Google Maps has recently unveiled a range of innovative AI-driven enhancements which will leverage enhanced Street View experience, augmented reality (AR) integrated Lens in Maps, and comprehensive search functionalities, among others.

Below are the details on the new features of Google Maps:

Immersive View of places

Google introduced Immersive View for routes during this year's I/O event. From this week onwards, Immersive View for routes is steadily becoming available in Amsterdam, Barcelona, Dublin, Florence, Las Vegas, LondonSan Francisco, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Paris, San Jose, Seattle, Tokyo, and Venice on both mobile platforms, i.e., Android and iOS platforms.

Allowing users to preview restaurants or landmarks ahead of your visit, immersive View for places, powered by AI blends thousands of Street View and aerial images. Additionally, with the recent introduction of Photorealistic 3D Tiles on the Google Maps Platform this week, revealed Google, developers now have the capability to craft their unique immersive experiences 

Lens in Maps

According to Google, to assist users in adapting to their surroundings, whether they are exploring a new city or local places, Lens in Maps (formerly known as Search with Live View) combines the power of AI and augmented reality. 

To make use of this feature, Google stated that all one needs to do is tap the Lens icon in the search bar and raise your phone to access information about nearby cafes, stores, ATMs, public transit stations, and restaurants. With the feature now available in over 50 additional cities, such as Austin, Las Vegas, Rome, São Paulo, Taipei and more, this week marks the most significant expansion of Lens in Maps. 

Detailed map

Google announced in its blog post that soon the navigation map will provide a more precise representation of the real world. Along with refreshed map colors, users will notice enhanced depictions of buildings. Additionally, on highways, users can spot improved lane details to ensure they are well-prepared for turns. These updates will be gradually rolled out in the coming months across 12 countries, including the United States, Canada, France, and Germany.

More EV information

Commencing this week, the California based tech giant is expanding its features for vehicles equipped with Google integration. Electric vehicle (EV) drivers using Android and iOS will now have access to even more informative charging station data, stated Google in its blogpost.

With their specific EV model and the charging speed options, categorized as fast, medium, or slow, to assist in locating the most suitable charging station, this information will include details on charger compatibility. Moreover, Google highlighted users will also be able to view the last usage status of a charger, helping them avoid unnecessary trips to inactive stations as roughly 25 percent of charging stations in the United States may be non-operational at any given time.

Maps for Specific Things

“Now, when you search in Maps for specific things like the best place to find “animal latte art" or “pumpkin patch with my dog," you’ll get photo-first results of what you’re looking for. These results are based on the analysis of billions of photos shared by the Google Maps community - all done with AI and advanced image recognition models," Google said in its blog post.

Users can easily find new places that precisely align with their preferences as per the tech giant, with this visual compilation of locations. One can simply browse through the search results, select a photo to gather more information, and initiate navigation directly to your chosen spot.  With further expansions into additional countries in the future, this search feature in Maps will become available in France, Germany, Japan, the U.K., and the U.S. this week.