Google to team up with VW to produce 3-D navigation system
CHICAGO -- Google Inc., the most widely used search engine, will build a navigation system for automobiles in cooperation with the US unit of
The system will have a three-dimensional display that depicts surrounding topography such as buildings and street widths, Volkswagen said in a prepared statement. The company did not say when it will be available.
Google and Volkswagen displayed a prototype at the Consumer Electronics show last month in Las Vegas. It uses a global positioning system that ties in with Google search to track the vehicle's location. Google calls up a 3-D map, along with directions and other requested information, such as satellite images.
''If you ask for the location of a restaurant, the system would do a modified, real-time Google search and display the results on the screen," said Tony Fouladpour, spokesman for Volkswagen of America Inc. in Auburn Hills, Mich.
Nvidia, the world's third-largest maker of graphics chips, will supply the semiconductors for the 3-D display.
Volkswagen wants to be the first automaker to offer a system this advanced, Fouladpour said. The companies have been working on the system for several months.
He wouldn't say whether the agreement with Google is exclusive. 