Google lets you explore Rio Olympic venues with ‘enhanced’ maps

By Trevor Mogg May 4, 2016

google maps rio olympics — Google

Besides plenty of local visitors, the International Olympic Committee predicts at least half a million people from overseas will descend on Rio de Janeiro for the Games in August.

No doubt lots of them will be carrying smartphones, probably loaded with Google Maps, an app certain to be indispensable in the new and busy surroundings.

Google

olympics indoors — Image used with permission by copyright holder

The Mountain View company is keen to make its maps offering as useful as possible for those heading to the Olympics, this week rolling out updated maps for 25 official indoor venues as well as enhanced maps for 12 official outdoor venues for the Games. The new content comes just a few weeks after the app introduced real-time transit information for the Brazilian host city.

To access the new content, open Google Maps on your computer or mobile device, search for an Olympic venue, zoom into it and then click or tap on it.

At the bottom right side of the display you’ll see numbers for each floor of the building – tap on these to access each level’s map, which’ll highlight information for things like concessions, restrooms, information desks, and ATM machines.

Google offers up a few examples that you can check out right now – there’s the Maracanã Stadium, for example, where the opening and closing ceremonies will take place, and the 18-hole golf course south-west of the city, which’ll host the first Olympic tee-offs in 112 years.

Planning to watch the sporting extravaganza from the comfort of your sofa instead of heading to South America? In that case, Google suggests you use its new content to “daydream about an Olympic getaway,” exploring the venue maps on your smartphone when they show up on the TV during the Olympic events. Think of it as an extremely watered-down virtual reality experience.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Contributing Editor

Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…

Mobile

Google gives Maps’ Immersive View a boost and adds a new vibe feature

An aerial view of London on Google Maps.

Google is continuing its never-ending work of enhancing Maps, with four new updates coming to the app on Wednesday.

First up, the team has been working to expand the coverage of Immersive View. Google started rolling out the feature in July, offering remarkably detailed 3D fly-arounds of famous landmarks and layering it with useful information such as the weather, traffic conditions, and the general busyness of the area. It can do this for the current time or, by examining historical trends, for a future date. Immersive View will also let you zoom in from an aerial view right into, say, a restaurant of interest, at which point the software flips to Street View in order to take you right inside, if the imagery is available.

Mobile

Google Maps rolls out fly-around imagery of top landmarks

An aerial view of London on Google Maps.

Unveiled at its I/O event earlier this year, Google is now rolling out a cool feature for Maps that offers 3D fly-around views of famous landmarks.

The new Immersive Views feature is available for both iOS and Android and offers highly detailed aerial views of well-known places such as London’s Big Ben, New York City’s Empire State Building, and Tokyo’s Skytree.

Mobile

Google will soon let you repair your Pixel phone yourself

Google Pixel 6 Pro top back in hand.

Google has finally joined Apple and Samsung in allowing you to repair your smartphone by yourself. This marks another win for right-to-repair campaigners who have been pushing for smartphone companies to make phones easier to repair without needing to go directly to the company. The program will go live in counties where Pixels are sold later this year through a partnership with iFixit. Unlike Apple and Samsung though, Google says it'll make this available to phones as old as the Pixel 2 all the way through the Pixel 6 Pro.

"Starting later this year, genuine Pixel spare parts will be available for purchase at ifixit.com for Pixel 2 through Pixel 6 Pro, as well as future Pixel models, in the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia, and EU countries where Pixel is available," Google's Ana Corrales, Chief Operating Officer, Consumer Hardware, said in a blog post. "The full range of spare parts for common Pixel phone repairs — things like batteries, replacement displays, cameras, and more — will be available either individually or in iFixit Fix Kits, which include tools like screwdriver bits and spudgers."