This New Feature Of Google Maps, Revealed At Google's Annual I/O Conference, Brings Immersive Street View For Navigation

• Google’s new Aerial View API offers immersive view navigation in maps

• Displays top-down 3D view of your route with real time updates

• You can check out the air quality, weather conditions and traffic predictions for any time throughout the day, live from your phone

• To begin with, it will be available in 15 cities around the world in the coming months

• No Indian city is part of the initial list of cities that will get this functionality, but we expect the same down the line

Technology is changing the way we look at the world and go about our daily chores. No, really, can you imagine heading out to a new place without having maps on your phone or infotainment to navigate you around an unknown territory you’re about to embark on? At least in recent days, no, right? 

Now imagine if you can literally preview your journey/route through an immersive view that shows a three-dimensional display of the route, showcasing every building, bridge, cycling lane, parking spots and junction that comes your way through a real-life digital render. That is exactly what the new AI-assisted Immersive Street View feature of Google Maps will allow you to do.

What exactly is it?

Remember the Google street view feature that allows you a 360-degree POV display of literally any street or location in the world? This new feature is effectively a part of that, but instead of giving you a direct street view, it uses a combination of the street and aerial imagery to offer an immersive top-view of your route.

Think of it as a digital 3D preview of the route you’re about to take so that there aren’t any surprises when you’re actually on it. Moreover, the time slider allows for you to check various pieces of information of the route during different times in a day. That means you can check out the weather changes, air quality info and the amount of rush on your route during any given time throughout the day. People who like to plan ahead are going to have a hoot with this feature!

So unlike the 2D-based graphics that the current map uses, this will give you a detailed top-down digital render of your surroundings, which helps in a better understanding of the route you’ll take. It’ll even help eliminate the possibility of any surprises or confusion at a junction, given how confusing some of them can be with the multiple exits, sidewalks and what not - something that isn’t clearly reiterated in the current format, causing chaos on more than one occasion (we’ve all been there). 

The functionality of the Aerial View API will also come to the aid of developers as they can integrate the birds-eye video of their respective area or point of interest, providing a visual perspective to their client/users. 

For navigation purposes, it can be used while you’re driving, walking or even cycling. The function will first roll out in 15 cities including Amsterdam, New York, Miami, Paris, Seattle, San Francisco, Las Vegas and more in the coming months.

Also Read: Open-top Motoring In The Porsche Boxter Never Looked This Powerful… Or Mean

Apple has already got a similar sort of function, which was rolled out with its iOS 15 operating system in 2021. Considering Google’s vast database, the Apple maps might not be as intuitive as this one, but more or less work on the same philosophy.

It’ll genuinely make planning trips and routes more intuitive, and we reckon it’ll become a default function worldwide in no time. In fact, as the technology progresses, we might as well get the proper 360-degree street-view with guidelines for making maps and navigation a completely immersive experience. But while that could be some time away, we hope this new Aerial View API comes to India sooner rather than later.