A Car Navigation System That Takes Pictures 137
Brandon Miniman writes "Navman has brought to market the first in-car navigation system with a built in camera, the iCN 750. The camera lets you take pictures of places you've been. Geographical coordinates are then assigned to each picture, so that you can bring up a gallery, and choose your destination by clicking on a picture." Add to this an always-on, all-sides video camera to document that it was the minivan that strayed into your lane, and it'll be even better.
Just what I need... (Score:2, Interesting)
Somehow, I feel I need a 'real' digital camera that has the GPS and the map built-in instead.
Re:Just what I need... (Score:2, Informative)
snaps! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:snaps! (Score:5, Funny)
I've tried that.. the problem is that their location keeps changing, and the faster you take the pictures, the faster their location changes in some random new direction.
I'd explain why this happens, but it involves a lot of math.
Re:snaps! (Score:2)
Re:snaps! (Score:2)
Where else but slashdot ?
Oy !
Re:snaps! (Score:2)
Or put inversely, the faster the woman, the hotter the motion...
(not that it precisely works)
finally, more than a gimmick (Score:3, Interesting)
Why haven't more vendors of mapping technology done this sooner? This has long been a feature I've wanted... I don't know how long I've waited, from the first Microsoft and DeLorme mapping software and mapping software -- and having been fooled a couple of times into thinking one could associate pictures with map locations.
Until now, the closest I've found to doing something like this was Google maps -- and even that felt a little clunky in the interface (talking about Google Earth, the Windows application). And of course, with Google Map API many things are possible.
Congratulations to Navman for integrating in a clever and useful way pictures. (It'd be nice to be able to take your own pictures, and associate via some menu -- I'm wondering if they've provided that capability.) I'm in the market to replace a car GPS -- Navman has placed themselves high on the short list.
Any readers have feedback on the navigational ergonomics of Navman? (Very important, as I've become quite fond of TomTom's excellent ergonomics.)
Re:finally, more than a gimmick (Score:3, Informative)
And for cool factor, I can find my house [a9.com].
Re:finally, more than a gimmick (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:finally, more than a gimmick (Score:1)
more links + article from March 2006... (Score:3, Interesting)
But I know
Check out Fugawi (Score:3, Insightful)
Some cool features; it can use nearly any map source, standard USGS maps, NOAA marine charts, GeoTIFF's and aerial/satellite imagery. It has 3-D elevation views and GPS driving assist.
No, I don't work for them
I'm not as sure, but
So.... (Score:1)
What vehicles? (Score:1)
Re:What vehicles? (Score:2)
The exact model of the cigarette lighter depends on which version of the Festiva you have. Older versions of the Festiva have a circular connector roughly the size of your finger, if you have one of those you'll probably have to solder a few wires in it, otherwise you should be able to find a decent converter for less than $80.
a topic also for YRO? (Score:4, Funny)
what about restricted areas (numbers sadly increasing again nowadays), where photos are not allowed?
what about my medication battling my paranoia?
Re:a topic also for YRO? (Score:1, Troll)
Re:a topic also for YRO? (Score:5, Insightful)
I would think the major insurers would love to have an "always on" camera to monitor outside activity and inside activity. It would make such a nice complement to the acceleration, speed, distance and braking data they can get from your car's on-board computer.
Customer: This other car came out of nowhere and ran me off the road!
Insurer: Well we don't find any evidence of another vehicle, Sir, but according to the on-board video surveill... er, protection system, you were drinking a beer and having an animated conversation on your cell phone when you went off the road.
Re:a topic also for YRO? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:a topic also for YRO? (Score:2)
Re:a topic also for YRO? (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re:a topic also for YRO? (Score:2)
No, under the moto that I'm already getting penalized for falling within the demographics of other people who happen to be bad drivers. If insurance companies can get more accurate statistical models, there are sure to be some companies who will "reward good drivers", as some already claim to do.
I'd say it would be quite a long time for t
Why a camera? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Why a camera? (Score:2)
There's three of these comments saying some of the same things, I will respond to yours because I get to rebut two points at once.
OBD-II ECUs record all engine parameters for some time before and after any fault that lights the MIL (malfunction indicator
Re:a topic also for YRO? (Score:2)
Re:a topic also for YRO? (Score:3, Interesting)
Hmm, if this could somehow track good driving (stopping fully at every stop sign, before a right turn on red, properly signaling, etc) and reduce your insurance rates for a significant good driving track record (and vice versa) that would be pretty awesome.
Re:a topic also for YRO? (Score:1)
well, if you put this in your car, you can delete the photos, their yours.
if this isn't the case, well you don't know when/if a picture was taken, illusion preserved.
>what about restricted areas
these restricted areas, are people with photographic memories allowed to drive past as well? if so, then they must already be recorded.
> what about my medication battling my paranoia?
The FBI has many permanent treatment options, do you prefer it in
Other Uses (Score:3, Interesting)
It would be great for Geocaching [geocaching.com] to have a pic of your destination.
Scenic views. (Score:3, Funny)
(May not make sense to non-UK residents)
Re:Scenic views. (Score:1)
Next step (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Next step (Score:2)
I figured I could have it only save ~20-30 minutes of footage on each camera, and simply have a switch on the dashboard that I can use to stop capture
Why gages? (Score:2)
I got stopped for doing 76 in a 75 zone in El Paso.
Cop: You were going 76 mph.
Me: No, my GPS said I was going 75.
Cop: My radar gun is calibrated.
Me: My GPS uses government satelite signals.
Cop: The speed limit will be reduced to 65 at sunset.
Me: I know, my car w
Re:Why gages? (Score:1)
Re:Why gages? (Score:1)
I-294? If you're talking about Chicago traffic, try driving I-90 heading towards O'Hare from the suburbs. In a 55 mph zone, you can comfortably go 85-90, and you'll still get the maniacs that pass you like you're standing still!
Not that I advocate violating the speed limit, but unless the traffic gets pretty heavy NO ONE is going under 75.
Re:Why gages? (Score:2)
Or, in the real world... (Re:Why gages?) (Score:2)
Cop (on radio): Request backup, I have a perp resisting arrest.
Cop (to you): Step out of the car, please. *WHACK*
Moral: Don't be a smartass to a cop with something to prove (you know he has something to prove if he pulled you over for what he thought was 1MPH over the limit).
Insurance discount (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Insurance discount (Score:5, Funny)
Could you imagine an insurance company giving you a discount?
Re:Insurance discount.. until (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Insurance discount.. until (Score:3, Funny)
Rental cars (Score:2, Interesting)
Just scroll thru the pics and select the hotel, restraunt, tourist trap, etc... of your liking, then follow the arrows/automated voice.
Re:Rental cars (Score:1)
Minivan (Score:2, Funny)
First it was cell phones. . . (Score:3, Interesting)
What is this constant desire to add more fluff, more crap, more ways for things to go wrong, onto items? If I want a picture of something, I'll use a camera. That's what it's designed for. If I want to get back to a place, I'll use a map. That's what it's designed for.
Every new gadget that gets added to something is one more point of failure. You know why slr cameras of 20 and 30 years ago are still around and working? Because they were designed with one function: to take pictures. They didn't tell you the time, remind you of your appointment or give you directions.
If you can't find your way around using a map, having a GPS system in your car, now with new and flashy pictures!, isn't going to help.
Re:First it was cell phones. . . (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:First it was cell phones. . . (Score:1)
Me, I ride a bike. But the car only became anywhere near as successful long after gasoline engines were first invented.
Also, when automobiles first started appearing on the roads, there were comparable numbers of gasoline-, electric-, and steam-powered vehicles. The primary reason for gasoline engines taking off so well was Henry Ford's manufa
Re:First it was cell phones. . . (Score:4, Interesting)
I call BS.
"If I want to get back to a place, I'll use scratchings in dirt. That's what it's designed for.
I use a GPS all of the time. I don't know about "smooth wombat" but I find myself in places I don't know well all of the time, trying to get to other places I don't know well. Plugging the address into my GPS and getting turn-by-turn directions gets me where I need to be quickly, effortlessly, and safely.
Furthermore I often find I'm not sure where I am at all, and in Massachusetts it's customary to label only side-streets, not the big street you're driving down for miles trying to figure out what it's name is. Oh, and lets not forget after dark, when finding much less reading a street name signs is almost impossible. Maps are great if you know where you are on them, not if you don't.
Then lets consider what what my GPS also offers. Nearby services, want a restaurant, there's a list a sorted by distance. Need a gas-station? Last evening when I was running late I could see on my GPS display the gas station 'so helpfully' listed on the highway sign was in truth several miles off the exit, while at the exit after that one there were two much closer. Later I needed a book to bring a friend suddenly in the ER - Look, there's a Barnes & Nobles a half mile away, never had any idea it was there. Need directions to Beth Israel Hospital? 49.5 miles, and even though I used to contract there I was well away from any route I would have thought to use.
Sneer and say how in the old days you'd pull out maps & flashlights & ask strangers by the roadside who don't even know what road they're _on_ much less how to get to Main Street for directions, I'll be buzzing by listening to "Next Left in 600 yards" and changing lanes well in advance.
TomTom's "Jane" voice is my muse, and call her the "bitch in a box" if you will she gets me where I'm going with no huhu. Sure she often prefers the direct route over the better route, insists that I can use the emergency-vehicles-exit off of the Mass. Turnpike, and that Weybosset St. in Providence RI is 2-way, but with a bit of common sense she's a great companion. Oh, and the conference last year with the highway accident in front? Everyone else was in traffic for up to 4 hours, I sat for 5 minutes in it, tapped out a request for an alternate route, and after going through the back of an industrial park, through a very nice neighborhood, and over (what appeared in the dark to be) a mountain, I pulled up to the back door of my hotel 20 minutes later. Way to go Jane TomTom!
Oh, and cellphone? How do you think I found out my best friend was in the ER, and what he needed?
Re:First it was cell phones. . . (Score:2)
How fast do your roads change?
Even around Boston's "Big Dig" my several-year old GPS database is perfectly adequate. Perfect - no. But not worth another $100/year just to add the changes from last year.
Re:First it was cell phones. . . (Score:3, Interesting)
Maps are large, unwieldy pieces of paper. GPS systems can tell you "turn left here". The map won't do that. You don't have to refold the GPS if you drive off the page.
The GPS ain't the problem... (Score:2)
I get that different people have different needs, but I have a hard time believing that anyone will find this useful enough to actually pay
I've nearly folded a GPS before... (Score:2)
You've never missed four turns while in a twisty maze of one-way streets before because it takes your GPS too long to figure out a new path after you missed the last one until it's too late to make the turn.
Yeah, I've nearly folded my GPS before when I was finished with it. "Nearly folded" it right off the dashboard, the stupid piece of junk...
Re:First it was cell phones. . . (Score:1)
Re:First it was cell phones. . . (Score:2, Informative)
Um, no. You can program the GPS, and have it actually talk you through directions while you're driving. If you're a single person on a trip by yourself, you have to stop the car everytime you need to reference the map.
Also, a GPS unit will tell you when you've gotten off course. Last time my husband and I went map-traveling, we ended up over 80 miles in the opposite direct
Re:First it was cell phones. . . (Score:1)
And whilst we're on the matter, why does my microwave insist on masquerading as a clock ? If I wish to know the time, I will turn to my trusty Timex. A timer, yes, is required. But a clock ? No.
1 more camera needed (Score:5, Insightful)
If you're wondering how I can be so anti-police, I recently got assaulted because some nutcase thought that I cut in line in front of him (I didn't - in fact I offered to let him go ahead of me). When the cops arrived, I explained what happened and the cop's reply was "Well, if you fuck somebody, you're gonna get fucked". American police are incredibly unprofessional, rude, racist, sexist, and of course there's the occasional beating too - the more cameras we have pointing at them (not us!) the better off we'll be.
Re:1 more camera needed (Score:2)
Personally, I think they're a great idea, as it takes lots of the guesswork out of the legal process, and keeps cops in line as well.
Re:1 more camera needed (Score:1)
Was that offer right after you got caught cutting in front of the guy? Certainly there were witnesses in the line who could corroborate your story.
I'm just saying, your story, it smells... smells bad... smells real bad...
Re:1 more camera needed (Score:2)
Cops handled it from there.
About the only time in my experience the cops were nice, but they still took a long time, and the dispatcher was still an ass.
Re:1 more camera needed (Score:2)
Re:1 more camera needed (Score:2)
So, ah, Timothy... (Score:1, Offtopic)
At least it doesn't have Onstar. (Score:2, Funny)
Always on camera? (Score:2)
You'll think that until it show's that it was you that strayed into the minivan's lane.
I'm a big boy... (Score:2)
Perfect for TripTracker.net (Score:2, Interesting)
Let me line my car up to get a better photo.... (Score:5, Funny)
I agree with the other person who posted a complaint that too many devices are adding useless "fluff", trying too hard to be "unique" instead of incorporating truly useful featurea in their products. Sure, it may not be as "sexy" to sell durability or reliability, but frankly, I'd much rather pay for an appliance that'll last 5-10 more years, or a laptop computer that won't die the first time I accidently drop it on a concrete floor than for some gee-whiz, unneeded gadget merged into it.
With all the cameras being put in cellphones, you'd think practically everyone would be able to capture a photo of anyplace they happen to go already. Does a GPS system need to do it too??
Re:Let me line my car up to get a better photo.... (Score:1)
Could it Be? (Score:4, Insightful)
All of the others have been disappointments in that regard...
You'll be amazed how useless the pictures are... (Score:5, Insightful)
It's that to get a nice, clear, useful, _recognizable_ thumbnail-sized picture of your destination requires a lot of intelligent thought, good framing of the picture, thirty seconds to walk around and pick a good angle, and a time of day when the light is reasonable.
Three-quarters of the pictures people take with this thing will be
a) unrecognizable due to reflections on the car window they're trying to shoot through, or
b) unrecognizable because of lighting issues (dark, muddy, illegible storefront against a nice bright sky), or
c) unrecognizable because the camera was pointed at the wrong thing, or
d) unrecognizable because a lot of buildings look pretty much like each other, or
e) unrecognizable because the store name is too small to read in the finished picture when displayed thumbnail size on the navigation screen, or
f) unrecognizable because important recognition features were hidden behind a parked car, or
g) unrecognizable because you don't have a view of the front of the building from the only place where you could stop the car, which happens to be the parking lot in back of the building, or
h) unrecognizable because it's night-time and the camera isn't sensitive enough to make a good picture by streetlight (and the streetlighting isn't even enough even if it were, and the flash isn't bright enough to light up a building thirty feet away, and even if it were all you'd get are the flash reflections off the windows...
Re:You'll be amazed how useless the pictures are.. (Score:4, Insightful)
It turns out that taking quality pictures - and I don't even mean "hang them in an art gallery" quality, just "easily recognizable and/or pleasant to look at" - is a non-trivial task. Trying to do it with an inferior device (mostly due to crappy lenses) only makes the job harder. Trying to do it quickly or, worse, while moving is yet another difficulty.
Add to all the technical difficulties you've already covered the fact that most people only have the vaguest notion how to effectively frame a shot, and this gadget only gets more useless.
(Note that when I say "useless," I don't mean "incapable of being used," I mean "making it easy for the user to perform uselessly")
Re:You'll be amazed how useless the pictures are.. (Score:2)
So does that mean the pictures this device will take will be about on par with those the average person would take?
Re:You'll be amazed how useless the pictures are.. (Score:2)
Which is, honestly, good enough for the sort of "I was there" pictures that fill the pages of your average family's vacation album. But, I suspect, not good enough to serve the purpose they're supposed to in this context, which involves quick place recognition.
Take pictures of places you've been! (Score:2)
Coming soon to FOX network. (Score:2, Funny)
Even better (Score:2)
You could also add the always-on even when the car is parked and not running video camera to document those assholes who keep slamming my brand car with their friggin doors...I've had to have paintless dent repair twice now..
Re:Even better (Score:2)
Collaborative Virtual World (Score:2)
The point being, for any set of GPS coordinates you can have 360 degrees of different pictures of a point on Earth (ignoring pitch and roll).
But... if you have the azimuth data
Re:Collaborative Virtual World (Score:2)
Oh boy, more pictures! (Score:2)
I'm sorry... (Score:1)
Sounds like something my brother could use... (Score:3, Interesting)
My brother wanted something like that after getting hit 4 times in a one month period, though he was luckily not to blame for any of the accidents and neither he nor his car sustained serious damage and everyone who hit him could walk away as well. His implementation, however, was a bit different.
Figuring his huge mid-90's reflective gold-colored Lincoln (like I said, 4 hits in one month, little damage) was somehow difficult for motorists to see (we always figured it had lawyer-installed magnets in it), he planned to replace it with a safety vest-orange Hummer with a boat horn, construction truck/tow truck flashing lights, a rifle rack in the back with an old drill rifle (just for fun), and a video system similar to this one.
As we had this conversation, we drove past a wrecker - possibly the closest vehicle in appearance to the one we had devised - that had been rear-ended by some idiot who was likely on his cell phone and didn't appear to have moved it from his ear since the accident.
No vehicle is safe these days from those with a room temperature IQ and a cell phone... at least with a Lincoln, you can be sure that whoever hits you will be off the road for quite a while while their car sits in the shop...
Re:Sounds like something my brother could use... (Score:1)
"NO INSURANCE" ?
Black box for cars (Score:2)
Re:Black box for cars (Score:2)
all sides video camera? (Score:2)
http://www.eyesee360.com/videowarp/ [eyesee360.com]
Obligatory (Score:2)
car photographs YOU!
A nice feature (Score:1)
I absoultelty hate this fad.. (Score:2)
It increases battery consumption, price, size and weight of any item they're added to. Also if you happen to work in a secure area, you can't take it to work.
Its almost impossible to find a nice cell phone without a camera now.
Haha, yeah, right. (Score:2)
Add to this an always-on, all-sides video camera to document that it was the minivan that strayed into your lane, and it'll be even better.
Feh. Insurance companies don't consider things like "evidence." Example: my friend was sideswiped by an SUV who tried to drive around his car on the left side (in the shoulder) on an offramp. He tore a huge gash down the side of my friend's car. Later, the driver claimed that it was my friend who was trying to drive around HIM, and that HE was the one who was sideswi
Re:Haha, yeah, right. (Score:2)
About 10 years ago, I was in an accident in my parent's neighborhood. The situation was such that I was going downhill and it had just rained a little bit. There was a landscaping truck parked on the opposite side of the road (really not a great place), and this lady was following her friend out of the neighborhood. Her friend passed the truck well before I got there, but
like the Photo-Auto Guide in 1907 (Score:1)
Excerpt:
What? No toaster? (Score:2)
More useful integrations? (Score:2)
Some more useful integrations would be:
- Digital terrestrial radio: The conversion process is just starting, and almost noone has a digital radio. Adding it into the GPS should be easy, and with the storage capacity in the GPS you could record or timeshift radio.
- S
so what? (Score:2)
Bus Lane Camera (Score:2)
Re:Ulterior purposes... (Score:2)
Granted, the privacy conerns matter, but, damn that'd be nice.
Also, they could always not record the node that originated the image. Just store the images themselves, transfer them back and forth between cars (were it common enough), and then have just 5-20% o
Re:Ulterior purposes... (Score:2)
Yeah. Big Brother is watching you take a photo of Carl's Jr.. Afterall, those little numbers a GPS unit spits out are useless without a photo to attach to them.