The technological competitors of Google on Thursday announced a project which will be aimed at making data sets required for building map features available for free.
The world of online mapping is dominated by Alphabet-owned Google which provides its services to other platforms or companies and improves its other offerings like online advertising, using navigation and location capabilities.
Creating ripples in the Google-dominated market, Microsoft, Amazon Web Services, TomTom and Meta have introduced “Overture Maps Foundation”, which is aimed at providing comprehensive mapping data freely to anyone who may need it for use, said non-profit Linux Foundation, in a press release.
“Mapping the physical environment and every community in the world, even as they grow and change, is a massively complex challenge that no one organization can manage,” Linux Foundation executive director Jim Zemlin said. “Industry needs to come together to do this for the benefit of all,” he added.
The team of technological companies announced to work on Overture, did not include Google. However, it added that its goal is to increase membership for increasing the work’s progress. By mid-2023, the group of tech firms are expected to release their first mapping datasets.
“Immersive experiences, which understand and blend into your physical environment, are critical to the embodied internet of the future,” said Erik Solem, engineering director of Maps at Meta Jan, in the press release.
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“By delivering interoperable open map data, Overture provides the foundation for an open metaverse built by creators, developers, and businesses alike,” he added.
The Linux Foundation said that map data is used in applications for navigation, search, autonomous driving, games, logistics and more. The Overture map data will be provided as an open source, which will allow developers to not only use its data but also to build on it, said the Linux Foundation.
(With inputs from agencies)
