CanalPDA

TeleAtlas, a major provider of geographic data for GPS navigation, is calling its users to report any changes they may find in the field. Web 2.0 meets navigation devices.

MapInsight is a new tool that Dutch firm TeleAtlas has just added to its own web site and that will eventually find its way into other sites, such as Mio’s and other device manufacturers using TeleAtlas’ maps.

It is actually very simple: the company has systematized the reporting of changes in geographic data by the users themselves, so they can report that a street has changed directions, that an address, a gas station or a tool booth aren’t where they should be according to the map, or that thet are indeed where they shouldn’t be.

The new service, available through the Map Feedback option in the Support area of TeleAtlas’ web site, allows searching the concerned point in the current version of its maps database, and then displays a list of incidents grouped by type, which in turn display a form with the appropriate reporting fields.

Right now, there’s no word about the map feedback function being added to the mobile navigation devices themselves. Nor there’s a mention of any reward for users contributing to improve the maps’ accuracy, beyond their personal satisfaction (a discount in the next version would be nice, wouldn’t it?). TeleAtlas may have lots of mapping vans roaming the roads of the world, but there’s nothing like having an army of paying customers working for you, free of charge.

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