Improved Google Maps Navigation

  Improved Google Maps Navigation During Bad Weather 

Nobody likes to drive in heavy rain or during a snowstorm, not only because of the obvious hazards but also because seeing the place they're looking for on the side of the road is more difficult. Google Maps' new feature will help you navigate away from areas disrupted by major weather events. When disaster strikes, we’ve come to rely on our phones. We scroll through Twitter for the latest update on a hurricane or flood, and mark ourselves safe from wildfires or tornadoes on Facebook. Imagine you're dealing with heavy rain when trying to find a new restaurant. Despite using navigation software like Google Maps and Waze, taking your eyes off the road and looking for nearby restaurants is dangerous, especially because rain makes it difficult to see anything on the side of the road. The app will offer crisis navigation warnings and provide detailed visual information about hurricanes, tornadoes and earthquakes. The same thing happens to everything a driver must see when driving to a destination under difficult conditions.

Adverse weather conditions could impact the driver's ability to observe important information, such as the street signs or landmarks that are critical to finding a destination. Navigation apps could offer guidance to help find a destination, but due to bad weather, low light conditions and temporary obstacles, the driver could miss the address. Now Google is adding a disaster-navigation tool to Google Maps. A new feature on Google Maps will route users away from areas that are affected by extreme weather events. It will allow you to see confirmed road closures in the affected area, as well as suspected closures (based on crowd sourced user responses). Maps users will also be able to share their live location and other details of the event with friends and family members. This is an issue Google plans to address with a new idea called "enhanced navigation instructions with landmarks under difficult driving conditions." The company recently filed a patent for a technology whose role is to help drivers find their destinations even when their sight is obstructed due to various factors, including bad weather.

The idea is to integrate real-time (or near-real-time) information into an app that millions of people already use frequently. The new Google Map features will route you away from road closures and provide you with detailed visual information about the storm or quake. The first part of the new technology is determining that the driver faces adverse weather conditions and certain information, such as street signs and landmarks, are obstructed. Google Maps offers turn-by-turn guidance and includes details which could help the driver find their destination. If these details cannot be observed, the application no longer serves its purpose correctly. There are visual updates to existing alerts coming, too. In the case of a hurricane, a notification card will pop up days in advance with a “forecast cone” showing the storm’s trajectory and a prediction of when it might hit your area. Likewise, an earthquake “shake app” will show the quake’s epicentre and magnitude. Google Maps will also display forecasts of when the next flood will come and where the biggest flood risks are. Google proposes an approach that relies on on board systems to help Google Maps determine the driving conditions. One concept allows the vehicle-integrated Google Maps to receive real-time data from cameras installed on the car. The application can compare a live image with an existing database, therefore trying to determine if landmarks are visible. If they're not, the application activates an enhanced navigation mode that offers additional information and sometimes suggests other landmarks or visible details to help drivers determine which way they must go.

Google’s crisis-response efforts aren’t new. In 2012, the company launched Public Alerts, which surfaces emergency weather and public-safety alerts near you on Google Maps. And in 2017, it introduced SOS alerts, relevant emergency information that appears at the top of searches and inside Maps. A Google Maps version with deeper vehicle integration is only possible via Android Automotive. The navigation app is already available on Google's embedded operating system, mainly installed in EVs, getting access to battery data and other car information. Google Maps can monitor the battery range and suggest charging stops along the route when the battery level doesn't allow the driver to arrive at the destination with the existing charge. Starting this year, Google Maps on Android Automotive will also suggest nearby compatible charging stations when the battery level drops below a pre-defined setting. Google says that the driver must configure navigation to a desired destination and let Google Maps obtain previously captured imagery of one or more locations along the route. The application would be able to identify a landmark included in the imagery automatically. Using real-time imagery from a camera located in the vehicle, Google Maps would instantly conduct an analysis, with a comparison between the two images helping the app determine whether a landmark would be observable by the driver. If the application determines that the driver might not see the landmark included in the navigation directions, Google Maps can "modify the initial directions to indicate at least one other landmark."

The new features join other private-sector responses to public communication failures during disasters. Google's new technology could be expanded to work in every scenario where the driver's sign could be obstructed. For example, if you drive by a bus which doesn't allow you to observe a landmark or a street sign, Google Maps could adjust its directions in real time to provide updated guidance using elements you can see from your location and angle. The system would work similarly when driving in low-light conditions and at night. Because you might not be able to observe certain information included in Google Maps' navigation guidance, the application would use images from your car's camera to scan your surroundings for landmarks which would improve the navigation experience.

Using data from official sources, the app will keep affected smartphone users up to date on major weather events. Public agencies have used social media to improve their warning systems and communications. Meanwhile, you can find the full patent application, which also includes more technical details about how the improved navigation experience would work in adverse weather conditions. The patent was issued on April 30, so we're still in its early days, should Google plan to develop a production version of the technology. While this technology is a brilliant way to make navigation more convenient and straightforward, it's important to remember that Google's proposed technology is currently in the patent stage. It means the work on its development hasn't even started, and there's no guarantee the search giant would pursue this idea. Companies sometimes patent new technologies just to make sure competitors don't create something similar, so it's impossible to tell if Google is committed to bringing this enhanced navigation system to production devices anything soon.