Apple Maps Launches New Pedestrian Surveys Across the UK to Gather Data and Expand Look Around

Apple has today begun new ground surveys across various regions of the United Kingdom, including London, Manchester, and Birmingham, to gather pedestrian data for Apple Maps (via Bloomberg).

apple maps camera backpack

Apple will use cameras and sensors mounted on pedestrian backpacks to gather map data in Berkshire, Greater London, Greater Manchester, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands, across over 85 specific towns and boroughs.

The new data gathering project seeks to improve ‌Apple Maps‌, including its 2D map information and the Look Around feature, which enables users to get a panoramic street-level view of a location. Apple will also gather data on areas such as parks, city squares, transit stations, and streets where it is not possible to drive cars with mounted sensors.

Apple has undertaken pedestrian surveys in the UK since 2019. As well as gathering new data, the new surveys offer an opportunity to revisit certain locations and re-collect data in an effort to maintain a high-quality, up-to-date map.

Apple affirmed that its data collection efforts will continue to protect people's privacy, censoring faces and licence plates on images published in Look Around, as well as additional censorship upon individual request. The surveys begin today and will run until May 20.

Top Rated Comments

KrisLord Avatar
27 months ago

Anyone else think those people are taking years off their lives walking around with all that equipment strapped to them?
The opposite.

They’re getting their move goal whilst being paid to go for a nice walk.
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Jhieminga Avatar
27 months ago
I spotted one of those backpacks in Amsterdam last week.


Attachment Image
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
AngerDanger Avatar
27 months ago
We should really get around to updating that graphic to the correct UK link, apple.com/uk/maps ('https://www.apple.com/uk/maps/')



Attachment Image
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
GenesisST Avatar
27 months ago
Ooooh, I now want an iJetPack!
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
HobeSoundDarryl Avatar
27 months ago
Is that the new Mac Pro strapped to that back? ;)

Is that the new companion hardware/battery for the VR/AR goggles/glasses? ;)

Is that the new "so thin & light you don't even need a parking spot" Apple Car? ;)

Is that the previously-unrumored Watch upgrade to Apple CLOCK? ;)
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
vegetassj4 Avatar
27 months ago
Who ya gonna call?



Attachment Image
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

maxresdefault

Apple Announces 'Let Loose' Event on May 7 Amid Rumors of New iPads

Tuesday April 23, 2024 7:11 am PDT by
Apple has announced it will be holding a special event on Tuesday, May 7 at 7 a.m. Pacific Time (10 a.m. Eastern Time), with a live stream to be available on Apple.com and on YouTube as usual. The event invitation has a tagline of "Let Loose" and shows an artistic render of an Apple Pencil, suggesting that iPads will be a focus of the event. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more ...
Apple Vision Pro Dual Loop Band Orange Feature 2

Apple Cuts Vision Pro Shipments as Demand Falls 'Sharply Beyond Expectations'

Tuesday April 23, 2024 9:44 am PDT by
Apple has dropped the number of Vision Pro units that it plans to ship in 2024, going from an expected 700 to 800k units to just 400k to 450k units, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Orders have been scaled back before the Vision Pro has launched in markets outside of the United States, which Kuo says is a sign that demand in the U.S. has "fallen sharply beyond expectations." As a...
Apple Silicon AI Optimized Feature Siri

Apple Releases Open Source AI Models That Run On-Device

Wednesday April 24, 2024 3:39 pm PDT by
Apple today released several open source large language models (LLMs) that are designed to run on-device rather than through cloud servers. Called OpenELM (Open-source Efficient Language Models), the LLMs are available on the Hugging Face Hub, a community for sharing AI code. As outlined in a white paper [PDF], there are eight total OpenELM models, four of which were pre-trained using the...
iPad And Calculator App Feature

Apple Finally Plans to Release a Calculator App for iPad Later This Year

Tuesday April 23, 2024 9:08 am PDT by
Apple is finally planning a Calculator app for the iPad, over 14 years after launching the device, according to a source familiar with the matter. iPadOS 18 will include a built-in Calculator app for all iPad models that are compatible with the software update, which is expected to be unveiled during the opening keynote of Apple's annual developers conference WWDC on June 10. AppleInsider...
iOS 17 All New Features Thumb

iOS 17.5 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Sunday April 21, 2024 3:00 am PDT by
The upcoming iOS 17.5 update for the iPhone includes only a few new user-facing features, but hidden code changes reveal some additional possibilities. Below, we have recapped everything new in the iOS 17.5 and iPadOS 17.5 beta so far. Web Distribution Starting with the second beta of iOS 17.5, eligible developers are able to distribute their iOS apps to iPhone users located in the EU...