Artist manages to "bug" Google Maps using wheelbarrow full of smartphones

Artist succeeds

Google Maps is a geolocation application used by many, it is useful both for those who are standing and for someone who is by car, bicycle or path for example. One of its most useful utilities is to inform when there is or when traffic jams on certain sections of roads in cities and roads. However, recently, a person had the brilliant idea of ​​"bugging" Maps by creating a virtual traffic jam through a wheelbarrow full of smartphones.

If you have already been in a situation of traveling through a busier place using Google Maps, you must have noticed that there were intersections where an accident or construction caused a considerable decrease in traffic. In this scenario, Maps usually changes the color of the affected roads to orange or red, in order to warn the driver of the vehicle how bad the traffic is in that area, even suggesting another route depending on the case.

The Google Maps system to find out if a particular region has bad traffic or does not work as follows: through the location information of several users (smartphones), the platform analyzes the distance between them and detects the traffic jam in the area. The more people using the app, the more the color of the roads will change until it turns red, a sign that mobility is extremely bad there.

German artist Simon Weckert decides to carry out an experiment to "bug" Google Maps

German Simon Weckert and his experiment to find the Google Maps app. Source: Simon Weckert (YouTube)German Simon Weckert and his experiment to "bug" the Google Maps app. Source: Simon Weckert (YouTube)

A German artist named Simon Weckert, who usually performs technology-related actions, then decided to conduct an experiment based on what is known about how Google Maps works. The man bought 99 used smartphones, entered each one of them in the application of maps, put everyone in a wheelbarrow and went walking down the street. A video was made to show the experience and as expected, the roads in Maps started to turn red.

In the description of the video produced by Simon, it says:

"99 second-hand smartphones are transported in a wheelbarrow to generate virtual traffic jam on Google Maps. With this activity, it is possible to transform a green street into a red one that impacts the physical world, navigating cars on another route to avoid traffic in the transit. "

The website 9to5Google contacted Google for clarification and the answer given was:

"Whether via car, cart or camel, we love to see creative uses of Google Maps, as this helps us make maps work better over time.

Traffic data on Google Maps is updated continuously, thanks to information from various sources, including anonymous and aggregate data from people with location services enabled and contributions from the Google Maps community. We have launched the ability to distinguish cars and motorcycles in several countries, including India, Indonesia and Egypt, although we have not yet split car trips. We like to see creative uses of Google Maps like this, as it helps us make maps work better over time "

Google also went so far as to report that it is constantly updating its systems based on a wide variety of sources and that it is committed to providing comprehensive and accurate maps.

What did you think of this case? Comment below and share your opinion with us.

Source: 9to5google, phonearena

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