Google Maps Adding an Augmented Fox to Guide Your Way!
Getting Rid Of Blue Dot
Almost all of us are familiar with the blue dot we usually use in our phones if we don’t know the directions to specific places we want to go to. We did experience that blue dot guiding you for a specific turn, that you may have no idea about or you just can’t decipher about your current position. If you are sick of it already, here’s the big news for you! Google has fixed it!
In its annual developers conference I/O, on Tuesday, Google’s Vice President, Aparna Chennapragada showcased a new augmented reality feature in google maps to better help you with understanding the navigations and directions. So what exactly is this feature? Let’s have a look.
Details
This feature makes use of your phone’s camera to let you instantly know where you currently are, including the street names and directions. Not only this, as you move your camera, through the places, you get to see the names of nearby places as a pop-up on your screen.
It is planning to incorporate “helpful guide” feature too which will be in a shape of an augmented reality animal, in the demo they showcased a Fox, who will walk you through the way.
Furthermore, google will be introducing three new features in its Google Maps App which will firstly include an addition of a new tab “For You” in it. Also, it will be including more social features to let you share your food and restaurant preferences with your friends, where you and your friends will be able to vote for the options available to be able to decide together, where to go. Lastly, it will be giving personalized recommendations to help you discover nearby places.
How It Happens!
Next question arises as to how are they doing it. According to the VP, GPS alone would not be of much help, so they are working on a new technology calles “VPS” .i.e. Visual Positioning System which will be assisting on positioning and orientation. Making use of your camera, you can now know the visual landmarks you see in your screen so that, you exactly know, where you are.
In addition to VPS, Google will be using Google Lens, that will be integrated inside your camera in order to answer specific questions as to names of the buildings or the things you see. Google Lens will be featuring three new features in it, which will help you get real-time information about the things you see in your camera and tap on them, for example you move your camera through your friend’s room and you like a bag, lying there on sofa, you will tap on it and all the information, like price, colors, brand name etc will appear on your screen instantly. You may now be able to go in some restaurant, point the camera on some dish in a menu and get the ingredients used and related information right away.
Conclusion
Google has been in a constant journey towards innovating things for us and creating new augmented realities, stepping towards the future. These innovations will, undoubtedly, revolutionize things, making it more convenient.
