Google Maps is the go-to navigation tool for many worldwide. Despite the Live Location feature, group travel in separate cars and other vehicle still remains a challenge. When friends or family head to the same destination, there’s often a flurry of questions: “Where are you?”, “How long will you take?” Some are ahead, others fall behind.
Google will soon fix that with a new feature that allows users in different locations to navigate to a shared destination within a specific time frame. Xleaks7, a Twitter user, first spotted Google’s patent filing about an advanced Multi-Car Co-Navigation feature meant for the Google Maps. Of course, it’s about traveling with a fleet of cars of your friends or a cab service.
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Using Google Maps For Group Travel Is Trickty
Generally, when a group of people travel to the same destination (like you and your friends heading to a farmhouse for a weekend getaway) in separate cars, everyone gets their directions on respective Google Maps app on their phones. This often leads to confusion, with constant calls and messages as people try to keep track of each other’s progress, wasting time and causing confusion.
The patented feature aims to solve these issues by coordinating navigation for groups, allowing everyone to arrive smoothly and on time while staying aware of each other’s location.
How Google Maps’ New Feature Could Fix Group Travel
Google’s patent, titled “Providing Navigation Instructions to One Device in View of Another Device,” talks about identifying multiple users traveling to a common destination from different origin points. It could potentially use calendar schedules and messages to determine users’ travel intentions.
When Google Maps detects that multiple users are traveling to the same destination in separate vehicles, it may automatically send invitations to join a multi-car navigation group, allowing everyone to travel together even from different starting points. You might also be able to initiate co-navigation yourself and add others to the group.
When driving in multi-car co-navigation mode, you may enjoy the following features:
- Position Sharing: It shares the real-time location of each user’s device with the other members of the group. This allows everyone to see each other’s progress toward the destination.
- Voice Chat: It voice communication among group members, allowing them to communicate and coordinate their movements easily.
- Route Sharing: It can identify shared portions of the route that all group members will be traveling on. This information can be used for various purposes, such as optimizing the overall route for the group.
- Traffic and Road Quality Information: It allows the lead vehicle in the group to share real-time traffic and road quality information with the other members. This helps everyone in the group to be aware of potential delays or hazards on the road.
- Coordination of Stops and Speed Adjustments: If a participant is significantly ahead of the others, the system can suggest that they stop or adjust their speed to stick together.
- Detour Suggestions: If a participant takes a detour from the planned route, the app could automatically suggest that others also detour (for fueling up, stopping for refreshments, or if a better route is found).
- Stop Coordination: The system can detect when a participant is likely to stop and coordinate this with the rest of the group, ensuring that everyone is aware of the stop and can plan accordingly.
Here’s What You May Use it For
This upcoming Google Maps feature will be helpful in various scenarios, for example:
- Family Vacations and Road Trips: Keep track of multiple family vehicles on long trips, ensuring that everyone is aware of each other’s location and progress. It helps in regrouping at rest stops or points of interest.
- Business Convoys: Coordinating logistics for groups traveling to conferences, events, or business meetings, making sure all vehicles arrive together and on schedule.
- Social Events and Large Group Outings: Organizing trips to events, parties, or gatherings, where friends or groups can stay connected, track each other’s progress, and plan stops or meet-ups efficiently.
- Emergency Situations: In the event of a vehicle breakdown or accident, the feature allows group members to quickly locate the affected car and provide necessary assistance. This adds a layer of safety, especially in unfamiliar areas or long-distance travel.
There Can Be Some Limitations
There could be privacy concerns that may arise with Google Maps relying on information from your calendar and messages to determine group travel. Plus, the constant updates and notifications about other vehicles’ locations and progress could also be distracting to the drivers.
Is the Feature Coming Soon?
While Google might have patented the technology, there’s no guarantee it’ll end up on our phones any time soon. And while we strongly believe Google will continue working on polishing this feature. However, there’s no clear timeline, as it would require a lot of testing before public release. When it does, it will definitely change the way we travel, making group trips much easier.
In the meantime, stay tuned for updates from Google Maps and share your thoughts on this potential feature. Would you use multi-car navigation if it became available? Let us know in the comments.
