of the problem:

The Future of Mapping via Sensing

Via O'Reilly.  Abtract and link to PDF.   Its all about sensing, and here that is about spatial understanding and sensing.

https://arxiv.org/abs/1803.11288 
Computer Science > Artificial Intelligence
FutureMapping: The Computational Structure of Spatial AI Systems

Andrew J. Davison

We discuss and predict the evolution of Simultaneous Localisation and Mapping (SLAM) into a general geometric and semantic `Spatial AI' perception capability for intelligent embodied devices. A big gap remains between the visual perception performance that devices such as augmented reality eyewear or consumer robots will require and what is possible within the constraints imposed by real products. Co-design of algorithms, processors and sensors will be needed. We explore the computational structure of current and future Spatial AI algorithms and consider this within the landscape of ongoing hardware developments.

Subjects: Artificial Intelligence (cs.AI); Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (cs.CV); Robotics  ...

Pattern Recognition in Road Tracing

We had a similar challenge when we managed roads and their quality in Alberta.   We were mostly interested in if the roads had degraded, and needed to manage resources to improve them to a level where they would satisfy predicted transport needs.   We had Aerial and Satellite images.   Now you can selectively deploy drones.   And we needed to include predicted changes like tree growth, storms  and forest fires.  This does some of the things we could have used then.  Perhaps also some applications to supply chain needs?

A new way to automatically build road maps from aerial images
“RoadTracer” system from the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory could reduce workload for developers of apps like Google Maps. ....  By Adam Conner-Simons | MIT, CSAIL 

A New Way to Automatically Build Road Maps From Aerial Images 

" ... Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) researchers have developed a system for automatically constructing road maps from aerial images with 45-percent more accuracy than existing methods. The RoadTracer system “is well-suited to map areas of the world where maps are frequently out of date, which includes both places with lower population and areas where there's frequent construction," says MIT professor Mohammad Alizadeh. RoadTracer begins with a known location on a road network, using a neural network to examine the surroundings and determine which point is most likely to be the next part of the road. It adds that point and repeats the process to plot out the network of the road step by step..... " 
(Updated) See also 'Automated site Mapping'  Used in Archaeology,  related method beyond examining just roads.

Google Map's Moat

Google Map's Moat.  Mapping is modeling, for and about a particular context.  So the details and comparison between Apple and Google are fascinating.  Been using both to compare myself, but am not seeing all the details.

How far ahead of Apple Maps is Google Maps?   Cartographer Justin O’Beirne  looks at the details.

Over the past year, we’ve been comparing Google Maps and Apple Maps in New York, San Francisco, and London—but some of the biggest differences are outside of large cities.

Take my childhood neighborhood in rural Illinois. Here the maps are strikingly different, and Apple’s looks empty compared to Google’s: .... "

 " ... Google has gathered so much data, in so many areas, that it’s now crunching it together and creating features that Apple can’t make—surrounding Google Maps with a moat of time. 

It makes you wonder how long back Google was planning all of this—and what it’s planning next.

As we saw earlier, Google seems to have associated its building and place datasets together:

So Google likely knows what’s inside all of the buildings it has extracted. And as Google gets closer and closer to capturing every building in the world, it’s likely that Google will start highlighting / lighting up buildings related to queries and search results.  ...... " 

Neato Maps Rooms

More cleaning, mapping.  Other applications in the smart home?

Neato Adds Persistent, Actionable Maps to New D7 Robot Vacuum
By Evan Ackerman in IEEE Spectrum

The Neato D7 remembers the layout of your home, allowing it to recognize virtual no-go lines and respond to them as it cleans, doing away with physical barriers.

Vacuums are the most successful consumer home robots ever, and they’re likely to remain so for quite a while, simply because they do quite a good job at keeping your floors clean in a reliable and affordable way. For robot vacuum manufacturers, this is a bit of a problem: As we very often point out in our reviews, lower-end models clean just about as effectively as more expensive ones, often making it difficult to justify an upgrade.

Today, Neato Robotics is introducing a new flagship robot vacuum that we think offers one of the most significant advances we’ve seen in years: persistent, actionable maps. Like its predecessors, the D7 uses a lidar sensor to create a map of your house as it goes, but now, the robot will remember that map and allow you to interact with it. Neato is starting off simple with what you’ll be able to do (like defining no-go zones), but it’s an incredibly powerful feature that’s necessary for the future of all home robots. .... " 

Stats on Privately Funded Drone Companies

CBInsights: A look at privately funded drone companies.   " ... .While the US accounts for nearly two-thirds of all drone investment activity, there are at least 11 other countries making bets in the space  ....  Since 2012, private drone companies have raised over $1.6B across 300+ equity investments. Drones make up the second largest sub-category in IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things) and account for roughly 20% of total deal activity.

Three of the earliest private drone companies and largest in terms of total funding are 3D Robotics, Airware, and RedZone Robotics. While they lead in the US, expanding internationally has been a challenge because of the complex international regulatory environment, both at country and local levels.  ... " 

Google's Second Tango Phone

Have been waiting for this.  Seen demos.   Had seen this as a possibility for detecting, mapping and understanding interior spaces and fixtures, like shelves.   The second phone implementing their vaunted Tango project that maps interior spaces.  Perhaps in response to rumored upcoming Apple AR phone systems?  The Tango idea gets a negative review below,  too much hardware, while the Apple ARKit has no additional hardware.  Following.

Google’s second AR phone, the Asus ZenFone AR, is finally official
Google's augmented reality phones take forever to release, for whatever reason.
By Ron Amadeo  ...   "

See Project Tango.

Apple vs Google Maps

In Flowingdata:  

In Google and Apple mapping approaches.   I have looked at both of these for years now on the IOS smartphone.  A close comparative look at different mapping approaches.  Variation in data and design.   Choices in different user experience.  Shows the incredible investment and multiple redesigns that have been made.

Commercial Uses of Geofencing

Have not looked at this recently, but was brought up when looking at autonomous Drone applications.  Good example list in the article.

Geofencing: 7 commercial and industrial use cases  by Matias Wolff   In Prey. 

Geofencing technology is a recurring subject in our blog because it’s so useful and flexible.

So far we have put greater focus on managing geofenced devices. But some commercial and industrial applications offer benefits beyond data and hardware security.  A virtual, dymanic fence

Since a geofence is an area or perimeter on a virtual map, GPS tracking tells us in real time when a device goes in or out.  .... " 

Apple Building Better Maps

Seems to have been some time since I have heard of Maps mentioned with Apple.  Now movable sensors like drones are in play.

Apple Said to Fly Drones to Improve Maps Data and Catch Google
by Mark Gurman  and Alan Levin

Company gets FAA approval to use drones for data collection
Apple acquired startup Indoor.io for interior mapping project
Apple Inc. plans to use drones and new indoor navigation features to improve its Maps service and catch longtime leader Google, according to people familiar with the matter.

The Cupertino, California-based company is assembling a team of robotics and data-collection experts that will use drones to capture and update map information faster than its existing fleet of camera-and-sensor ladened minivans, one of the people said.

Apple wants to fly drones around to do things like examine street signs, track changes to roads and monitor if areas are under construction, the person said. The data collected would be sent to Apple teams that rapidly update the Maps app to provide fresh information to users, the person added.

Apple is also developing new features for Maps, including views inside buildings and improvements to car navigation, another person familiar with the efforts said. The people asked not to be identified talking about private projects. An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment.  ,,,, " 

A Map of What's Connected to the Internet

I remember when the Internet predecessor was just connected to the Pentagon, defense contractors and some bases.   In Gizmodo: 

" .... This map was made on August 2 by John Matherly, the founder of Shodan, a search engine for internet-connected devices. Matherly, who calls himself an internet cartographer, collected the data to put it together by sending ping requests to every IP address on the internet, and storing the positive responses. A ping is a network utility that sends an echo-request message (known as a packet) to an IP address—the internet's version of "hey, are you there?"

That part was relatively easy compared to the visualization process, says Matherly. "It took less than five hours to gather the data, and another 12 hours or so to generate the map image." For that, he used the matplotlib plotting library in the programing language Python.  ... "