Google Maps is an indispensable tool for people around the world who find their way around their town, city and country. Now, the search giant has announced Google Maps’ Live View feature, which was introduced last year, will be getting augmented reality (AR)-based directions.
With the feature enabled, Live View will overlay arrows, directions and even landmarks over the real world to make navigation easier. Users will be able to see how far a landmark is and even check out the different routes they would need to take to reach their destination.
Google explained in a blog post how the feature works:
Live View will show you how far away certain landmarks are from you and what direction you need to go to get there. These landmarks can include iconic places, like the Empire State Building in New York and the Pantheon in Rome, and easily recognizable places, like local parks and tourist attractions.
Google said it will be adding the Live View button to other places around Google Maps. For example, if you use Google Maps on public transports, you can access Live View right from the transit tab within the app. With the new improvements, users can use Live View to orientate themselves when they exit a station and don’t know which way to go.
The recent Android 11 Pixel Feature Drop introduced Live View Location Sharing is useful for meeting up with a friend. Once they have shared their location with you, they will appear as a destination and with Live View you can see how far away they are. Overlaid arrows and directions will help you get where you need to go.
Google also shared how it has made improvements to the global localisation technology that powers Live View in Maps. Now when you drop a pin in the real world, Live View will be able to find it more accurately as it uses Google’s understanding of topography and machine learning to ensure that it is accurately represented on the map.
Google illustrated this in an example using the steep winding roads of Lombard Street in San Francisco. Previously, its location would often appear far off into the distance. Now the pin is more aligned with the location where the street begins at the bottom of the hill.
According to Google, this handy feature will soon be available to Android and iOS users around the world. In fact, Malaysians will get to try the feature out in the capital city of Kuala Lumpur real soon. It will also be rolling out to other cities around the world including New York, Paris, San Francisco, Sydney, Tokyo, Berlin and many others.
So, are you excited to use this fancy new feature in Google Maps? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
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