Amazon (AMZN) and mapping and location technology company HERE have signed a 10-year, $1 billion agreement that will see HERE use Amazon’s AWS cloud infrastructure to help automakers build location-sensitive technologies for their vehicles.
The team-up will allow HERE and AWS to provide automotive companies with the tools needed for them to build so-called software-defined vehicles (SDV) as well as advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and automated driving (AD).
SDVs are vehicles that get software updates through the cloud for various in-car systems that enable new capabilities. Similar to how your iPhone gets new features via new versions of iOS.
Tesla (TSLA), for example, offers a slew of updates to its autos via the internet updates including, most recently, an Apple Watch app that allows you to check your vehicle’s charge and control its locks and Sirius XM support.
HERE and AWS have already been working together for the last 10 years, but the new agreement brings more capabilities around ADAS and AD to the fore. Part of that includes the companies’ new SceneXtract software, which is designed to recreate real-world environments to develop ADAS and AD features.
SceneXtract, the companies say, makes it easier for automakers to pull data from HERE’s HD Live Map, which is a cloud-based mapping service that provides highly accurate information related to a particular road’s lane information, local vehicle features, geometry, and more.
The functionality, the companies say, will help cut down on the time it takes to prepare real-world simulations that automakers can use to train their own ADAS and AD functions without having to use real vehicles.
“SceneXtract marks a significant milestone in ADAS and AD development, providing developers with a powerful tool to reduce the time, cost, and complexity of simulating real-world scenarios,” Remco Timmer, vice president of product management at HERE, said in a statement.
“By utilizing the HERE HD Live Map and AWS’s AI-powered search capabilities, SceneXtract enables more efficient and accurate testing, allowing manufacturers to bring safer, more advanced autonomous driving technologies to market faster.”
In addition to SceneXtract, HERE and AWS are setting up an agreement to build out HERE’s mapping and location information using AWS’s AI models and computing capabilities and offer it via Amazon’s AWS Marketplace to third-party developers as a means to improve their own supply chain services.
The duo says companies are already using the technology for real-time information about shipping important products and improving the accuracy of delivery estimates.
