Google Maps Could Make Multi-Car Travel Easier With This Handy Feature

Google has filed a patent application for a new feature for Google Maps. It should make traveling for several people easier, if it sees the light of day.

We know the hassle of getting to a place with your car, but also of designing the right route: whether to take one, or drop off another. Google is working on it, as shown in a recently filed patent application discovered by Igiltato make Google Maps even a little more useful.

How Google Maps wants to coordinate multi-user navigation

This patent was discovered in applications filed in the United States by Google. It aims to coordinate navigation for groups. The idea is that users should be able to create group trips. The route creator can add other users to a group, in order to go to the same destination from several locations.

You can obviously decide to go through all the starting points in order to carpool if you are driving, for example. Be careful though, this is not a Blablacar-style carpooling system: a priori, you will need to know the other users to travel with them.

During the journey, Google Maps can send notifications, share trip progress and even suggest meeting places, making parking easier. The good thing about this is that if someone comes to pick you up, you won’t have to ask them every five minutes when they’re coming. By going to Google Maps, you will be able to see it. And this, even with several participants.

So you can be warned if traffic is heavy and/or there is an accident on the road. In its patent, Google even adds a voice chat function between participants. If you are traveling in several cars, you will be able to have an idea of ​​the progress of the other car: if it is in front, behind. Enough to adjust your speed or stop at the next motorway rest area (and on top of that, take a break).

The system described is in the context of a patent application. Google conceptualized this system, but did not implement it at all. Google Maps could one day test and even deploy this solution, but could also abandon it. Therefore, there is no guarantee that this feature will see the light of day.