PC World: Interactive Maps Debut on Tokyo Subway
Travellers on Tokyo's subway system are getting some high-tech help finding their destinations with the start of trials Monday of an interactive map system. The maps run on 47-inch LCD panels that have been installed at Ginza station in the heart of the city...Travellers can walk up to one of two screens being used in the trial and be presented with an area map. Alongside it are buttons to highlight popular destinations such as nearby banks, ATMs, convenience stores and post offices. Touching one of the buttons reveals the location of these places with an icon, and touching the icon draws the shortest route to that destination...Owners of cell phones that support the Felica RFID technology can also get the destination coordinates transferred to their cell phones by pressing a button on the map to activate a Felica sensor and holding their cell phone close to it....The maps feature Japanese most prominently, although most of the functions and labels are also displayed in English. The screens are being tested until the end of June...more...
