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Google wants to help streamline the process of deciding on a restaurant — and make it easier to get there. The Google I/O developer event today gave a sneak peek at Google Map’s new social and augmented reality features.
Google vice president of product and engineering Jen Fitzpatrick unveiled a new tab called “For You” that will show users their local neighborhood spots, which restaurants are trending, and the latest updates from businesses in their area. To complement that, users will also get a “Your Match” score that will calculate whether or not they will like an eatery based on where they’ve been before and how they’ve rated those places.
In addition to adding a personal element to finding places to go in Google Maps, Fitzpatrick also demoed a new way to share places with friends. By long-pressing (tapping and then holding down) on a restaurant, users can add that location to a list that they can then share. Maps previously rolled out a way for people to share lists, but now recipients can suggest more places as well as “vote” on which place to go by tapping like or dislike buttons.
The app is also getting an AR upgrade. Google vice president of AR, VR, and vision-based products Aparna Chennapragada showed off a new augmented reality overlay. When users hold up their phone’s camera, a visual positioning system will enable Maps to orient itself to which direction the user is facing and pinpoint their exact location. The overlay will also surface information about nearby places, as well as pop up the street names around the user.
