In 1988, a group of employees at Pioneer were discussing "the shape of car electronics in the 1990s." We wanted to make something that no one else had at the time. Something that, when you went for a drive with your girlfriend, would make her say, "Wow!" That's the kind of thing we wanted to make. It was all about making this dream come true . . . .
In the spring of 1990, we launched the first ever consumer car navigation system using a global positioning system (a system that determines your current location using signals received from GP satellites). The entire system cost nearly 400,000 yen, the maps didn' t scroll, and there was no information telling you how to get to your intended destination, yet it sold far better than expected.
I suppose a system that used satellites to show where you were on a digital map as well as provide information on recommended stores and leisure spots was in itself revolutionary at the time, offering consumers a totally new experience. We were happy enough to offer people the thrill of having something that no one else had, but when we learnt that it was being used by doctors to help them make house calls and other people who relied on vehicles to make a living, we realized just how much practical value this product had.
Aware that there was still a lot that we could make the system do, we took hints from the world of computer games, which was experiencing a boom at the time, and decided on a concept for our follow-up product: a car computer that could be upgraded using software. This was the idea behind the design of the second-generation Carrozzeria car navigation system.
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1990 The world's first GPS car navigation system
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GPS (Global Positioning System)
A system that determines a moving object' s current position using signals received from GPS satellites. GPS satellites orbit the earth at an altitude of 21,000 km. Signals from at least three satellites are required to determine the exact location of an object. |
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