Earlier this year, Google launched its Immersive View in Google Maps to add an extra layer of ‘interact-ability’ to certain landmarks and locations from cities around the world and today, they’re announcing the beginning of an even wider rollout of Immersive View to include Dublin along with Amsterdam, Florence and Venice.
Further down the line, they’ve also announced that they will be expanding the feature to over 500 iconic landmarks around the world, from Prague Castle to the Sydney Harbour Bridge on Android and iOS.
If you haven’t seen it in action yet, Immersive View uses AI to fuse together billions of images and create a multidimensional view of the world with trusted information layered on top and it’s pretty impressive when in action.
With the built in time slider, you can see what the weather will be like at different times of day and how crowded it will be so you can plan ahead. And where Google has data available, you can peek inside certain restaurants and cafes to help you decide whether you want to make a reservation, thanks to an advanced AI technique called neural radiance fields, or NeRF — which Google developed themselves.
Along with the rollout of Immersive View in Google Maps for Dublin, Google are also launching glanceable directions, which should help you easily track your trip progress right from your lock screen or route overview.
Once you opt in, you can just request directions to your destination and you’ll see updated ETAs and where to make your next turn, right on your lock screen. And if you decide to take another path, it will update your trip automatically. Google has said that glanceable directions start rolling out globally this month for walking, cycling and driving modes on Android and iOS.
Google is also rolling out ‘Recents’ on desktop to help users keep track of all the places they’re looking to visit when planning your next trip. It automatically organises places you’ve researched into a highlight section on the left side of the screen when you’re using Maps.
