Google is adding Immersive View for routes to Maps, letting you visualize an entire route so you know exactly what your trip will look like before you head out the door. Google announced the news today during its annual Google I/O developer conference.
Powered by AI, Immersive View for routes in Maps basically gives you a multidimensional view of your route overlaid on top of Street View images. Giving you a much more realistic view of your route that kind of looks and feels like a video game. It’s an interesting new addition to the app to make getting to places a lot simpler, and perhaps a little more fun.
As Google explains it, “Immersive View uses computer vision and AI to fuse billions of Street View and aerial images together to create a rich, digital model of the world.” The new Maps feature will allow users to see a large array of different pieces of information that weren’t previously available. Including bike lanes, sidewalks, intersections and more. This will give users a more complete picture of what the entire route looks like. And should help them to decide whether or not their initially chosen route is the best route for them to take.
Immersive View for routes in Maps will come to 15 cities this year
Immersive View is already available in Maps for images, but the availability to use it with routes will start with a slow rollout to just 15 cities over the coming months. Google doesn’t say if all cities will have access simultaneously once the rollout begins. But it does note which cities users will be able to take advantage of the new feature first.
This includes Amsterdam, Berlin, Dublin, Florence, Las Vegas, London, Los Angeles, New York, Miami, Paris, Seattle, San Francisco, San Jose, Tokyo, and Venice. In addition to being able to see bike lanes and intersections, Immersive View for routes will also let you see traffic, as well as details like weather conditions and air quality.