Google Maps Adds Gemini AI-Powered 'Ask Maps' Feature and 3D Immersive Navigation - MacRumors
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Google Maps Adds Gemini AI-Powered 'Ask Maps' Feature and 3D Immersive Navigation

Google today added Gemini AI to Google Maps, enabling a new Ask Maps feature. Gemini in maps can answer complex, real-world questions that Google says "a map could never answer before."

google maps gemini integration
There is a new Ask Maps button where Google Maps users can get answers to specific questions like "is there a public tennis court with lights on that I can play at tonight?" Google says that finding information like that would have taken a lot of sifting through reviews in the past, but now Google Maps can provide an answer with a custom map.

The feature can be used for trip planning, and it is able to provide tailored responses based on prior searches or saved information in the app. Google Maps can build a trip itinerary using information from more than 300 million places, including reviews from the Google community.

Along with Ask Maps, Google also introduced Immersive Navigation, which Google says is the biggest update to driving in Google Maps in over a decade. There is a 3D view that displays buildings, overpasses, and terrain, and Google Maps will highlight important road details like lanes, crosswalks, traffic lights, and stop signs when providing directions.

Google says that the app will have a new spatial understanding of the route that it's providing, which is made possible with Gemini models. Gemini analyzes real-world imagery from Street View and aerial photos to provide new details.

The updated navigation provides a broader route view with more information about what's coming ahead, more details about tradeoffs with alternate routes, and route previews for planning parking and other actions.

Ask Maps is rolling out in the U.S. and India on iOS and Android, with the feature set to expand to the desktop version of Google Maps soon. Immersive Navigation is rolling out in the U.S. today, though not all users will see it at first. Google says availability will expand over the coming months to eligible iOS and Android devices, plus CarPlay and Android Auto.

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Top Rated Comments

9 months ago
As long as Apple doesn’t have a thriving community to fix maps errors and report road works and accidents, it’s never going to match Google Maps. At least not in Europe.

(This coming from a Apple Maps user)
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
9 months ago

Google is adding AI everywhere while Apple is two years late and counting in adding it to Siri.
AI is overrated.

I had to correct Gemini five times while just trying to get it to say how to use these new features. And it still wasn’t accurate.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
tennisproha Avatar
9 months ago
Apple Maps 3D navigation with lane guidance is so so good. Gonna be hard to match. The only issue is lane guidance data needs to be better, especially after never ending construction changes.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
9 months ago
looks like you would immerse your vehicle into the building if you followed the path shown in the map. but it would have to be a flying car and at least the last I checked we don't have those yet.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
9 months ago
Sweet it'll track you while you're driving and send you intrusive notifications based on where you frequently drive by. Then Facebook will pick up on your Google shared data and show you content from the stores you drive by on the way to work.

AI could change the world for the better but nope it's a 24/7 advertisement algorithm.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
turbineseaplane Avatar
9 months ago

Yelp is borderline worthless. Yea, it was popular...15 years ago, which is the last time I left a review. It was Seva in Ann Arbor.

Some of the local business here have zero Yelp reviews, and they aren't new places.
Even worse, they seem to filter/delete/moderate reviews that aren't quite positive enough. I've never been able to figure out if they do that on their own, at the request of a business or ... perhaps for a fee to the business.

Yelp is a SUPER GARBAGE company.
Like as scammy and scummy as it gets.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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