Facebook has bought the Swedish mapping company Mapillary, which collects photographs of tens of thousands of people to create advanced and modern XNUMXD maps.
According to Reuters, Mapillary CEO Jan Erik Sole, who founded the company after leaving Apple in 2013, said the technology will be used to power products such as the Facebook Marketplace and to share data with humanitarian organizations.
Facebook confirmed the deal but declined to disclose details of the agreement. The publication also turned to Mapillary for comment, but they could not respond promptly to the request. Mapillary aims to solve the most costly issue in mapping - keeping maps up to date with changing street data, addresses and other information that can be seen while driving on public roads.
Companies like Apple and Google are tackling this problem by using a huge fleet of vehicles equipped with cameras and other sensors to take photos.
Mapillary, in turn, collects photos taken by ordinary users using smartphones, as well as other recording devices, using a special application. In fact, it can be called crowdsourcing Google Street View. The company combines the collected data with the help of a special technology developed to create three-dimensional maps.
Many experts believe that this technology could be the key to the development of unmanned vehicles. However, a Facebook spokesman told Reuters that the technology will also serve as the basis for the company's virtual and augmented reality products.
Source: 3dnews.ru