Google Maps Uses AI to Expand Live View and Add Other Helpful Features

Google Maps is adding Immersive View, a Live View expansion, new EV-friendly features, and "glanceable directions."

Several new features and updates are headed to Google Maps, with Google further integrating AI into its tools to enhance Live View, make immersive view a reality, and more. You may be able to check out some of this today, provided you live in one of the chosen initial rollout locations.

Tapping into Google's AI to create a well, immersive view of a given location, Immersive View merges aerial and Street View images to create a fully realized digital model. This allows you to pan and zoom around a location in simulated 3D, as you may expect, but it also features a time slider that can be used to figure out weather, crowds, and more.

You can also transition down to street level to get a first-person lay of the land or even take a virtual look inside some shops and restaurants.

Live View—while not new to London, LA, New York, Paris, San Francisco, or Tokyo—is getting its fair share of attention as well. Google plans to add over one thousand new locations. It hasn't mentioned specifics yet, but soon you'll be able to access AR-driver navigation tools in many more airports, malls, and train stations from various parts of the world.

EVs with built-in Google functionality are also due for some upgrades. Maps will suggest the most convenient charging stops (when a trip requires it) it can find, factoring in elements like traffic and your current charge level. A "very fast" search filter will help you find 150+ kilowatt stations to get you back on the road quicker, while search results, in general, will point out when a destination has chargers available.

But if you prefer to walk, bike, or take public transit, there's also the new "glanceable directions" option. Once you've chosen a destination, you'll be able to keep track of your trip and note any upcoming turns or updated ETAs directly from the lock screen or route overview. No more need to keep checking in with the app as you travel.

You can try Immersive View today if you live in London, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, or Tokyo. (Amsterdam, Dublin, Florence, and Venice will be added "in the coming months.") Live View will be added for Barcelona, Dublin, and Madrid over the same vague timeframe. The same applies to Google built-in EV updates. Expect glanceable directions to roll out sometime over "the coming months" and to be Live Activities-compatible in iOS 16.1.