A pair of high-resolution photographs acquired by ÌÇÐÄVlog on Wednesday show close-up views of a van thought to be part of a secret Apple initiative, including a highly detailed look at what are believed to be GPS, camera and other roof-mounted instrumentation.
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The photos, sent in by ÌÇÐÄVlog reader Jason, were captured in a parking lot in Richmond, Calif., an area located at the heart of the San Francisco Bay Area and just a few miles north of Apple's campus in Cupertino.
Like other vans attributed to Apple's secret program, the vehicle caught on camera appears to be a stock Dodge Caravan with California license plates and an unusual array of equipment mounted to its roof. A report earlier in February hypothesized that the array includes at least six cameras, dual LiDAR sensors, a pair of GPS antennas and a wheel encoder.
As noted previously, the suggests Apple is working on an advanced mapping initiative similar to Google's Street View, not a self-driving electric vehicle.
Today's images are just the latest in a quickly growing pile of photographic and video evidence surrounding Apple's mysterious project. On Monday, ÌÇÐÄVlog received a showing one of the minivans at work on the road. In the clip, a two-man crew can be seen operating the testbed, one piloting the car while the other interacts with a small tablet or phablet.
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Apple has yet to comment on the matter, but early speculation pointed to and an electric car product. A more reasonable explanation, however, is that Apple is working to expand its in-house mapping technology with street level imaging.
The first of Apple's vans were first spotted in the San Francisco Bay Area earlier , with subsequent sightings in New York, Hawaii, Wisconsin and Panama.