Google LLC has started rolling out a new augmented reality feature in Google Maps to some users after first teasing the technology at its I/O conference in May.

The feature allows users to point their device and have Google Maps overlay the direction they need to walk. Although there have been various apps over the years that use AR, Google’s implementation adds something special in terms of artificial intelligence. It primarily uses GPS to locate a given user, but the Maps AR integration then taps into Google Street View imagery to cross-check the location to provide more accurate details.

The user essentially gets a Pokemon Go-style experience without Pokemon. Pointing the camera in the direction they are heading, Maps AR applies arrows pointing in the direction they need to head along with a small section at the bottom showing a traditional Google Maps direction map.

Citing safety, Google says the app doesn’t want users to rely too heavily on AR to get around. If a phone is held up in AR mode for too long, a message appears asking the user to lower the device and if that’s ignored, the screen eventually darkens until it is lowered.

The first journalist to test an early demo version of Maps AR was David Pierce at The Wall Street Journal, who was mostly positive about the feature in a column today.

“A moment after the app found me, a set of bold, can’t-miss-’em 3-D arrows appeared on my phone screen, hovering in the middle of the street,” Pierce wrote. “The arrows pointed right, so I headed right. That’s when a rectangular blue sign appeared, floating above the sidewalk: 249 feet until my next turn. At the corner, the arrows again pointed right, and down the street a phone booth-size red pin marked my destination. It was as if Maps had drawn my directions onto the real world, though nobody else could see them.”

Google has started rolling out the feature to Local Guides who provide reviews, add photos and update information in Maps but has not given a timetable on when it might be available to all users.

Image: Google