How to Create a Virtual Traffic Jam
Both c0lo and martyb write in with news of a new form of "traffic jam":
How to create a virtual traffic jamc0lo writes:
Load 99 Androids in a cart and walk slowly
If you've ever used Google Maps in a remotely busy area, you've probably come across intersections where an accident or construction slowed down traffic a fair bit. When that happens, Maps changes the color of the affected roads from green to either orange or red to show how bad the traffic is and, if things get bad enough, it will even find another route for its users.
[...]Simon Weckert recently took advantage of that process with a "hack" - as he calls it - for Google Maps. To accomplish this, he loaded 99 smartphones into a wagon and turned them all onto Maps navigation. As he walks down a street, Google recognizes the high concentration of "users" and the slow-moving "traffic" and marks that street as having bad traffic.
Somewhat hilariously, this would actually cause other drivers in the area using Maps to be re-routed to avoid the "traffic" caused by this otherwise harmless prank. Weckert even took the collection of smartphones right outside of Google's Berlin offices to create the virtual traffic jam.
99 second-hand smartphones are transported in a handcart to generate virtual traffic jam in Google Maps. Through this activity, it is possible to turn a green street red which has an impact in the physical world by navigating cars on another route to avoid being stuck in traffic.
[...]Speaking with 9to5Google, a spokesperson from Google has responded to this situation to clarify a few things. In normal usage, Google does use a large number of devices running Maps in a single place as proof of a traffic jam, something this rare and very specific case took advantage of. In the statement below, though, the company does hint that it might use cases like this to further improve how Maps handles traffic data.
Whether via car or cart or camel, we love seeing creative uses of Google Maps as it helps us make maps work better over time.
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