New Google Maps Features Highlight AI Advances
New features unveiled today at a live event in Paris showcase how Google is leveraging AI to enhance its vision of a more immersive, intuitive Google Maps experience.
Immersive View
Immersive View, which enables virtual exploration of a location, is now available in London, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Tokyo. This feature uses advanced AI and computer vision to blend billions of Street View and aerial images, creating a detailed digital model of the world. It also layers useful information such as weather, traffic, and activity levels.
In a blog post, Google detailed that it employs neural radiance fields (NeRF) technology to generate lifelike scenes from ordinary photos, accurately recreating elements like lighting, material textures, and background context. This allows users to get a true sense of a place before visiting.
Immersive View will soon be accessible in Amsterdam, Dublin, Florence, and Venice, expanding its reach beyond the initial five cities.
Search With Live View
Live View is a search function that uses AI and augmented reality to help users locate nearby spots like restaurants, parks, transit stations, and ATMs, simply by holding up their phone while walking. It offers operational hours, real-time activity levels, and ratings, enabling informed decisions and saving time.
Already launched in London, Los Angeles, New York, Paris, San Francisco, and Tokyo, Live View is set to expand to Barcelona, Dublin, and Madrid in the near future.
Indoor Live View
Indoor Live View utilizes AR arrows to navigate users to various facilities such as restrooms, lounges, taxi stands, and car rentals. Introduced in the US, Zurich, and Tokyo, this feature is expanding to over 1,000 new locations, including airports, train stations, and malls in cities such as Barcelona, Berlin, Frankfurt, London, Madrid, Melbourne, Paris, Prague, São Paulo, Singapore, Sydney, and Taipei.
New Features for Electric Vehicle Drivers
Recent updates for EV drivers include the addition of charging stops for shorter journeys, based on factors like current traffic, charge level, and energy consumption. High-speed charging stations that can charge a vehicle in under 40 minutes are also suggested.
Moreover, charging stations will now appear in search results for locations like supermarkets that have charging facilities on-site.
Conclusion
Google Maps continues to push the boundaries of AI technology to create a more immersive and intuitive navigation experience. Recent updates, including Immersive View and Live View, introduce enhanced detail and interactivity, enabling users to virtually explore places, locate nearby spots, and make environmentally friendly choices.
Featured Image: Tada Images/Shutterstock
