Google is rolling out a series of new upgrades to Maps, including artificial intelligence (AI).
They are designed to make it easier for users to search, explore their surroundings, and find their destinations. The company makes it easier to find specific things near you and provides inspiration for activities you can enjoy. In addition, it is upgrading navigation features, providing more information about chargers to electric vehicle drivers, expanding already announced features to more cities, and offering many other features.
The tech giant is updating “Search in Maps” to make it easier to find specific things near you. Now, when you search for something like “animal latte art,” you’ll find photo results that match the item you’re looking for. These results are based on analyzing photos shared by users on Google Maps, thanks to artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced image recognition models. By showing these images, Google lets you discover new places that offer exactly what you’re looking for. In this case, if you see a sweet image of “animal latte art” that you like, you can click to learn more.
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The new way to search on Google Maps is now available in France, Germany, Japan, the UK, and the US starting this week. Google plans to expand it to more countries in the future.
Let’s say you have some free time and aren’t sure what you’re looking for. You’ll soon see better-organized search results for things near you. For example, if you’re in Tokyo and aren’t sure what to do, you can search for “things to do” to see suggestions like “anime,” “cherry blossoms,” or “art exhibitions.” You can tap on those places and either visit them or save them for later. The update, which is designed to help you find things to do and places to eat, will roll out globally on Android and iOS in the coming weeks.
Google also announced that the navigation interface in Maps will soon reflect your surroundings more accurately. For example, you'll see more realistic buildings to help you find your way around a city center. You'll also get improved lane information on highways, which will come in handy when you need to quickly move between multiple lanes to get to your destination. These upgrades will be available in 12 countries over the next few months, including the U.S., Canada, France, and Germany.
As for drivers in the US, they will get the ability to see if there are HOV lanes along their route. Also in Europe, Google is expanding its use of artificial intelligence to provide speed limit information in 20 countries. Both of these features will be available on Android, iOS, and in cars with Google Built-in in the coming months.
Additionally, EV drivers on Android and iOS will begin to see additional information about charging stations displayed on their map, such as whether a charger is compatible with their vehicle and whether the available chargers are fast, medium, or slow. You’ll also be able to see when a charger was last used so you can be sure it’s working.
As part of today’s announcement, Google revealed that it is expanding some of its current features to more cities, using artificial intelligence (AI). The Immersive View for Routes feature, which allows users to preview their trip, is expanding to cities including Amsterdam, Barcelona, Dublin, Florence, Las Vegas, London, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Paris, San Francisco, San Jose, Seattle, Tokyo and Venice, for Android and iOS users. Google is now bringing Lens in Maps, previously referred to as Search with Live View, to more than 50 new cities, including Austin, Las Vegas, Rome, São Paulo and Taipei. This feature uses artificial intelligence (AI) and augmented reality to help you understand your surroundings and find information about things like nearby ATMs, transit stations, restaurants, and more.
Read more: Google Maps: Lawsuit for negligence after man killed after wrong directions
Source: techcrunch.com
