Launched in 2023, Immersive View is a brilliant way to explore the world from the comfort of your mobile phone. The feature combines aerial imagery, street-level shots, satellite maps, weather forecasts, you name it – in short, everything Google has about a specific location to create a multi-dimensional view of a particular place.
Advanced computer vision and AI use all these data to create a lifelike world simulation so you can explore a place like you’re there. You can also simulate traffic conditions, busyness levels, and even the weather based on the forecast.
Now that you understand how great Immersive View can be, you can imagine that releasing it in a new region involves tremendous work. Google has just announced that five major cities in Canada are getting Immersive View – Montreal, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa, and Edmonton.
If you live in Canada and want to try out Immersive View on your phone, fire up Google Maps on Android or iPhone, navigate to one of the cities mentioned above, and look for the preview icon on the screen. Tap it, and you’ll enter the Immersive View screen, where you can move around and explore the place as if you’re there already.
You don’t need the latest Google Maps version, but a recent release is required to get access to Immersive View. However, the content is available on the server side, so you should be able to load the feature even if Google Maps is not up to date.
Meanwhile, while Immersive View launched in these five Canadian cities, the feature remains unavailable for the biggest part of the world. Google needs more time to release it everywhere, and it’ll probably take years before the broad availability phase is reached.
Google has also released a version of Immersive View specifically aimed at drivers. This feature is called Immersive View for routes, and it is an improved route preview tool that allows drivers to explore a route generated by Google Maps using the multi-dimensional view before they begin driving.
The feature uses the same data as the standard Immersive View, allowing users to view rich details like trees, buildings, and crosswalks and simulate traffic based on historical patterns and Google Maps data. The Immersive View for routes feature is also available in limited regions, as Google needs more time to release it everywhere, considering the amount of data that must be processed for every route. For now, the standard route preview screen in Google Maps remains available for everybody.