Inrix Provides GPS Traffic Info, In Real Time
May 25, 2006 gps navigation, misc news, software
While you’re finishing up that second cup of coffee at home and browsing the news online, delivery trucks already on the freeway are sending automated traffic reports that could help speed you to work when you’re ready to go.
It’s all part of the Dust Network unveiled on Tuesday by Inrix Traffic Services, a Microsoft spin-off, at the annual Telematics Detroit forum.
Inrix says it can predict traffic up to a year in an advance using Bayesian statistical analysis, which uses historical evidence and observation help you infer the odds of something being true. In plain English, the level of traffic flow on I-70 west out of Denver in a light drizzle the day before Thanksgiving in 2004 is probably a good predictor of what traffic will be like on Wednesday, November 22, 2006, if it’s raining.
The company explained how the Dust Network, so named for how much information you’d collect if every speck of dust had sensors and communication, will connect data. Since dust is too small for affixing logos and antennas, Inrix instead chose 500,000 commercial fleet, delivery, and taxi vehicles already equipped with two-way communications. (In exchange for the data, Inrix will give the fleets a cut rate on traffic-information reports.) The speed and position reports can generate map overlays that show traffic flow in real time, and will be stored for use in the Bayesian engine for future rush-hour reports.
The traffic reports will be available to automotive OEMs, Web portals, in-car navigation suppliers and portable-navigation-device manufacturers. Inrix announced its initial partners: TeleAtlas, Cingular, MSN, Garmin, Magellan, and TomTom, as well as a coming generation of Microsoft SPOT watches.
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July 16th, 2009 at 6:49 pm
Traffic exchange is an example of a way to get noticed also. Not sure how many people use them but they still work.