Lost? Let your car navigate

All you need to do is push the right buttons on the touch screen and you?re all set to go, reports S Mohapatra.

It’s the perfect accessory for your car. And if you’re bad with directions, it could be your saviour on the big, bad roads of Delhi. Say hello to the car navigator, which may be available to Delhiites in less than a month.

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The navigator is truly amazing and easy to use. All you need to do is push the right buttons on the touch screen and you’re all set to go. So if it’s a fuel stop you need to make, just put your finger on ‘fuel’ and you will be smoothly guided with voice prompts to the nearest petrol pump on Barakhamba Road.

The other options available are ‘hospital’, ‘food’, ‘lodging’, ‘shopping’, ‘entertainment’, ‘parking’ and ‘Transit’.

The navigator is so intelligent that if you take a wrong turn, it will immediately prompt you that “you are off route” and with another voice prompt that says ‘re–calculating’, make a new route.

Surveyor General of India, Major General M. Gopal Rao , on Tuesday told the Hindustan Times that the defence ministry and law ministry are expected to soon give clearances for the vehicle navigation system for the Capital. He said an MoU is to be signed with Aerial Services Private Limited.

Aerial Services Private Limited GM Ramesh Kashyap said: “We will offer in a month a range of nearly 35 different models ranging from Rs 35,000 for a basic model (just see and move) to Rs 1.5 lakh for a high-end model that besides planning routes, also navigates with voice prompts and comes complete with an MP3 player, digital photo viewer and language translator.”

The device, which will be imported from the US, primarily integrates Global Positioning System (which gives online real time position of the vehicle) with Geographical Information System (which gives details of city streets in digital format).

“We have prepared a detailed digital map of Delhi and integrated it with a software to give voice prompts,” Kashyap added.