They said both drivers and passengers will be able to recognize where they are in relation to the surrounding topography, particularly in urban areas that will be depicted with depth and accurate size relationships between buildings and roads.

Volkswagen, working through its Electronic Research Laboratory in Palo Alto, Calif., together with Google and nVidia, said it is working on other advancements as well, including automatic personalized content updates for its vehicle navigation systems.

Highlights of Volkswagen's prototype vehicle include a touchscreen interface to Google Earth with state-of-the-art graphics, accurate 3D maps and real-time traffic updates and routing. The system uses the World Wide Web to maintain a database of current information on restaurants, dealerships, gas stations and other points of interest that can be overlaid directly onto the user's 3D map.

The companies presented the vehicle navigation system last month at the 2006 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

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VW Electronics Research Laboratory