US digital giant Google unveiled on Tuesday (30 March) new features for its Google Maps app that will make use of artificial intelligence (AI). EURACTIV France reports.
“This year, we’re on track to bring over 100 AI-powered improvements to Google Maps so you can get the most accurate, up-to-date information about the world, exactly when you need it,” Dane Glasgow, vice president of products at Google Maps, wrote in a statement.
Among the new features, Google Maps wants to use AI to help its users reduce their carbon footprint by taking into account fuel consumption based on road inclination or traffic jams when the app suggests a route.
“Soon, Google Maps will default to the route with the lowest carbon footprint when it has approximately the same ETA (estimated time of arrival) as the fastest route.” the statement added.
The move echoes Google’s commitment to be the first multinational to go carbon-free by 2030.
The new route suggestions should also include weather conditions – “so you’ll never be caught in the rain without an umbrella” the US giant boasts – but also information on air quality, “especially useful if you suffer from allergies or are in an area prone to smog or fires.”
Google has also announced it is working on a system to alert drivers when they enter a low-emission zone so they can make sure there are no restrictions against their vehicle.
Google also said it wants to improve navigation, especially indoors, with so-called “global localization” technology for its Live View feature.
“Thanks to new advancements that help us understand the precise altitude and placement of objects inside a building, we’re now able to bring Live View to some of the trickiest-to-navigate places indoors: airports, transit stations, and malls,” Galsgow added.
[Edited by Benjamin Fox]
