• Peter Beaumont, NAVTEQ
  Introduction to the Session "Digital Maps & Location Based Services"



• Michael Amrehn, Microsoft Deutschland GmbH
  Virtual Earth – Digital Map Solutions from Microsoft



• Dr. Matthias Bachmann, GeoContent GmbH
  Beyond 2D-Mapping: Innovative Products and Rich Content



• Dr. Manfred Krischke, Intermap
  NEXTMap® Europe - The Earth is 3D and Accuracy Matters!

Whether in the car, on mobile devices, or in getting directions on the Internet, digital maps form the basis of every navigation system. These maps are required for geographic information systems in fields such as geomarketing and logistics, as well as in various tasks in government planning. Thanks to Google Earth and Microsoft Virtual Earth, the “average” user can now access comprehensive 2D/3D image and map data and combine it with locally relevant information. This results in the integration of location-based Internet content with the location-based services offered by GPS-supported navigation devices.

Virtual Earth, Microsoft’s Internet mapping platform, offers sophisticated localisation and integration of location-based data. Virtual Earth makes it easy to integrate current, high-resolution satellite images; slanted perspectives of buildings from a bird’s eye view; and dynamic hybrid perspectives combining maps, aerial images, and the world in 3D into websites and applications. The platform facilitates convenient navigation – including zooming and scrolling – and provides search functionality for addresses, cities, and map directions. It can also be combined with other maps. Virtual Earth enables companies in tourism, hotels and gastronomy, retail, banking and insurance (branch searching), real estate, information portals, and other industries to build geographic components into their Web or business applications.

Digital maps derived from standard data of the vendors for navigation very well reflect street names, directions and indications for routing as well as turn by turn navigation. In fact, reality is more than just the navigational areas in 2D. Outdoor usage in rural areas, city centres or recreational purposes can highly benefit from more detailed mapping, either imagery, hybrid maps, enriched maps or 3D-perspective views on the local. Some innovative mapping products will be presented as well as rich content for further purposes and LBS-services.