With a preview of its new, more “immersive” viewing experience, Google today unveiled its own concept for its next-generation Google Maps in response to increased competition from Apple Maps and its 3D city views. In order to provide a digital representation of the globe and a new method to explore cities, significant sites, restaurants, events, and other places of interest, the enhancement—which was unveiled during Google’s keynote address at the I/O conference—combines aerial and Street View photos. In order to develop this immersive view, which enables users to explore by virtually flying over a region to get a sense of what it would look like, Google claims to have combined “billions” of photographs.
To gain a better feel of the location, experience, and architecture, you might utilize the tool to look at sights like Big Ben or Westminster if you were planning a trip to London. Another feature that mirrors Apple Maps’ twilight mode with a moonlight glow that activates at dusk, even while exploring 3D cities, is the ability to utilize a “time slider” to change how the region looks at different times of day. But users of Google’s immersive mode will also be able to check the weather and traffic in their area to help them plan.
This new mode won’t stop at portraying big cities from a more immersive angle; it will also make it easier to explore inside of locations, such as nearby eateries and other well-liked establishments. Users will be able to glide to street level and then click to see what an interior of a potential tourist attraction looks like. This might, among other things, assist customers in determining the atmosphere of a restaurant. From this level, you can also observe the area’s current activity levels and neighboring traffic.
By the end of the year, it will start to roll out to big cities including L.A., London, New York, San Francisco, and Tokyo, with other cities to follow in the months to come. According to Google, it will function on all platforms and gadgets, with an initial launch on iOS and Android later this year. During the event, the firm also disclosed a number of additional Google Maps upgrades. Later this year, it added, it would extend its eco-friendly routing tool, which was introduced in the fall of last year in the United States and Canada to assist drivers in finding the most fuel-efficient routes, to Europe.
The installation is thought to have prevented more than 500,000 metric tons of carbon emissions thus far, which is the same as removing 100,000 automobiles from the road. According to Google, this amount will double with the move into Europe. In the meantime, Google introduced a brand-new ARCore Geospatial API for developers, enabling them to leverage Maps’ Live View functionality in other apps.
The Live View function uses the smartphone camera to superimpose augmented reality (AR) pointers and directions over the outside world. In an unfamiliar environment where you may ordinarily feel lost, the concept is that you could bring out your phone and see precisely which direction to start walking. It seems as though you have stepped directly into Google Street View. Google will now permit the creation of Live View-enabled products by its developer partners.
