Porsche’s New Maps are Meant for Exploration, Not Mere Navigation

Porsche and Mapbox want to take drivers for a ride.

Porsche
Porsche is changing the way we see navigation systems. (Sjoerd van der Wal/Getty Images)
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Porsche announced Monday a new collaboration with Mapbox — a platform creating innovative new ways to use in-car maps for more than just A to B navigation.

The luxury car company sees the new maps design as a fun and engaging way to “explore the world on four wheels,” as Wired explains it.

The tool lets users build their own maps, a means of allowing drivers to “try things out and experiment like artists do,” Porsche’s head of UX and UI, Gana Meissner, said.

Teams from the two companies met in Helsinki at a conference last year, where they first decided to collaborate. Many are speculating what the two will create together —perhaps som e kind of augmented reality feature — but techies will have to wait as nothing specific has been announced just yet. But the point will be to make driving fun.

“We’re not saying you need to enjoy your commute,” Meissner says. “That’s probably a tough challenge.”

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