Google will add Gemini to its map of India, which will also provide road safety warnings and detailed information about routes.
The AI integration, which launched in the US on Wednesday, provides hands-free AI assistance in Maps, as well as contextual suggestions while navigating and information about places of interest.
Miriam Daniel, vice president and head of Google Maps, said the rollout required significant localization.
“Localizing for India is not just about language,” she said during a virtual briefing. “And how Indians use products, how Indians talk, how they ask questions, how they identify locations, geopolitical locations, street names, everything is a little different in India.”
Gemini in Maps will be available to all Android and iOS users in India in the coming weeks, Google said. At launch, Gemini will support nine Indian languages.
Google is also adding a set of India-specific navigation and commuting updates. Drivers will receive visual and audio warnings when passing through accident-prone areas. Google said it is working with local authorities to address these warnings and the feature will be rolled out to Android users in Cyberabad areas of Gurugram, Hyderabad, Chandigarh and Faridabad.
Google has come under increasing scrutiny in India over the reliability of some of its navigation routes after three men were killed when their car fell off an unfinished bridge in Uttar Pradesh late last year.
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When asked about warnings about unfinished roads and unfinished bridges, Google Maps senior program manager Anal Ghosh said, “Real-world conditions can keep changing, are very dynamic, and sometimes change instantly. Maps can never be 100% accurate.” “We therefore advise users to keep their eyes on the road.”
Google announced that it has partnered with the country’s highway regulator, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), to obtain near real-time data on road closures, detours, and repair work. According to the company, this partnership will enable the map to display facilities along national highways, such as public restrooms, restaurants, and gas stations.
Other new features include advance notification of major disruptions or delays on the route, even when the user is not sailing. These alerts are being rolled out to Android users on expressways and major roads in New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore.
The app also displays speed limits while navigating using data from local transportation authorities. The feature will be rolled out to Android and iOS users across nine cities: Faridabad, Ghaziabad, Gurugram, Hyderabad (including Cyberabad region), Jaipur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, and Noida.
Building on the flyover navigation feature released last year, Maps is now getting voice support for flyovers. This feature will roll out to Android and iOS users in the coming weeks.
