Automatic Updates Enhance Map-Style Navigation Systems

摘要

Among the digital products emerging from Japan are car navigation sys- tems,a Japanese invention whose de- velopment has unfolded largely in Japan. Most car navigation systems in Japan are so-called map-style systems that display very precise maps, often in enhanced views, to direct drivers to their destinations. By contrast, most car navigation systems in Europe and North America are simpler than the Japanese models. Models outside Japan are typically turn-by-turn and turn-list models, which use arrows on a simplified map to show drivers the direction to take. Thus, the industry's attention focuses mainly on Japan, where the most advanced systems are in use. Now such systems in Japan offer not only basic car navigation functions, such as the position of the vehicle and guidance to a destination, but enhanced functions, like the ability to add or update map information using the Internet. Some car navigation systems also feature telematics, which are communication and information services especially for drivers. Other advances include the ability to offer three-dimensional (3-D) map displays, bird's-eye or driver views, and map presentations on larger and more precise displays than before.