Google Maps is getting a slick new Immersive View for routes — here’s your first look

Google I/O 2023 is going heavy on AI, and it seems like artificial intelligence will be infiltrating every Google service under the sun. Google Maps is no exception, with AI coming to help blend navigation with Google’s new Immersive View.

Immersive View first debuted at Google I/O 2022, and offered a 3D flyover view of various cities around the world. Immersive View for Routes, as this new feature is being called, brings Google Maps’ core feature into the mix.

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So rather than being stuck viewing your upcoming trips from a birds-eye view of the map, you go into a 3D visualization of the areas you’ll be traveling through. It’s not quite street level, as you’d experience using Google Street View, but it's as close as you can get without losing your route.

That visualization will be able to show more than just a 3D view of the streets too. Google revealed that you will be able to integrate traffic, weather and air quality data on Immersive View for Routes. Then, depending on your travel time, Immersive View for Routes will adapt to show you a visualization of what conditions will be like when you’re traveling.

Immersive View for Routes will work with driving, walking and cycling directions. The feature itself is set to launch this summer, and will be available in 15 cities before the end of the year. Those cities include London, New York, San Francisco and Tokyo, but other locations have yet to be confirmed.

Be sure to check out our Google I/O 2023 live blog for all the latest news and updates from the conference.

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Tom is the Tom's Guide's UK Phones Editor, tackling the latest smartphone news and vocally expressing his opinions about upcoming features or changes. It's long way from his days as editor of Gizmodo UK, when pretty much everything was on the table. He’s usually found trying to squeeze another giant Lego set onto the shelf, draining very large cups of coffee, or complaining about how terrible his Smart TV is.