Google has announced a new feature within its Maps app called Immersive Vision that combines Street View and aerial imagery to allow you to virtually explore neighborhoods.
“With our immersive vision, you can experience what a neighborhood, landmark, restaurant or famous place might look like, feeling like you’ve been there before you even set foot,” said Myriam Daniel, Corporate Vice President of Maps.
As a result, if you're traveling to a new place or looking for hidden locals, immersive insight helps you make decisions before you travel.
The new feature is very similar to Apple's 3D Maps feature, which was launched last year.
Apple said at the time: Apple Maps offers a new way to navigate cities through the 3D map. This feature provides unprecedented detail for neighborhoods, business districts, ports, buildings, and more.
Users can now see elevation details across the city, new road markings, and hundreds of bespoke landmarks such as Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, the Statue of Liberty in New York City, and the Royal Albert Hall in London, with more to come.
Google announces its immersive mapping tool
The search giant announced the Immersive Vision feature at the annual Google Developers Conference I/O 2022. Google Maps was first launched to help people navigate to their destinations, said Daniel. It has since evolved into so much more, becoming a handy companion when you need to find the perfect restaurant or get information about a local business.
"Today we are introducing a new way to explore with maps," she added. This is made possible by advances in computer vision and artificial intelligence. These technologies allow us to combine billions of Street View images and aerial photos together to create a rich digital model of the world.
Google users can explore cities from above, before clicking on specific streets or buildings down to street level.
The app also overlays useful information at the top. There is an option to change the time to see how the area looks at different times of the day and in different weather conditions.
Moving to street level, you can explore nearby restaurants and see useful information, such as live traffic and nearby traffic. You can even look inside to quickly get a feel for the atmosphere before you book.
The immersive viewing will begin in Los Angeles, London, New York, San Francisco and Tokyo later this year. With more cities coming soon.
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