Google has announced new updates to its Google Maps service this week rolling out a series of new features aimed at enhancing the experience of travel and vacation planning as well as navigation once you arrive. Firstly, the Immersive View feature has been extended to include four new cities: Amsterdam, Dublin, Florence, and Venice.
In addition to this, the feature is now available for over 500 significant landmarks globally. Immersive View, which uses artificial intelligence (AI) to amalgamate billions of images, provides a multidimensional perspective of the world with a layer of trusted information.
For instance, if a user is planning a vacation or visit to Boston and wishes to explore the historic Faneuil Hall, they can utilize Immersive View to get acquainted with the area in advance. After searching for the location on Google Maps and tapping on the first video, users can virtually fly over the building and find places nearby.
The feature also allows users to see what the weather will be like at different times of the day and estimate crowd levels. In some cases, where data is available, users can even look inside restaurants and cafes to help them decide whether to make a reservation. This capability is powered by an advanced AI technique called neural radiance fields, or NeRF.
Vacation planning with Google Maps
Next, Google Maps has introduced glanceable directions to simplify navigation, particularly when users are already somewhat familiar with their route and need only minimal guidance. Once users opt into this feature, they can request directions to their destination and start their journey.
They will then be able to see updated ETAs and where to make their next turn – information that was previously only available in comprehensive navigation mode. If users decide to change their route, their trip will be updated automatically. The glanceable directions feature is set to roll out globally for walking, cycling, and driving modes on Android and iOS.
Lastly, Google Maps has enhanced its Recents feature on desktop to aid users in planning trips. This feature automatically organizes places users have researched into a convenient highlight on the left side of their screen when they open Maps. With the new updates, places saved in Recent highlights will be preserved even after users close their Google Maps window, ensuring no progress is lost.
Users can remove places they have viewed, plan multiple trips at once, and share a selection of places – such as attractions or hotels – with others. If users select three or more destinations and click on “directions”, Maps will create a custom route that includes all chosen stops and saves it to their Recents.
These additions to Google Maps underscore the platform’s commitment to enhancing user experience and providing more personalized, intuitive features to aid in travel planning and navigation.
Source : GM
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