The Google Maps navigation app now offers its users to find their way through augmented reality in Google Maps. A tool still in the phase of beta-test that could allow many users to not get lost.

It is often easy to get lost in big cities and unknown places, even helped by Google Maps. To overcome this thorny problem, and ensure its users an ever more accurate route, the Mountain View company has implemented since today a feature based on augmented reality and called Live View.

With a connection, it is now possible to follow his augmented reality journey, directly from the camera of his smartphone. Instead of displaying on a map, the directional arrows are directly integrated into the “real world” , in the manner of Pokémon Go or Harry Potter Wizards Unite games., as the company reveals in an official statement and a rather telling video.

An effective way promises Google, to “better guide” the user, who visualizes more precisely the direction to take.

Already in the test phase on a small community of Pixel users and local guides for a few months, the beta version of this feature for the less promising is available from today on Android devices e iOS compatible ARCore and ARKit (the complete list of compatible devices is available on the Google developer blog).

Even if the latter necessarily requires a proper internet connection, it is difficult to imagine that the option is accessible offline given the resources it requires, this new augmented reality tool is already particularly useful in urban areas, leaving the subway for example. It remains to be seen if the functionality will be as effective in the case of street work.

tag: AR Augmented Reality Google Maps