Google Brings Navigation Innovation: AR Maps, Google Assistant & More

Google’s I/O 2018 event kept things into high gear but nothing stood out quite like the Google Maps updates.

Google Assistant will finally be integrated with Google Maps, both on Android and iOS, sometime this summer.

However, what stole the show was the integrated AR, which will point the way whenever you’re lost. While the 2D view is helpful to navigate around town, sometimes, on narrow streets, it’s almost impossible to decide which is the right way to go.

With AR, you’ll see helpful arrows showing you exactly what to do.

Beyond that, the world’s most popular navigation tool will receive even more personalized recommendations, all gathered in a “For you” tab. Learning from your personal preferences, Maps will now recommend better cafes, restaurants and events.

“Tapping on any food or drink venue will display your “match”—a number that suggests how likely you are to enjoy a place and reasons explaining why.

We use machine learning to generate this number, based on a few factors: what we know about a business, the food and drink preferences you’ve selected in Google Maps, places you’ve been to, and whether you’ve rated a restaurant or added it to a list.

Your matches change as your own tastes and preferences evolve over time—it’s like your own expert sidekick, helping you quickly assess your options and confidently make a decision,” explained Google.

Here is what the redesigned Explore tab looks like.

And that’s not all! The company presented at I/O 2018 an innovative app designed to help the visually impaired.

To make the world more accessible to people who are blind or visually impaired, we’re launching Lookout, a new @Android app that gives spoken cues about the objects, text and people around them → https://t.co/646WS1DXRH #io18 pic.twitter.com/RmOEEUNyiV

— Google (@Google) May 8, 2018

So, what is the update you’re most looking forward to?