CIOInsider India Magazine
Wildfire? Worry Not! Google Maps is Here to Save the Day
Exploring nature can be thrillingly adventurous, until a natural disaster such as wildfire for instance starts to turn that ‘happy-go-lucky’ forest expedition into a game of actual survival. But ever thought of avoiding such disasters even before stepping into them? Yes, it’s tech again, and by Google, which now has a feature in its Google Maps that not only shows users the areas that are on fire, but provides details to call for help.
The feature certainly seems to come in handy for people working in the wild, such as forest departments, wildlife photographers, researchers and similar others. Since it’s not every day that natural disasters strike or occur, but when they do, nature sure seems to get it cooking. Although, humanity is mostly to blame, since a lot of technological or constructive ideas in turn end up taking most part of nature away from the animals who not only call the forest their hometown, but each contribute a significant role in keeping the planet green and moving. Perhaps the most obvious example to state would be the working of the bees for the most part, to help in pollination.
Birds help in the growth of crops by feeding on the insects that feed on crops, basically the best and suitable insect repellents that the agriculture sector could rely on. Rather than using pesticides and other harmful chemicals intended to prevent vermin but end up making the human to kick the bucket. Yet now, with Google Maps’ new feature, it implies how tech can be used for saving, since it’s not just about providing information on wildfires, but this helps one to seek help and prevent those fires from growing huge. Unless the respective fire department team makes it on time, that’s another story, but this is about the unique fire detecting feature and other features that the tech giant came up with.
Google Maps Detect Wildfires and Map Out Information for Help
The tech giant has done it again and this time it has added another feature that is described as a new wildfire layer that detects areas that are caught on fire in real time. This feature is added to its navigation tool, which not only shows areas that are on fire but helps users take necessary measures that are nearby or accessible.
Meaning, users may not have to sweat over the situation, as the tech giant’s new feature helps them by providing links to emergency services that can be quickly accessed. These include emergency websites, aid and information phone numbers, and evacuation instructions. Details on containment, acres burned, and the timestamp of reports will be available as well.
Thereby allowing users to take quick decisions before the situation becomes life threatening. Hence, the feature provides details on numerous flames at once and enables the user to avoid such areas in the first place.
But looking more into the feature, the tech giant has induced the feature with satellite data that helps provide real-time information to users. Additionally, the tech giant plans on showing large fires that cause considerable evacuations in the app, which will begin rolling out globally on Android, with iOS and PC arriving in October this year.
Back to the feature’s current aspects, one talks about how being in the US offers additional data from the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC). In the future, more improved details will be rolled out to more countries, including Australia.
Therefore, those trekking and hiking trips just upgraded to being safe now, since the new feature will surely help in avoiding such areas in the first place.
On that accord, the tech giant came out with another feature that helps detect high rising temperatures in cities and here’s more intel on that feature.
the tech giant’s new feature helps them by providing links to emergency services that can be quickly accessed. These include emergency websites, aid and information phone numbers, and evacuation instructions. Details on containment, acres burned, and the timestamp of reports will be available as well.
Trees residing in cities are basically celebrated for their contribution of providing fresh air, shade, shelter, and home for birds. However, urban vegetation is enormously taking the breath away from cities.
Therefore, Google has come up with a feature called the Environmental Insights Explorer Tree Canopy which points out the places that are short of trees and those that could have a possible high temperatures. The tech giant plans on expanding it across 15 locations in the US to more than 100 cities around the world which include Toronto, Sydney, London and Guadalajara.
On the technical side of this feature, the tech giant uses aerial images and powerful AI tools that help show spots or regions with less tree cover and higher temperature rise risks in cities. The feature is called such spots as ‘heat islands’, since such areas are commonly seen to disproportionately affect the economically backward communities and lead to public health issues such as dehydration and poor air quality.
"First tested in Los Angeles, Tree Canopy data has become a vital aspect of the city's long-term objective to enhance tree shade by at least 50 percent by 2028”, said the tech giant while announcing the feature's expansion.
MUM Knows Best!
Google's latest AI learnings will now be displayed in search products, prompting new ways to search and explore information in more natural and intuitive ways, according to the company. Users will see novel ways to search visually as Google rolls out the Multitask Unified Model, or MUM, and will also be able to gain a broader grasp of a topic they are searching for.
This is useful when describing a search using words alone is difficult. Users may also use this visual search to point at a part where names are not recognized and receive instructions on how to use or repair it.
According to Google Search's Liz Reid, the new AI capabilities bring three things to the table. “First, what is the true question behind the query, and how to comprehend it; and second, to be able to do so in new ways that are not limited to word, speech, or visuals. This also assists in asking the next inquiry when the user is unsure of what it should be. The third step is to make it simple to search for information... “With its breadth, the internet is fantastic, but it can be a little daunting at times”, she remarked.
