Walking in the scorching sun will soon be a problem of the past. Google Maps is testing a feature that calculates pedestrian routes with the most shadeideal for avoiding heat and UV rays on summer days.
The feature is especially useful in unfamiliar cities. Where before you depended on luck, Now the app will automatically guide you through the most beautiful streetsmaking every journey more pleasant and safe.
Here’s how Google Maps technology will work to help you avoid the sun while walking
Discovered in the code of the latest version of Google Maps for Android, the function in question takes its name “Prefer the shade” and will appear in the travel options menu once started. Interestingly, the code also reveals the ability to choose sunny routes, ideal for the colder months. The app too it will show the exact minutes you would spend walking in the sun.
The big unknown is how Google will differentiate the shaded areas. While other apps use LiDAR technology, found in Street View cars, Google is likely using algorithms that combine time of day, location, and buildings to predict shadows on each street.. An effective, if perhaps less precise, approach to considering trees and vegetation.
Google isn’t starting from scratch in this area. Since 2015 they have Project Sunroof technology uses Maps data to analyze rooftop solar exposure and promote solar energy. This technology demonstrated that Google can accurately calculate the incidence of the sun on any surface, a perfect basis for developing shaded walking paths.
The evolution of this technology is promising. The same explanatory video of the Sunroof Project already highlighted about ten years ago how “we could take information from Google Maps to show how much sunlight falls on a roof”. Today, with updates to the Solar Maps API and advances in artificial intelligence, this ability could be refined to calculate shadows on streets and sidewalks.
With Gemini models already integrated into Maps, Google has the potential to do this enhance Project Sunroof with artificial intelligence and adapt it to the functionality of shaded paths. While this is still speculation, the underlying technology exists and is proven. It just remains to be seen how Google connects these developments to create more interesting routes in our urban travels.
Source | Android Authority
