ElChupacabra

I was searching the Toyota Japan site and came across this sick navi...

http://toyota.jp/dop/navi/lineup/nhdp-w56s/index.html

I did the exhange rate for Yen to US Dollars...

294,000 Japanese Yen = $2,505.42 US Dollar

PDF of OEM Navi for Toyota Japan...

http://toyota.jp/dop/navi/list/image...22nhdp-w56s%22

evosky

very slick looking navi's on there ... too bad they're all in japanese ...

SkaTG2k3

i would ASSUME it is made by fujitsu as most toyota audio stuff is, so maybe this will be the NEXT generation of eclipse head units? (hope hope, pray pray)

TougeIST

I translated the page through Altavista and read this:


The 3D ground mapping which reproduces ups and downs of appearance form and topography of the building to real. It is indication possible inside the solid city map indicatory area.

That is sick

Cmec2004

that def is really hot

ElChupacabra

Yeah the 3D ground mapping is amazing! That was one of my favorite features. It also plays every freakin audio/video format known to mankind and includes sick iPod interface software. WHY DO I LIVE IN AMERICA???? AHHHHHHH!!!

THansenite

For some reason, that reminds me of "Streets of Sim City"

That would be awesome to have that in your car.

ElChupacabra

Its very much like Streets of Sim. Cool game too!

sakko

I think that description sounds a little embellished. 3D ground mapping? From what, a satellite photo? Yeah that sounds somewhat possible but a satellite is going to get a nice top down view and a really slanted view of maybe 2 sides of a building. Look at the buildings on the pic however, they are all perfectly textured. There is also a landbridge which would look something like a crosswalk from satellite.

So either...

A) They launched their own imagery satellites into orbit for hundreds of millions of dollars and spent a couple years grabbing textures from every building in the WORLD.

B) They sent location scouts out to photograph EVERYTHING built EVER.

C) The pic you see is a best case scenario and/or a mock up render.

I don't wanna burst anyones bubble but I'm tryin to figure this thing out and it's just not making sense.

BTW did anyone ever play Midtown Madness? Now that game was COOL! The cool thing about streets of Sim City was you could upload your own cities and drive on em :D

ElChupacabra

The answer is C. These are simply digital renderings contained on the DVD map disks of limited city areas. Basically Fujitsu made digital 3D maps of major city areas. Its not that crazy and easily fits on a DVD disk with other maps. Satellites cant get images like that huh???

Check out... http://local.live.com

Be sure check out a major city and zoom in all the way. Then hit "Bird's Eye View" from the control menu. You'll be amazed at what a satellite can capture from space.

THansenite

Yea, the Streets of Sim City didn't have the greatest graphics, but I loved it because I could drive around in my cities that I built.

I am guessing it is some kid of rendering software. Plus, this is Japan where they have some of the best technology in the world. I wouldn't doubt they have or will soon have 3D maps of cities rendered like this on a GPS.

I doubt all of the renderings look like the one shown on it in the pic. That is probably the best picture that they had specifically done for this product. However, even windowless boxy buildings would be helpful for figuring out where you want to go.