Groundbreaking AI-powered Features to Transform Route Visualization, Plus New Tools for Developers to Build Immersive Experiences
- Google Maps is introducing ‘Immersive View for routes’, an AI-enabled feature that allows users to preview every segment of their route before their journey.
- The feature uses computer vision and AI to fuse billions of street view and aerial images, creating a multidimensional experience with air quality data, weather changes, and simulated traffic density.
- Google is also launching new tools for developers to build immersive experiences in their apps and websites, including the Aerial View API and Photorealistic 3D Tiles via the Map Tiles API.
Google Maps is stepping up its game with groundbreaking artificial intelligence (AI) enhancements designed to make navigation more immersive and interactive. The tech giant is introducing ‘Immersive View for routes’, a feature set to redefine how users visualize their journeys, alongside new tools that will allow developers to integrate immersive experiences in their apps and websites.
Since its inception, Google Maps has continually reinvented the way people navigate and explore, with features like ‘Live View’ and ‘Immersive View for places’. Now, ‘Immersive View for routes’ is set to bring a new dimension to route planning, whether you’re driving, walking, or cycling.
Harnessing the power of computer vision and AI, this feature fuses billions of Street View and aerial images to create a rich, digital model of the world. Users can visualize every segment of their route ahead of time, previewing bike lanes, sidewalks, intersections, and parking areas. It even includes a time slider to monitor air quality and anticipate weather changes along the journey. AI and historical driving trends are used to simulate potential traffic density, providing a more comprehensive view of what the route might look like at different times.
‘Immersive View for routes’ is scheduled for rollout in the coming months in selected cities worldwide, including Amsterdam, Berlin, Dublin, Florence, Las Vegas, London, Los Angeles, New York, Miami, Paris, Seattle, San Francisco, San Jose, Tokyo, and Venice.
In addition to user-focused enhancements, Google is also launching new tools for developers to create immersive experiences within their apps and websites. The new ‘Aerial View API’, available today in preview, lets developers integrate a 3D bird’s-eye video of a point of interest into their applications. This tool is already being used by property rental platform Rent. to help renters visualize properties and their surroundings.
For developers looking to customize their 3D maps, Google is introducing an experimental release of ‘Photorealistic 3D Tiles’ via the Map Tiles API. This feature unlocks the high-resolution, 3D imagery of Google Earth, enabling developers to create unique, immersive experiences tailored to their brand without building a 3D map from scratch.
These innovations showcase how Google is leveraging AI to transform Maps and create immersive experiences. As they continue to make Maps more intuitive and helpful, Google looks forward to the new experiences their developer community will create.