Google Maps improves visual and interactive features to meet Indian users’ needs

Mountain View: Google Maps is undergoing significant transformations to meet the evolving expectations of users, particularly in India, catering to a growing demand for more visual and immersive experiences.

According to Miriam Karthika Daniel, Vice President of Maps Experiences at Google, users globally, especially the younger generation, desire more engaging and immersive visual content, leading to a revamp in the Maps platform.

Daniel emphasised the importance of voice and visual experiences, particularly in India, which is the leading country in voice-based searches.

The integration of vernacular languages into searches has been a significant shift, enabling users to conduct searches more seamlessly.

One of the pivotal changes comes with the expansion of Street View, now available in over 3000 Indian cities, enabling the introduction of more visual and immersive use cases.

Google has collaborated with local partners, Genesys International and Tech Mahindra, to deploy Street View using AI and imagery.

This expansion is accompanied by the launch of Lens in Maps across 15 Indian cities by January 2024. This feature allows users to access information about businesses simply by pointing their Android phone's camera down a street.

Additionally, Live View Walking Navigation will offer arrows, directions, and distance markers overlaid on Maps screens in over 3000 cities for Android users.

Utilising AI for nearly a decade, Google Maps has mapped extensive urban and rural roads, and over 300 million buildings, and facilitated over 50 million daily searches across multiple languages. The platform handles over 2.5 billion kilometres of direction daily in India alone. Google’s AI technology has also integrated over 30 million businesses and places into Maps, fostering more than 900 million connections monthly between consumers and businesses.

The AI-driven technology has enhanced commute decisions by offering efficient routes with traffic predictions.

Project Greenlight, for instance, analyses traffic patterns to optimise traffic flow at intersections. Despite variations in traffic modes in India leading to slightly varied Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA), the platform's models continuously self-learn and update for improved accuracy.

Moreover, Google Maps introduces several India-specific features, including places of worship, medical facilities, and government services.

Address descriptors, an India-first innovation, assist users in understanding addresses better by providing relevant landmarks and area names around a pinned address for reference in unfamiliar areas.

Fuel-efficient routing, another AI-driven feature launching in India, is estimated to prevent significant CO2 emissions.

Google is collaborating with ONDC and the Namma Yatri mobility app to bring metro schedules and bookings to users in Kochi, aiming to expand this service to other cities.

The innovations introduced in India are anticipated to serve as a blueprint for similar challenges in Africa and Latin America, where traffic patterns mirror those in India.