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Satnav technology becomes self-aware

Recognises your favourite roads, driving style, etc

Satnavs are smart gadgets but they can’t drive on your behalf. So software firm Journey Dynamics has designed the next best thing: a GPS box that apparently learns your motoring habits and then selects the best route for your various journeys.

The firm claimed that its MyDrive application analyses “tens of thousands of different characteristics” in order to determine how a specific driver drives, including which roads they often frequent and in which conditions.

This information is then fed through to your satnav, which uses it to calculate the best route home according to your driving preferences.

For example, if there's a stretch of road that you tend to use no matter what, that road would be given more weight in route-planning than any others.

Unfortunately, the technology isn’t smart enough to search out roads strewn with takeaways just because it knows you often fancy a kebab while heading home.

Register Hardware’s not convinced that MyDrive’s inherently unique, as some satnav’s are already smart enough to seek out roads with less traffic on. But if the application makes your journey home fast and pleasant, then so much the better.

Journey Dynamics told us that MyDrive will eventually come pre-installed on GPS units, but the firm’s yet to disclose which satnav manufacturers have taken the technology on board. ®

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