Google introduces new augmented reality features for Google Maps, one of its flagships.
These improvements will allow users to better orient themselves on the maps provided by the Google application. With this update, theMountain View giant strengthens its commitment to augmented reality content. Last March it launched a Google Maps API for the development of augmented reality video games. The Google Maps update will be available this summer for Android and iOS devices. With this latest update, the Street View service will allow users to see directions and locations on the screen of their smartphone. These contents will be visible through the camera thanks to augmented reality technology. In addition, the phone screen will also display information about nearby locations on our screen. In this way, users will be able to know the name and rating of the services available around them. Thanks to this new feature, Google manages to get rid of the thorn and fulfill old promises present in the ill-fated Google Glass. And they have achieved this without the need to purchase any additional peripheral.
To make these tools available, all you need is a smartphone with the Google Maps application installed. According to Aparna Chennapragada, vice president of Google, “our teams have been working very hard to combine the power of the camera, computer vision, Street View and Google Maps to reinvent navigation while walking. Now you have all the information on your screen.”
Google Maps’ commitment to augmented reality is nothing new
The success of Pokémon GO showed the world that augmented reality can be a great added value for the video game industry. Far from putting obstacles in the way, Google decided to open the Google Maps API to everyone. In this way, the various video game development agencies will be able to use the popular mapping system to generate new content. Google Maps’ collaboration with the developer community will give them access to Google Maps data in real time. In addition, thanks to the implementation of Google Maps in the Unity graphics engine, companies will be able to easily integrate maps into their video games. Google will also add a new API that will allow the creation of interactive scenarios in real locations. The integration of Google Maps with Unity will give developers great flexibility in customizing and editing maps. Both buildings and roads will become objects that content creators will be able to transform and shape.
Thus, it will be possible to generate completely new scenarios from existing locations. This collaboration between Google Maps and the videogame sector may represent a before and after in the integration of augmented reality in our daily lives. Many world-renowned franchises such as The Walking Dead or Jurassic World have already published video games that use Google Maps to enhance the user experience. And thanks to the advancement of new trends, it is very likely that we will soon see how experiential learning will benefit from Google’s presence in the industry. According to Clementine Jacoby, product manager for Google Maps, ” Development agencies will be able to turn our environment into a medieval fantasy world, a candy land or a zombie-infested post-apocalyptic city. With real-time Google Maps updates, developers will be able to find the best possible scenarios no matter where players are.”
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