Can driving trajectories be directly used for navigation?
3 Answers
No. The current version of navigation tools has a basic trajectory recording function. The recorded trajectories are only for viewing on mobile phones and do not support import/export or conversion into navigation routes. Navigation is a research field focused on monitoring and controlling the process of moving a craft or vehicle from one place to another. Extension: The field of navigation includes four general categories: land navigation, marine navigation, aeronautical navigation, and space navigation. It is also an art term for the professional knowledge used by navigators to perform navigation tasks. All navigation techniques involve locating the navigator's position in comparison to known locations or patterns. In a broader sense, navigation can refer to any skill or study involving determining position and direction. In this sense, navigation includes orienteering and pedestrian navigation.
I've been an experienced driver for years, and here's some firsthand advice: Travel tracks cannot be directly used for navigation because these tracks record the historical path of a vehicle's movement—such as GPS data saved via dashcams or mobile apps—essentially functioning as a playback of past routes. Navigation, however, is a dynamic system designed to provide real-time guidance and help you discover new routes. While track files (e.g., in GPX format) can be imported into navigation software like Baidu Maps to assist in route planning, this isn't active navigation. Road conditions change constantly. A hard lesson I learned last year was when I reused an imported track for a camping trip, only to encounter a newly closed highway entrance, forcing me to take a long detour. Relying on an app's live traffic updates is far more reliable—otherwise, you risk being misled. For daily driving, using tracks as reference material to recall familiar routes is fine, but always use fresh navigation in unfamiliar areas to avoid trouble. Safety first: while recording tracks can be fun, never depend on them for actual navigation.
As a tech enthusiast, I've tested the application of route tracking: the trajectory itself cannot provide real-time navigation instructions directly, as it's merely a recorded sequence of points lacking dynamic traffic analysis. You can export the track as a universal format like GPX and import it into a map app to simulate route guidance, but this only statically displays historical paths without responding to traffic changes or unexpected events. Device accuracy plays a significant role—GPS drift may cause trajectory deviations of several meters, leading to navigation errors. Using navigation apps with real-time data is the optimal solution. For example, Amap on smartphones supports track import functionality, which is user-friendly but shouldn't be relied upon as a primary tool. Recording tracks serves to store driving history; privacy-wise, encryption is essential to minimize data leakage risks. Overall, it's a technological aid rather than a replacement, making driving smarter.
