We’re used to seeing the world in Google Maps with satellite images and street-level images, but Google has now added an intermediate option called “Immersive View” that allows us to visit large cities from an aerial perspective similar to that of a video game, with 3D buildings laden with detail and realistic textures Based on Google Street View images.
The new Global View uses 3D maps and machine learning techniques to combine models of buildings, plants, and monuments with billions of street-level images from Google Street View. Most surprisingly, it also makes use of interior images to map stores and restaurants in a way that, in the words of Google, makes them feel “like you’re there before you set foot inside.”
Featured at Google I/O 2022, Google just announced An initial version of the immersive view will be available starting today for hundreds of iconic monuments and buildings in cities such as Barcelona, London, New York, San Francisco and Tokyo. The new option will first come to the Google Maps apps for iOS and Android.
Google is a little late to this party. Apple Maps has a similar feature called flyoverand Microsoft leveraged Bing Maps to build realistic models of cities and other environments in Microsoft Flight Simulator.
However, the immersive view isn’t the only new one that will appear on Google Maps in the coming weeks. Google also announced the launch of new trail options for cyclists (like knowing if there are hills or bike lanes in advance), and a safety feature to automatically notify loved ones when you arrive at your destination or leave somewhere.
“Creator. Troublemaker. Hardcore alcohol lover. Web evangelist. Extreme pop culture practitioner. Devoted zombie scholar. Avid introvert.”