Bouncing infrared light off objects can tell you the exact distance of the car in front of you, but also the distance to the bumper, windshield and roof.
LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) is sophisticated 3D depth-sensing technology known mostly as one of the sensor techs in self-driving cars. You see all those silver cylinders? Those are Velodyne LIDAR sensors. That’s a clear sign that Apple is collecting street-level imagery, which could be used to build street view into Apple Maps.īut the cameras aren’t the most interesting hardware. There’s also a camera in the front and one on the back. Assume this triad is duplicated on the opposite side of the truck. In addition to the small, white GPS antenna on top there are three wide-angle cameras in the center, two pointed at 45 degree angles toward the street level and one pointed up at the rooftops. I spent seven years writing breaking news for CNET as one of the site’s East Coast reporters. I've also written two books for Wiley & Sons- Windows 8: Five Minutes at a Time and Teach Yourself Visually LinkedIn.The default mapping service in iOS was released in September 2012 and was widely criticized for a number of glitches and bugs.īack in June, Mashable spotted a similar van on the streets of New York and analyzed the visible equipment to make some assumptions about what Apple might be planning for Maps.
Beyond PCMag, I've written news stories and tutorials for a variety of other websites and publications, including CNET, ZDNet, TechRepublic, Macworld, Popular Science, Time, Fortune, US News & World Report, and AARP Magazine. I've been working for PCMag since early 2016 writing tutorials, how-to pieces, and other articles on consumer technology.
0 kommentar(er)
