I'm sure you've stepped off the subway more than once, looking for a specific street, only to have Google Maps go haywire trying to pinpoint your exact location. Those few seconds of waiting can feel like an eternity, but it's even worse when we ourselves don't know which corner corresponds to the one the map is showing us. Luckily, it seems augmented reality will solve all these problems.
Google Maps with augmented reality
The Wall Street Journal has had the opportunity to test a preview version of an upcoming feature for the Google browser. This feature, called Visual Positioning System (VPS) , was first unveiled at Google I/O 2018 , but nothing has been heard about it since. The WSJ has demonstrated how this new utility works, and it appears to be quite useful and 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 10, 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 come with some details that could become problems. The first is related to how users will walk down the street. If today's " walking zombies" glued to social media can cause collisions due to inattention, this way of carrying a phone while walking through a semi-virtual world won't make things any 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.