Maps Just Got OCCA

Language and translation is a major focus of our work at Google because it’s so intimately connected to our mission of making the world’s information accessible to all. Australia, with its highly idiomatic local language, was found to be a perfect test bed for the next generation of language translation technology developed locally in the Sydney office. By synthesising millions of aggregated search inputs from Australians as well as scanning 23 seasons of Home and Away scripts, we are able to Optimise for Colloquial Cultural Articulation (OCCA) - which means our products can now be tailored specifically for the typical Strayan user.

To give you an example, we already know that if someone searches for ‘cricket’ in Australia they’re more likely interested in the sport than the insect. With our new OCCA framework, we can now go further and tell that if an Aussie searches on “automatic wiki”, they’re probably referring to the automatic wicket keeper common in backyard cricket and not an automatically updated bulletin board or “wiki”.

OCCA greatly reduces the latency between a user’s thought and ability to pinpoint information; a boon for local users who’d have Buckleys makin’ sense of American English.

Aussies around the country can stand tall; OCCA’d Maps are a world-first that promise to take Google Maps to the Back of Bourke and beyond.

Seeya, clear as mud driving directions, G’day, OCCA! No more argy bargy on family road trips, eh?

You never win till you have a go
As you drive across our sunburnt country, a land of sweeping plains, OCCA’d Maps now talks your lingo. Vote for your favourite phrases on this form. We’re open for suggestions. Tweet your new OCCA directions using #OCCAMaps (like these).

Directions
"Chucka U-ey" - Execute a U-Turn
“Hang a Right” - Make a right turn
“Fang a Left” - Make a left turn
"Hit the frog and toad" - The road
"Hoof it" - Walk
"100 Clicks" - 100 kilometres
"Not within Cooee" - Not close by
"Down the road" - Unspecified term indicating distance

Driving Styles
"Hit the anchors" - Brake, now
"Flat chat" - Going very fast
“Hoon” - Fast, irresponsible driver
"Bingle" - Car accident (not Lara)
"Bogged" - Stuck
“All over the shop” - Veering across lanes
“Rough as guts” - Car needs a tune
“Bag em up” - Smoke the tires
“Drive like my Grandma” - Going too slow
“Amber Gambler” - Runs orange lights
“Sunday Driver” - Poor driver.

Posted by Thor Mitchell, Product Manager