Map of the Week: Skyvi
December 19th, 2012 | Published in Google Maps
Map of the Week: Skyvi
Why we like it: Skyvi uses the Google Places API to help users find nearby points of interest while on the go. Users simply speak their request into their Android phone while Skyvi is running to get voice guided, turn-by-turn directions from the Google Maps for Android app.
[Editor’s note: For this week’s “Map of the Week” post, we’ve asked Sarah Montgomery of Blue Tornado to write a guest blog post about how her team used the Google Maps APIs to create Skyvi. - Paul Saxman]
Skyvi is a fast voice application for Android that lets you perform various tasks by voice input alone! Whether you want to find somewhere to eat or update your social network status, you can get things done by speaking to your phone.
Users can voice a command to find a point of interest such as 'find an Italian restaurant' or 'where can I get a haircut'. Skyvi then retrieves the user’s current GPS coordinates from the Android platform and queries the Google Places API with the search keywords and coordinates. The Google Places API returns a list of locations for the user to select from. Upon choosing a location, Skyvi uses an Android Intent to pass the GPS coordinates to Google Maps Navigation, which then directs the user along the route.
As a result, users are able to discover a point of interest and get seamlessly navigated there just by speaking commands. We are excited that, by incorporating the Google Places API into our app, our users no longer need to handle their phones or GPS devices while they drive.
It was quick and easy to integrate the Google Places API into our app, taking only a couple of hours. Google Maps saved us from investing in base map data, and the API allows us to suggest relevant search results based on Google's data, which is already used by millions of people.
Posted by Paul Saxman, Google Maps Developer Relations Team
Why we like it: Skyvi uses the Google Places API to help users find nearby points of interest while on the go. Users simply speak their request into their Android phone while Skyvi is running to get voice guided, turn-by-turn directions from the Google Maps for Android app.
[Editor’s note: For this week’s “Map of the Week” post, we’ve asked Sarah Montgomery of Blue Tornado to write a guest blog post about how her team used the Google Maps APIs to create Skyvi. - Paul Saxman]
Skyvi is a fast voice application for Android that lets you perform various tasks by voice input alone! Whether you want to find somewhere to eat or update your social network status, you can get things done by speaking to your phone.
Users can voice a command to find a point of interest such as 'find an Italian restaurant' or 'where can I get a haircut'. Skyvi then retrieves the user’s current GPS coordinates from the Android platform and queries the Google Places API with the search keywords and coordinates. The Google Places API returns a list of locations for the user to select from. Upon choosing a location, Skyvi uses an Android Intent to pass the GPS coordinates to Google Maps Navigation, which then directs the user along the route.
As a result, users are able to discover a point of interest and get seamlessly navigated there just by speaking commands. We are excited that, by incorporating the Google Places API into our app, our users no longer need to handle their phones or GPS devices while they drive.
It was quick and easy to integrate the Google Places API into our app, taking only a couple of hours. Google Maps saved us from investing in base map data, and the API allows us to suggest relevant search results based on Google's data, which is already used by millions of people.
Posted by Paul Saxman, Google Maps Developer Relations Team