--- --- Nov 10, 2021 # Look Where You're Going Google Maps Live View by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff  How many times have you wandered around an unknown location, staring at the map on your phone and wondering where to turn? As a pedestrian, orienting oneself with bird’s-eye directions is far from intuitive. [Google Maps’ free Live View](https://blog.google/products/maps/new-sense-direction-live-view/) mode fixes that, using augmented reality to lay instructions on top of what you’re seeing live on the street via your smartphone camera’s viewfinder—“effectively aligning your map with the real world,” says Andre Le, lead designer for Live View. So far, Google has Street View coverage for about half the world, and Live View was launched in tricky multi­level transit hubs, airports and malls in Tokyo prior to the Olympic Games (as well as in Zurich). The company is still piloting indoor locations in the U.S., such as shopping malls, but tens of millions have already used Live View globally. _—Alison Van Houten_ Google Maps Live View: The 100 Best Inventions of 2021 ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/best-inventions-2021/6112605/google-maps-live-view/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/best-inventions-2021/6112605/google-maps-live-view/"},"headline":"Look Where You're Going","datePublished":"2021-11-10T11:15:49.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-02T23:56:44.839Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/best-inventions-2021/6112605/google-maps-live-view/","keywords":["list","franchise","best inventions","Best Inventions 2021"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta18e78dce904dc00/698a1e8601168226e79811ee/best-inventions-2021-Google_Maps-Live.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta18e78dce904dc00/698a1e8601168226e79811ee/best-inventions-2021-Google_Maps-Live.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/best-inventions-2021/6112605/google-maps-live-view/","name":"Look Where You're Going"}}]}] ```