If we checked the history of the internet from early 1991 to date, we all are seeing something ‘new’ every morning. There are a lot of inventions that are underway with the help of the internet to make ease of our everyday life at home, office, travel or at the hospital bed.
Well, current global positioning technology has afforded mobile apps an unprecedented degree of accuracy. Through a simple API, developers can harness a remarkably accurate picture of a user’s location and orientation on Earth. Advances in hardware sensors have only served to refine this picture.
Brands and developers have in turn harnessed this technology to provide a wide variety of services. From breakout entertainment hits such as Pokemon Go to more mundane uses, such as on-demand services (Uber, Postmates), location data has become a staple of the mobile computing environment.
However, the next generation of positioning technology relies less on satellite location. A new solution takes the form of a cloud-based repository of robust image data from physical environments. Dubbed a “visual positioning system” by Google, a pioneer in the space, this software is capable of determining indoor and outdoor location through ad-hoc visual markers. Distinguishing features such as signage, buildings, and walls are identified by scanning geolocated photos, enabling unprecedented accuracy in location data.
Visual Positioning System: The new era in the location accuracy
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When your GPS is not enough, the new visual system in Google Maps can also use the newly coined Visual Positioning System (VPS) feature. The VPS uses your phone’s camera and Google’s extensive back-end data to analyze your surroundings to identify where you are with greater accuracy.
Google announced many new software treats at Google I/O today. Aparna Chennapragada introduced one of the best new features: visual guidance and Visual Positioning System in Google Maps Navigation.
One of the most impressive demonstrations by Google’s VP Ms. Aparna Chennapragada at Google I/O developer’s conference was an extremely effective proof of concept. An AR mode added to Google Maps employed VPS to overlay helpful AR artifacts which helped users navigate to their destinations without consulting a map, in one of the first truly compelling use cases for mobile AR.
As we all encountered Google’s map’s delayed response during navigation — “am I going the right direction?” Google Maps can now use your camera to identify your surroundings, visually communicate your route right in front of your eyes!
The difference between GPS and VPS
First, one key difference is that standalone GPS devices actually store their own map data, compared to a smartphone that is cloud-based and requires a connection to download the maps as you go. … Smartphones, on the other hand, are updated automatically since they pull their data from the cloud.
Further, the “VPS” technology provides higher precision in locating the user than the “GPS” technology, which relies on satellites in a state of constant and rapid motion to pinpoint the location. Therefore, the geographical position is not accurate and genuine, as there is a tiny departure from the actual site. The actual location is rectified by navigation software using certain algorithms until it becomes more accurate and approaches the actual place.
Additionally, “GPS” is dependent on the quality of communication at the current location, as well as its susceptibility to being impacted by weather conditions such as heavy clouds and the like, as well as within urban areas. The quality of GPS connection is frequently compromised by obstacles such as buildings and confined spaces.
Visual Navigation System Overview
Tap a button to activate the visual view and then just point your camera where you need to go to see relevant info. You will see your surroundings with an overlay of Maps information for nearby business, arrows pointing you in the direction you need to go, with a small map at the bottom to remind you where you are headed. This is a powerful addition to Google Maps and Street View.
Google’s even playing with the idea of putting a character on the screen as an augmented reality tour guide. In the demo, it was a little fox.
How VPS works?
When your GPS is not enough, the new visual system in Google Maps can also use the newly coined Visual Positioning System (VPS) feature. The VPS uses your phone’s camera and Google’s extensive back-end data to analyze your surroundings to identify where you are with greater accuracy.
A few members of our team members are already cheering about this. They live in densely populated urban areas with tall buildings and often complain of GPS drift and other hassles when navigating. The new visual systems are made just for people like them.
But, Google did not mention when these new Maps features would become available. We will be sure to update when we learn more.
Benefits of VPS
- Easy to use.
- VPS is far more accurate than the global positioning system
- Great user experience.
- VPS application program interference (API) to determine the exact location.
- It also provides you with the advantages of local marketing.
- Vision engine creates large-scale 3D maps for ordinary video and images smart camera devices can then query the vision engine through its visual positioning services.
Real-World Applications of Visual positioning system
Visual positioning system Due to the growing popularity of location-based services, VPS extracts visual point features from Geo linked photos. VPS is ready to complement existing location data models to enhance navigation marketing and robotics advancements.
Included in the three key use cases stated as a direct challenge to Google Fantasmo are:
- Augmented Robotics: Autonomous Robots, including as drones, pets, and cars, might have access to VPS services via an SDK. This would vastly increase their navigational capabilities over GPS alone.
- Augmented Marketing: Major brands around the world are well on their way to maximizing the immersive potential of AR to generate compelling marketing content.
- Augmented Navigation: One of the most impressive demonstrations at this year’s Google I/O Developers Conference was a highly effective proof of concept involving an AR mode edit to Google Map that used VPS to overlay helpful AR artifacts that helped users navigate to their destination without consulting a map, representing one of the first truly compelling use cases for mobile augmented reality.
Conclusion:
One of the challenges of using Google Maps is seeing the correct direction: obviously, the program instructs you to head north, but you still ask, “Where precisely am I, and in what direction is north? ”
We are attempting to fix the issue using a technique known as global location, which incorporates visual positioning service (VPS), road map, and machine learning to define direction and orientation with more precision. We are currently working on this. This technology enables the user to rapidly determine which sensor path the smartphone camera will take.
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