Google today held a conference dedicated to artificial intelligence. The opportunity to announce its latest advances on Google Maps. The GPS application sees its immersive view and augmented reality functions improved and above all deployed more widely.
Source : CardMapr via Unsplash
Google held a conference in Paris this Wednesday, February 8 dedicated to artificial intelligence. The firm presented its new features, particularly on the side of Google Maps. The GPS application is enriched a little more, on the program: the immersive view, the Live View augmented reality function, a more optimized use for electric cars and indications at a glance.
The immersive view will be deployed more widely
Introduced at Google I/O last year, the “immersive view” feature combines satellite photos and Street View imagery to represent buildings in 3D directly in the app. Above, information is displayed, “such as the weather, road traffic and frequentation of a place. From now on, we can see what a particular place looks like depending on the weather (sun, storm, snow, etc.) thanks to a map “over time”. Finally, the “Immersive View” function allows you to visit the interior of a restaurant, a museum, etc. to know what to expect before going there.
An immersive view in Google Maps // Source: Google
Google announces that the rollout of immersive views was underway in London, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Tokyo. But it will be available in the coming months in several new cities, “including Amsterdam, Dublin, Florence and Venice. “As it is pointed out our colleagues from Numeramathis statement was made in Paris, a city that is not on the list of cities that will benefit from the immersive view.
Augmented reality returns to Google Maps
Also presented a few months ago, the “Live View” function of the Google application marks the great return of augmented reality, after previous unsuccessful attempts. Anyway, by opening the camera of his smartphone, the places in the field of vision will see a Google card appear, indicating the name of the place, the type, the average rating, etc.
« Live View » dans Google Maps // Source : Google
According to Google, this function makes it possible to find useful places, “like ATMs, restaurants, parks or public transport stops”. This time, Live View has recently been available in Paris, alongside London, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Tokyo. In the coming months, Barcelona, Dublin and Madrid will also be able to benefit from it.
La fonction « Indoor Live View » // Source : Google
Google Maps can also display in augmented reality direction arrows to find yourself, for example in an airport or in a shopping center. This function called “Indoor Live View” will cover “in the coming months more than 1,000 new airports, stations and shopping centers in Barcelona, Berlin, Frankfurt, London, Madrid, Melbourne, Paris, Prague, São Paulo, Singapore, Sydney , Taipei and Tokyo. »
Consult a trip without unlocking your smartphone: it’s now possible
Latest novelty on the smartphone side of Google Maps, the possibility of following your route from your lock screen, without having to unlock it. Google Maps displays estimated travel time and next directions. No need to use the navigation mode, the “map” mode may be sufficient.
Directions “at a glance” from Google Maps // Source: Google
A function that can be useful, especially if you are on a bicycle or electric scooter and need to look at your route. If you wear gloves, you cannot use the fingerprint. Google says that if you take another route, the route will automatically change. The “indications at a glance” will also be deployed in the coming months on Android and iOS. Moreover, they “will also be compatible with Live Activities on iOS 16.1”. If you’re an iPhone 14 Pro or iPhone 14 Pro Max owner, this should be good for you.
A quick word on the navigation mode for electric cars, Google Maps is improving the break proposals for charging. The application also adds an “ultra fast charging” filter to have the most powerful terminals and specifies whether places such as supermarkets have terminals.
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