Surely more than once you have left the subway in search of a certain street and Google Maps He's gone crazy trying to figure out exactly which corner of the map you're in. Those seconds of waiting may seem eternal, but everything gets worse when we ourselves don't know which corner corresponds to the one that the browser marks on the screen. Luckily, it seems that everything will have a solution thanks to augmented reality.
Google Maps with augmented reality
At Wall Street Journal They have been able to test a preview version of the next feature that will come to Google's browser. It is a function called Visual Positioning System (VPS) that already appeared in the past Google I/O 2018 and of which nothing has been heard from until now. WSJ has shown how this new utility works, and the truth is that it seems downright useful, as well as very easy to use.
According to what they say, next to the classic Start navigation button, we will now find another one called "Start AR", a mode that will turn on the phone's rear camera, show us the image of the streets in real time and place references and directions on the image to obtain extra information about the real world. We will only have to aim around us so that the system recognizes some points of interest and quickly positions itself on the map.
Remember that AR Google Maps thing from last year? It's coming, and I tried it out — and wrote about how the way we navigate the world is changing in big ways https://t.co/6p8D02NwfE pic.twitter.com/IFvINGfdkB
—David Pierce (@pierce) February 10th 2019
In this way, we will have a vision of the environment that surrounds us with all kinds of information, being able to enjoy guided navigation with the route to be followed, real-time indications and a large pin "the size of a telephone booth" upon arrival. .
The problems of augmented reality
Like any revolutionary new feature in the world of technology, the launch will be accompanied by some details that could turn into problems. The first is related to the way users will walk down the street. If you currently zombies walkers hooked on social networks can cause collisions due to forgetfulness, this way of carrying the mobile while we walk through a semi-virtual world will not make things easier on the streets.
To make matters worse, taking the phone so exposed will not be highly recommended if you want to avoid a scare with a possible theft, although the idea of the function is to reduce the revision of the navigation thanks to its way of representing the indications on the screen. If you see an arrow turn within two blocks, you won't look at your phone again until that point.
When can we download the new version of Google Maps?
For now we will have to wait, since Google assures that they still need to carry out many tests to achieve optimal performance of the function. For now, only some users, such as those with Local Guides profiles or the most active ones, will receive it, so we will have to remain vigilant until Google provides more details about it.