Google has announced that its 3D Immersive View feature for Google Maps is now rolling out for users in London, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Tokyo. It will also be available in Amsterdam, Dublin, Florence and Venice in the coming months.
Immersive View gives a 3D representation of an area of landmark that has been created using AI, computer vision and the billions of Street View and aerial imagesGooglehas collected in each city over the years. It allows users to rotate around buildings and zoom in to get an idea of what they look like from every angle. You can even see what the street looks like in 3D before you visit to help you get your bearings.
Aform of Immersive Viewhas been available on Google Maps in the main five cities for a while, but has been limited to 100 or so famous landmarks. The feature was also restricted to non-interactive rendered videos.
The new version that’s rolling out now allows you to fully interact. It also layers current weather conditions, traffic and how busy the location may be. A time slider allows you to also see that information for a certain time of day, so you have a better understand of what it will be like when you visit.
In addition, the new feature can take you inside a building - such as a restaurant - so you can explore the decor and ambiance. This too is rendered by AI using pictures taken inside the venue.
To use the new Immersive View feature, verify Google Maps is the latest version and, when you search for a supported building or landmark, the option will appear in the bottom left-hand corner of the pop-up menu.
Also coming to Google Maps are new features for electric vehicle drivers. Maps will be able to suggest charging stops based on your journey, it’ll highlight “very fast” charging stations that have 150kW chargers or higher, and it will give you information on charging stations in search results - such as when part of a supermarket. These features are reportedly coming to the Google-owned Waze too.
