Ola has acquiries GeoSpoc, a provider of geospatial services.
Making this announcement on a blog post, Bhavish Agarwal, Co- Founder and CEO, Ola said, "Dhruva and his team of Geospatial scientists and engineers will be joining Ola to develop technologies which will make mobility universally accessible, sustainable, personalised, and convenient, across shared and personal vehicles."
Agawal said, "Enhanced geo-spatial services will also go a long way in improving urban planning including road networks, better public transportation and pre-empt congestion spots."
He said Ola has the data and the expertise to build this utilizing its 'deep understanding of consumer movements as well as our massive network of 2,3 and 4Ws that provide unprecedented geo-spatial details'.
Ola can layer this data with new sources such as satellite imagery and visual feeds from its network on-ground to build ‘Living Maps’, he added.
Sharing his views on New Mobility, Agarwal said new vehicle form factors and modes of transport that will transform our day to day lives. These fundamental changes will require investments in next-gen technologies, including location and geospatial technologies, and advancements in satellite imagery conversion into real-time maps as well as 3D, HD and vector maps.
Personal mobility penetrate deeper to cover 50-100 percent of India’s population in the coming years, Maps will need to improve in a variety of ways, he said. Spelling it out, Agarwal said, accurate and rich maps with high user context should be available to the population beyond the first 100 million users. Multi-modal transportation options will need geospatial intelligence to understand the unique benefits of each option and provide suggestions accordingly.
Maps will need to consider a three dimensional view of the world as aerial mobility models such as drones become more mainstream. Incorporating near real-time satellite imagery to provide a better understanding of road quality, as well as improvements such as avoiding poorly lit streets at night for safety – even if it is a faster route.
Autonomous driving will need HD and 3D maps which will offer superior visualization, dynamic real time updates based on road, traffic and weather conditions.
