Smart Car-to-Car Navigation Network in Japan 139
nomrniceguy writes "Japan now boasts some of the latest technology in zapping computerized data to millions of cars, delivering what may be the world's smartest way to drive. New navigation systems in Japan can quickly tell drivers which roads have traffic jams. A computerized FM radio broadcast system that collects and sends information from more than 28,000 infrared and radio-wave beacons installed along roads, they can also calculate how many seconds it would take to drive through virtually every block of the nation's cities and then find the fastest routes. In tests by the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology, a Japanese research group, cars connect to other cars wirelessly to get information about a traffic accident or an approaching ambulance."
Malicious Worms (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Malicious Worms (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Malicious Worms (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:Malicious Worms (Score:1)
Re:Malicious Worms (Score:2, Insightful)
what, like windows? :-P proprietary does not equal secure.
Re:Malicious Worms (Score:1, Funny)
Could bring a new meaning to the term "war driving" :D
Re:Malicious Worms (Score:1)
Great. (Score:1, Offtopic)
Let's see:
number of planes *
number of seats *
number of terminal checkins *
number of internet reservation querys
number of database servers =
crash, right?
Small Problem... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Small Problem... (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:Small Problem... (Score:2)
Re:Small Problem... (Score:5, Interesting)
You must drive in Massachusetts (Score:2)
Re:Small Problem... (Score:2)
Re:Small Problem... (Score:1)
Re:Small Problem... (Score:1)
Re:Small Problem... (Score:2)
It is ideal in a global sense. But don't worry about reaching equilibrium, that's not likely to happen if the status of other independent-packet routing problems are any indication. As well as general network stability issues, it would be naive to think that all cars will be treated equally in such a scheme. A priority system based
Re:Small Problem... (Score:2)
Even one based on need, as long as people who abuse it (e.g. "I have a deadline every single trip") get a stiff fine, that's still okay. The system would tend to even itself out and would still likely be faster on the average than... oh, say Lawrence Expressway. (You folks in Silicon Valley know what I'm talking about.)
That said, I already have this. It's called a radio tuned to KCBS. I know about a half dozen
Re:Small Problem... (Score:1)
Re:Small Problem... (Score:1)
(((Where are my carrot sticks....)))
wireless connection? (Score:3, Interesting)
this is one of the big reasons I have my CB on channel 19 all of the time. it's quite nice.
just have to deal with some of the truckers trying to be funny.
Re:wireless connection? (Score:1)
I currently have only a handheld UHF transceiver, but that is enough to be able to talk to nearby trucks and busses.
Re:wireless connection? (Score:1)
Re:wireless connection? (Score:1)
extremely frequently on the baltimore beltway: "where's the accident" "no accident, driver, just normal traffic"
"break one nine for a radio check"
"northbound, whatcha leave behind you?"
"got a local who thinks he's a DOT up here"
once: "my neighbor's dog has a four inch clit"
Well, that wouldn't be hard... (Score:5, Funny)
New navigation systems in Japan can quickly tell drivers which roads have traffic jams.
$ gcc -o nav nav.c
$
Is there a traffic jam on this road?
Yes.
$
And I'm not joking...
Re:Well, that wouldn't be hard... (Score:2)
(used to ride a bike and drove for 14 years in Japan, four of which were in Tokyo...)
Japan (Score:2, Interesting)
People in Japan get the cool stuff because they BUY the cool stuff. However, in the US retailers do not like to take chances. We are conservative in our buying, looking for the greatest value, while the cool factor is what matters in Japan.
This means,
Re:Japan (Score:2, Funny)
And not the good kind of screwed, neither.
Re:Japan (Score:2)
Re:Japan (Score:3, Insightful)
I take it you've never really lived in Japan. Or you only hung out with geeks.
Cool cell phones and tech items are cool, but cool shoes, clothes etc. are just as much, if not more of an issue in Japan. If you visit Japan and look around, you should notice that 99% of Japanese are better dressed than their America
Re:Japan (Score:2, Informative)
I live in Nagoya and it's either secretary uniforms to look sexy in a fetichist way or a mix of poorly tasted branded clothes. With no regard to matching the style or color.
Last autumn fashion was some kind of cowgirl/mooboots shoes with fishnet stockings a tank top over a t-shirt with lace collard and wool bonnet.
AND I'M NOT MAKING THIS UP. it was everyday, everywhere.
Yes there's cool things in Japan (including schollgirls uniforms). But good taste is not part of them
Re: Fashion in Japan (Score:2, Insightful)
Contemporary clothing designs straight from the runway are also rather eccentric and may not seem like "good taste" the eyes of the general public either. But it is these new designs that allow fashion to evolve (you don't s
Re:Japan (Score:2, Interesting)
Yes, Japanese fashion can sometimes be different from western tastes, but this doesn't necessarily make it "good" or "poor" - it's just different.
One thing I really like about Japan is the non-judgemental attitude that most Japanese seem to take to individuality in fashion. You can walk down the street in a pair of pyjamas and gumboots and people don't turn to each other and "tut tut" as if they the arbiter elegan
Re:Japan (Score:3, Funny)
99% of anyone are better dressed than their American counterparts. Except maybe Canadians.
Actually, most Japanese have pretty awful fashion sense, they just buy a lot of designer labels and follow sometimes bizarre trends (loose socks, anyone?). But still, better than their American counterparts.
Re:Japan (Score:1, Insightful)
japan is one of the worlds largest importers of those brands, WAY ahead of the US i know and i would wager a guess as to one of the top 3 importers in the world
i have seen news
Re:Japan (Score:2)
I just moved back to Canada after 14 years in Japan, and I mostly agree with the parent.
[1] In spite of what you mighr have been lead to believe, NOT everything you see on the Internet is true. Really.
Re:Japan (Score:1)
and this was news buddy, not the internet, watched right off NHK
Re:Japan (Score:2)
Yeah, I read your sig, I even used to drive nearby your Uni on my way back from Costco - have a friend who used to live in Machida.
Re:Japan (Score:2)
For example, say Walmart has a DVD player on for $50 and a much better DVD player that will last longer with more features for $100. Any bets which will sell out first?
People will buy the cheap POS and then cherfully return it for a replacement 6 months down the road when the power supply packs it in, or when the laser optics go out of alignment.
Is it any wonder that few
Re:Japan (Score:2)
The other day I needed to get a five port switch and I didn't feel like fighting for a piece of the road with the "Christmas shoppers"; so, I went to a nearby "Future Shop" - it's a Best Buy type shop, and I believe it has actually been bought by Best Buy.
While there I took the time to look around, just in case they miraculously had a "Network DVD" - I stupidly didn't buy one in Softmap last month, and now I regret it. To make a long story short, I was really surprised by the APPALLI
Re:Japan (Score:1)
Re:Japan (Score:1)
The dumb part of this whole thing in Japan is that almost everyone uses public transportation, and they have awesome train and bus systems. Driving in Tokyo or Yokohama is slightly less fun than bamboo under the fingernails.
P.S. You still are judged by your shoes in Tokyo. It's one of the first thing people look at, especially
Cars not only beneficiary of computerization. (Score:5, Funny)
Upon speaking the destination (speech to text is not perfect, especially if you don't speak the language, so it may take a couple tries) you'll notice a RFID-tagged card issued from the machine and speakers along the sidewalk will guide you to where you want to go, within reason. More modern places will also light the sidewalks with your issued card color, although this relies on service funding by the merchants.
Japan vs EU (Score:2)
cool ideas like the Ladder to Heaven? (Score:1)
"wish i thought of it" haiku (Score:1, Funny)
its just a great idea.
it makes so much sense.
-w
Hack it (Score:3, Funny)
It's all fun and games... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:It's all fun and games... (Score:1)
I have an easier solution... (Score:1, Funny)
This was New in 1999 (Score:2)
It appears that the submitter did not even read the article he suggested. There is nothing new in the article, in fact, the article is about how drivers DON'T use the long-existing system.
Too bad this wouldn't work in the US (Score:2)
Re:Too bad this wouldn't work in the US (Score:2)
Just pick somewhere with a big traffic problem (say, the central parts of New York City) and roll it out there.
The only problem is getting the american people to A.Buy navigation devices (or whatever) to be able to use the system
and more to the point B.actually follow the directions the device says are the most efficiant.
What if (Score:1, Interesting)
approacing or any for instance a cop car...
A getaway would be a pleasure either way.
Re:What if (Score:1)
This would be useful... (Score:3, Interesting)
We wound up spending 12 hours in the car yesterday. All of the traffic diverted from the Tomei onto local roads combined with the snow and snow-clueless drivers made one massive traffic jam. We were averaging 2-3 km/hr for a large part of the day.
Re:This would be useful... (Score:2)
Re:This would be useful... (Score:2)
An Ad Hoc network would have been a great help not just with traffic but also with finding fuel.
Make way for the hacker! (Score:1)
More IR on the roadway? (Score:2)
That's kind of cool.. (Score:3, Insightful)
I think that it would be cool to have an LCD screen in the car with realtime information from something like traffic.com beamed in realtime.
Maybe piggyback on a Sirius satellite stream or something neat like that?
Traffic in Japan can be a nightmare. when I lived there, I remember seeing LED billboard type signs above the highway with colors indicating the traffic patterns ahead.
Actually, I'm surprised that they haven't done the "get realtime data to your car via satellite" thing yet. Traffic & weather would be useful to have. At the very least, it's something to look at when you're stuck in traffic.
woah (Score:2)
See, I'm trying to do my part to make sure that "realtime" is one of the most overused words of 2005. Looks like I'm off to a good start!
Re:That's kind of cool.. (Score:2)
Of course it'll be too expensive when it comes out, and we'll be seeing it in new Mercades & Acura SUVs only, but it'll still be cool.
Here's what would rule. (Score:5, Interesting)
Now imagine this speed is broadcast out to cars and the speed could vary between lanes. So this pretty much eliminates unnecessary traffic jams and fixes the 'wave' effect of traffic.
Re:Here's what would rule. (Score:2)
Now imagine this speed is broadcast out to cars and the speed could vary between lanes. So this pretty much eliminates unnecessary traffic jams and fixes the 'wave' effect of traffic.
I fear that that could only be effective if the computer system were allowed to actually enforce the speed as well. We all know good 'n well that
Re:Here's what would rule. (Score:2)
It's Japan dude, that'll follow the duggested speed because they know it's better to work together than to strike out on your own.
Re:Here's what would rule. (Score:2)
The Future in Japan is 3 years old in the UK (Score:4, Informative)
Takes an average of 10 minutes to spot a jam with the current coverage (28,000 sensors on 9,000 miles of roads if my memory serves me right).
Over 10 car manufacturers fit this as an optional extra this side of the pond. 30,000 units (in a vehicle population of over 23,000,000) sold to date - still way to go.
Ian W.
Re:The Future in Japan is 3 years old in the UK (Score:1)
You could with this system set it to calculate the route from A to B differently depending on how small roads you were willing to drive, how much in road-tolls you wished to stay under, or if you say wanted the quickest or the by petrol cheapest road. All of these kept traffic-jams in mind
cars tell other cars? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:cars tell other cars? (Score:1)
For instance, lets say we have three cars side by side, named A, B and C respectively.
Now A and B would both be saying, there's three cars here, if you can find a route with fewer than three cars, take it.
Then we have car C, which someone has hacked to send false data. It is saying, I'm the only car here, come this way!
Now due to the conflict between the reports, one of them would have t
Again, with the re-engineering... (Score:1)
It's very easy to avoid ALL traffic jams:
Don't let humans control velocity or trojectory.
Simple -- already tested in California.
Inject.
Already Been Done (Score:2, Informative)
We have sensors hanging from motorway bridges and along major routes they monitor trafic speed and report when it slows down or stops. Some of our systems also report when you are nearing a speed enforcement camera.
Most of these things need a couple of hundred quid (Sorry USAnians out there quid=GB Pounds) subscription per year. OH yeah and some of them can track stolen cars by using the mobile phone network to triangulate th
Re:Already Been Done (Score:1)
BTW when "having a go" at other posters please sign in as a registered user rather than AC. It makes the place so much more interesting.
Ghost in the Shell (Score:1)
Recent experience in Japan (Score:2)
Also, almost everybody has new cell phones with GPS capability. So you're jammed in the cab with 3 Japanese and they've all got their mobile phones out with route maps & current position shown. Heading north through Yokohama there was severe congestion (no, just normal rush hour congestion, I was told). Now everybody is tell
Re:Recent experience in Japan (Score:2)
Re:Recent experience in Japan (Score:2)
What about the systems that the cabs used?
Re:Recent experience in Japan (Score:2)
The carnavi systems (like cabs use) are all GPS, but the cel phone units aren't satellite based. There isn't enough room in a cel phone for a decent GPS receiver. I've seen handheld GPS units, but even the smallest are 3 or 4x the size of a typical cel phone.
Re:Recent experience in Japan (Score:1)
Sorry, nobody in Japan has a cel phone with GPS capability. They're all based on triangulation between cel tower locations, not GPS.
KDDI started the EZ Navi Walk [kddi.com] service at the end of October 2003, which uses GPS. Most of 3G phones they released since then support EZ Navi Walk. NTT DoCoMo released two models that supports GPS in 2003 too (they are 2G phones).
Re:Recent experience in Japan (Score:2)
Wants map of buses... (Score:1)
this would make the traffic worse (Score:2, Insightful)
It used to be, that some of the side roads, due to not being known, would have heavy traffic, but not enough to cause a traffic jam. These side roads were near there maximum capacity. As soon as the side road ussge increeased, the road turns into a traffic jam, and the maximum capacity of the side ro
Borg (Score:1)
Very Old News (Score:1)
In car p2p (Score:1)
My how we laughed at their silly DRM schemes.
If I know my Japanese right... (Score:1)
Monitoring instead of beacons (Score:1)
problem? (Score:1)
Hack your car (Score:1)
Re:MOD DOWN, PARENT IS TRORR (Score:1)