first published week of:   03/13/2023

Google Maps' Stunning Live Search May Change the Way You See the World

by Charlie Sorrel

Google Maps has added a Live Search feature that overlays search results and additional information on maps in real-time, letting you find out more about the world around you, but it could be more beneficial to Google than to the people who choose to use it.

Google Maps' new Live View is an impressive feature that gives us one more way not to pay attention to the world around us.

Live View gives us a peek at the future of augmented reality (AR). You hold your phone up, and the app scans the surroundings through your camera and overlays map data on the live view. The idea is that you can find out more about your surroundings. But does this add useful data to the world or turn the street into one more Google Maps layer?

“We're already so connected to our phones and tablets that we risk accidents on the daily because we're too busy scrolling to pay attention when walking or driving. This new feature will make that worse,” Kyle MacDonald, VP at GPS tracking company Mojio, told Lifewire via email.

 Read full story at Lifewire…

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