After the massive Al announcements at the Google I/O 2023, the company is now introducing a slew of new upgrades to their Maps application in order to enhance navigation by simplifying the driving directions and even giving better results to the search queries of the users. With this new introduction, the company now aims to help users find new places, and get new experiences with the help of Al.
Google’s Vice President and General Manager of Geo, Chris Phillips, underlined the innovative potential of Al in mapping. According to him, artificial intelligence (AI) is what powers user assistance with navigation and key decision-making processes.
According to Phillips, Google Maps will evolve into a more “visual and immersive” product in the future that promotes environmentally friendly decisions like riding a bike or taking public transportation. Additionally, Google is opening up its APIs to developers, automakers, and localities in order to improve Map-based in-car navigation.
In order to make Maps more like its search engine, Google is utilising Al. Through the analysis of “billion” of images provided by users, it facilitates the search for certain things or experiences. Similar to Google Search, users can ask queries of Maps and get instantaneous answers based on a review of other users’ photos.
Meanwhile, in order to provide better results to users queries, the business has now added the Bard AI to Search. However, many of Google’s Al-powered capabilities have not yet been made public, but it is thought that the tech giant will begin rolling out the new Al-backed services to consumers throughout the world soon, although in stages.
Immersive View for Routes
The most visually advanced new feature is Immersive View for routes, providing users with a detailed preview of their journey from start to finish.
Using advanced AI to fuse billions of Street View and aerial images, Google claims Immersive View will allow users to experience simulated journeys as if they were there.
The Immersive View preview is an interactive experience, allowing users to explore routes from different vantage points, zoom, pan, and even change the time of day or weather conditions. This gives users a sense of what the journey will be like before embarking.
Immersive View leverages computer vision, artificial intelligence, and billions of Street View and aerial images to generate its highly detailed 3D representations of routes.
In addition to routes, Immersive View was first launched earlier this year for individual landmarks and locations. Developers can also create immersive experiences through new 3D mapping tools in the Google Maps Platform.
Immersive View for routes will start rolling out this week on Android and iOS in cities including Dublin, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Las Vegas, London, Los Angeles, New York, Paris, San Francisco, Seattle, and Tokyo.
Updates To Lens
Google Maps is expanding its Lens feature, which lets users orient themselves in unfamiliar areas by lifting their phone’s camera.
Using AI and augmented reality, Lens shows information about nearby restaurants, shops, transit stations, and more right on top of the view from the camera. After launching in a handful of cities last year, Lens is coming to over 50 more cities globally.
Updates For Electric Vehicle Drivers
Several updates aim to provide electric vehicle drivers with more helpful information for reducing “charging anxiety” on trips.
Users will now see specifics like compatibility, the number, type, power level of chargers, and data on when chargers were last used to avoid broken ones.
These features start rolling out this week worldwide.
