Google notes changes coming to Google Maps, including AR-powered “Search with Live View”

On Thursday, Google revealed in a blog post that some changes are coming to Google Maps. One new feature, Live View Search, was introduced in September and will launch next week on iOS and Android in London, Los Angeles, New York, Paris, San Francisco and Tokyo. The feature that uses augmented reality requires the use of the phone’s camera. Here’s how it works.

For example, let’s imagine you’re in New York and want to run some errands, do some holiday shopping, and have dinner with friends. Thanks to artificial intelligence, augmented reality and billions of Street View images, you can find the places you need that are mostly right in front of you. In Google Maps, raise your phone and tap the camera icon in the search bar to see nearby shops, coffee shops, banks, and ATMs.

The user will see arrows and directions against the real world thanks to AR. And with all of those aforementioned Street View images available, even shops that are around the corner and out of reach of your phone’s camera can appear. And in addition to showing the name of each store, bank or restaurant, Search with Live View will provide you with other important information, such as whether the store is open or closed, how busy it might be, the prices are cheap or high, and how high or low the Google Maps community thinks the business is.

The filter can also be used to show charging stations that use plugs compatible with your vehicle. These new features are available right now on iOS and Android devices in various countries

which have charging stations for electric vehicles.

Finally, Google reminds us that it’s been two years since it started showing wheelchair accessible places in Australia, Japan, the UK and the US. This feature will let you know if your destination is wheelchair accessible. The good news is that the feature is now available worldwide on Google Maps, whether you’re on iOS or Android. To use it, turn on the “Accessible Places” setting in Google Maps. Here’s what you do:

Open Google Maps and tap your initials or profile picture to the right of the search bar at the top of the display. Click Settings > Accessibility Settings. Turn on Accessible Locations to “Show if locations have wheelchair accessible features such as entrances, seating areas, restrooms, and parking when searching or viewing a location.” Google does caution that the accessibility information you see in this feature may differ from real-world conditions.