News: Video-Game Graphics Hit the Road

In Japan, a new GPS driving aid from Sony named XYZ incorporates 3-D style video game graphics to help drivers get to their destination, reports Wired News. XYZ is a dashboard-mounted device that includes a 30-GB hard drive and multimedia capabilties. The images generated from the computer maps in the system can be downloaded off the Internet by removing the device and hooking it up to a PC -- in other words, there is no real-time networking capability using wireless or satellite technologies. The article also notes that the market for such devices in the U.S. is relatively small (projected at $49 million in 2004). A spokesman from a U.S. manufacturer quoted in the article doubts the potential for the 3-D interface in the United States, saying that consumers want simple interfaces that help them reach their destination. The spokesman also notes the potential for new construction to make stored electronic maps and images obsolete. The Wired article is available at http://go.hotwired.com/news/autotech/0,2554,63842,00.html/wn_ascii