BMW's Latest Vehicle OS Features ‘Learning Navigation' With Real-Time, Predictive Routing Capabilities From Mapping Company HERE Technologies

author: Eric Walz   

What if vehicle navigation systems were smarter, learning an individual's driving style to improve and personalize the driving experience? BMW's latest vehicle operating system delivers this with a feature called "Learning Navigation" that's being powered by technology from mapping company HERE Technologies.

HERE Technologies is a leading location data and technology platform provider. The company is majority-owned by a consortium of German automakers, including BMW, Audi and Mercedes Benz.

BMW is the first automaker to deploy HERE's predictive routing technology in its vehicles. HERE's predictive routing capabilities are part of the latest BMW vehicle Operating System 8.   

The multi-year agreement to power BMW's Connected Navigation Services (CNS) is available across BMW models to drivers in 70 countries.

The predictive routing technology is part of an entire suite of connected vehicle services and mapping solutions offered to automakers and OEMs. HERE offers a software development kit (SDK) to automakers and OEMs to build custom-made vehicle navigation applications. Both the HERE SDK and HERE Navigation include the new predictive routing functionality for integration into vehicles.  

BMW's Learning Navigation feature analyzes mobility patterns to generate more personalized predictions for upcoming trips, departure times, destinations, and routes. HERE's predictive routing technology that powers it is completely cloud-based, so the vehicle will always have access to real-time map information. 

HERE pioneered its own predictive routing technology ten years ago. Since then, it has made the functionality available for mobile devices and vehicles for various OEMs. HERE Navigation for example, is the world's first cloud-based software-as-a-service solution for navigation and connected services.

HERE's Predictive Routing feature also actively monitors real-time traffic conditions along regularly taken routes. HERE aggregates and analyzes billions of data points from a mix of sources, including vehicle sensor data from multiple automotive brands.

Based on the road conditions and traffic environment, the vehicle's navigation system will automatically offer alternative routes or departure times to a driver before heading out. BMW drivers can also receive a predictive traffic forecast to help plan trips on the My BMW App from a smartphone before entering the vehicle. 

BMW vehicle's will utilize HERE Real-Time Traffic to provide drivers with up-to-the-minute information on road conditions and incidents. The service provides driver's with detailed information on traffic congestion with lane-level precision and warnings of potential road hazards ahead. The service also provides information on lane closures and traffic flow for specific lanes, including high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes.  

For traffic trouble spots along the route, the system features auto re-routing capabilities.

"Predictive Routing clearly demonstrates innovation in the navigation space to enhance the driving experience and tailor it to make it more personal. It provides drivers with relevant information about their journeys ahead, especially on routine routes for which drivers normally wouldn't need turn-by-turn navigation," said Gino Ferru, Senior Vice President and General Manager EMEAR at HERE Technologies. "We're excited to see Predictive Routing be part of BMW Maps, improving the driving experience for BMW owners."

BMW Group's Research and Technology arm began working on predictive routing technology back in 2009, as part of BMW EfficientDynamics designed to reduce fuel consumption.

The researchers at BMW converted a 3 Series sedan in 2009 into a prototype platform for a navigation system that could predict where the driver will be heading, and what route will be chosen, even when the driver had not yet entered a destination. Project manager Andreas Winckler dubbed the system a "self-teaching route predictor". Winckler currently serves as Product Owner, Cloud Services for Map Update and Autonomous Driving at BMW Group. 

HERE's navigation services also offer drivers of electric vehicles multi-stop route planning and automatic addition of charging stops, based on the charge level of the car. 

Last year, HERE Technologies announced that it created highly detailed 3D models of 80 major cities around the world to help urban delivery drivers find their way around. The models are called "HERE Premier 3D Cities" and are used to visualize cities in 3D with scalable, accurate data sets. 

In the future, the 3D city models will be accessible via a vehicle's navigation system, giving drivers a real world view of their surroundings while traveling in dense urban areas.

Using HERE's new Premiere 3D Cities, developers can build accurate 3D representations of 75 major cities worldwide. Developers can also add advanced rendering techniques, such as CGI applications.

The 3D city models include fully indexed and addressable buildings and structures to indicate points of interest. HERE Technologies said it will continue to add new cities to the list. 

HERE's Real-Time Traffic and Learning Navigation can be found in the recently announced new BMW 7- Series, along with BMW vehicles produced since 2020. Owners of approximately 750,000 older BMW vehicles produced in 2018 and 2019 will gain access to HERE's Real-Time Traffic via an over-the-air software update. 

Eric Walz

Originally hailing from New Jersey, Eric is a automotive & technology reporter covering the high-tech industry here in Silicon Valley. He has over 15 years of automotive experience and a bachelors degree in computer science. These skills, combined with technical writing and news reporting, allows him to fully understand and identify new and innovative technologies in the auto industry and beyond. He has worked at Uber on self-driving cars and as a technical writer, helping people to understand and work with technology.