Apple is going to expand its Apple Maps by implementing some new indoor location mapping features. As per a report from Bloomberg, the company will now use drones for collecting the data more accurately. And for doing this, Apple also got the FAA permission to fly drones for collecting data, photography, and videography.
The report states that drones will collect data about road changes, construction, and street signs. And for managing all the drone operations, Apple will hire Amazon’s Prime Air Unit.
Most recently, Apple also introduced “minivans,” the vehicles for the ground, which have rooftop cameras, allowing to collect information about roads and street view by clicking pictures of different places. The main drawback of this was that they must be driven by a person, and because of that, there is very limited access for data collection. Now, the idea of using drones for data collection will remove that drawback as it will greatly expand the reach of this work.
Drones don’t have to deal with pedestrian traffic at all and will also reach those places where cars can’t. Apple’s drone fleet could watch the progress of construction projects and then ‘rapidly update the maps app’ with the latest information. Though FAA granted Apple the drones, there are still some rules and regulations related to where and when drones can be flown.
In August this year Maps is a big investment with little monetary reward, it is expensive to maintain an accurate worldwide mapping service which has no clear direct revenue stream.-Eddy Cue,Apple’s executive
Apple is now looking forward to the success of its new data collection technique.
