Yandex Maps and Navigator were the first in Russia to provide hints not only on streets and exits, but also on notable urban landmarks along the way. Using artificial intelligence, services explain routes the way a human would: for example, "Turn right at the store" or "After 200 meters at the monument, keep to the left." This will make it easier for drivers to navigate unfamiliar routes and difficult interchanges.
Voice prompts in Maps and Navigator now take into account more than 10,000 landmarks throughout Russia. These are objects that can be easily recognized while driving: shops, bus stops, gas stations, monuments, and other prominent points. They were additionally checked on street panoramas to highlight for the driver only those objects that are clearly visible on the way.
Artificial intelligence helps to generate hints. It analyzes the route and determines where it would be useful to add a landmark and at what point the alert should sound. Then the algorithms of the Maps and the Navigator select for hints those objects that will be most visible to the driver during the maneuver.
Irina Gracheva, Head of the Yandex.Maps service
On difficult and unfamiliar routes, a simple "turn right" is often not enough. According to our data, if a driver does not have time to orient himself and misses the right turn, he can lose up to 15 minutes on the way. Voice guidance on landmarks is another step towards navigation, which better understands the traffic context and helps drivers drive more confidently even on an unfamiliar route.
Hints on notable urban landmarks are a new stage in updating voice guidance in Yandex Maps. Earlier, thanks to the introduction of artificial intelligence, the service learned how to specify a specific street and a road landmark at which to make a maneuver. Map users can also set up voice prompts for familiar routes: receive them only when making turns on highways, exits from overpasses, and other important maneuvers.
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