Google Maps announces exciting new ‘immersive view’ feature

Virgin Radio

13 May 2022, 09:40

Google has announced an exciting new immersive view feature coming to maps that will allow users to see the world like never before.

It’s fair to say that Google Maps has helped us out of many sticky situations- whether it is directing us back to the hotel when exploring on holiday or finding the nearest place to park.

Not only that, but Maps offers ratings on nearby restaurants, cafes and venues with their opening hours and a street view so we can see whether we want to visit.

Now, they are going a step further and offering users the chance to “experience what a neighbourhood, landmark, restaurant or popular venue is like- and even feel like you’re right there before you ever set foot inside.”

The new feature allows users to access computer-generated images to see whether they like the look of a place, if it’s busy or if it has what they need before they even visit.

Google promises this feature will work on “just about any phone and device” and will start rolling out later this year in Los Angeles, London, New York, San Francisco and Tokyo.

Liz Reid, VP of engineering at Google, said the feature fuses together satellite images and Street View shots to help users get a better feel for an area and see, for example, how tall the buildings are or what is nearby.

Speaking to The Verge, she said: "How do we combine that with Street View? How do we combine it with an aerial view to make something that feels much more like you were there? It’s a thing where we had demos years ago, and it was like, ‘oh, here’s the thing,’ but it didn’t really work.

"Now the technology has come a long way into making it feel pretty natural."

This comes after the app added an eco-friendly routing feature that was recently launched in the US and Canada, which allows users to choose the most fuel-efficient routes when driving.

In other tech news, WhatsApp users were delighted about the latest feature added to the app, which you can read about here.