Google Maps is the sixth application with the most active users in the world. Thanks to its wide data coverage, offers maps of more than 220 countries, with the locations of millions of places and real-time information about traffic, transportation and GPS services.

With over 5 billion downloads, and availability in over 100 languages, it is the number one tool in the ‘Navigation’ category and a must-have for smartphone users.

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In October, Google Maps announced further expansion of its search functionality with Lens (previously called ‘Search with Live View’) to over 50 new locations, including cities in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru.

Now, with the power of artificial intelligence, people can explore and explore various locations in Latin America through real-time augmented reality experiences. Apart from this release, A series of features are presented to help discover new places and companies and plan trips in an easier and more organized way.

Sometimes finding your way in an unfamiliar place can be a challenge. To make this task easier, The Lens tool in Google Maps helps people follow walking directions and find symbolic sites or buildings, such as restaurants, cafes, ATMs and shops efficiently, thanks to the use of mobile cameras to view each city directly.

From now on, this function will be available in six destinations in Latin America: the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires (Argentina), Santiago de Chile (Chile), Bogotá (Colombia), Mexico City and Monterrey (Mexico) and Lima (Peru).

How does it work? Thanks to augmented reality and artificial intelligence, on the screen – once the device camera is activated – arrows, direction and distance markers are displayed at the top and, in some cases, on the mini map at the bottom. This way, people spend less time thinking about where to go and quickly identify points of interest and routes. This feature is available for Android and iOS devices.

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Step by step to use Lens

If you want to use the ‘Live View’ option on Android or iOS devices, you need to follow these steps:

1. Download and open the Google Maps application.

2. Write down the goal You want to reach in the search bar at the top of the screen or select a place on the map.

3. Select ‘How to get there’ option.

4. Between options type of transport displayed, select ‘On foot’ (the option is represented by a silhouette of a person walking).

5. In the bottom window, Select the ‘Live View’ button in the middle of the panel.

6. When the camera is on, Point your device at buildings, signs, and street signs so Maps can find your location. If this is your first time using this option, you will have to accept that the app uses your phone or tablet camera through messages on your screen.

7. When the app has found your location, Directions will appear via the on-screen camera.

8. Upon arrival to your destination or need to change direction, your device will vibrate.

Three new features

Google Maps also launched three new features that speed up destination information searches, places, and more on the platform. Which one?

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Visual search: This feature offers a more intuitive and visual way to search for activities and experiences. When people search for things like “street art”, “deep art lattesor “best beaches”, a list of photography results will be obtained based on the analysis of billions of images shared by the Maps community. The system is powered by artificial intelligence, machine learning and advanced photo recognition models. This way, new sites can be discovered that match what each user is looking for. Just scroll through the results, tap the photo for more information, and navigate there. This new way to search on Maps has already started rolling out in France, Germany, Japan, the UK and the US, and will expand to more countries over time.

Thematic results: The company is improving the way it organizes search results. Therefore, results will now be grouped by themes to help you have a better experience when exploring dining and other activities. For example, if someone is traveling in Tokyo, they can search for “things to do” and suggestions of themed places like “anime,” “cherry blossoms,” or “art exhibitions” will appear. For more information, you just need to click on the site and you can even save the options in a list to view later. The activity and food themed results will roll out globally on Android and iOS in the coming weeks.

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Further information for travel by electric vehicle: New features will be added that help electric vehicle drivers have a better travel experience with Maps. From now on, they will be able to see whether the charger is compatible with the type of plug in their car, know the last time a charging station was used, or understand the charging speeds available at each location (fast, medium, or slow). Additionally, companies will be able to display information about their electric vehicle charging stations in real time via the Places API in Google Maps Platform. This update has also started to be implemented globally, on iOS and Android, in 17 countries such as Spain, United States, Japan, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Australia, and others.

EL COMERCIO EDITORIAL (PERU) – GDA