Google Maps introduces feature to provide info on air quality

Google Maps has introduced a feature that will provide users information on air quality in their area by utilizing hyperlocal data.<br><br>The technology giant described in a blog post that it is introducing a feature to provide information on air quality in an area. This will be available to users in the United States, India, Australia, and Canada to begin with and will be rolled out to other regions later. The feature is available for both iOS and Android users. <br><br>The feature will show information in two main categories: AQI or Air Quality Index and AQHI or Air Quality Health Index. The AQI will provide information on the quality of the air by dividing it into different categories such as ‘good’, ‘fair’, ‘poor’, ‘very poor’ and ‘hazardous’. <br><br>Whereas the AQHI will use a health risk category to describe the level of expected health risk based on the concentration of pollutants in the air. The information will be provided by using a color-coded chart with options such as ‘low health risk’ and ‘very high health risk’. <br><br>The information will be sourced by using hyperlocal data that is merged from reliable sources such as government agencies, central pollution control boards, and air quality sensors. The technology giant described that it has also collaborated with institutions such as the Central Pollution Control Board and the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology. <br><br>“By combining high-quality data from trusted sources with our own machine learning, we can infer air quality down to the neighborhood level,” the technology giant said. <br><br>The feature will be available under the ‘layers’ button in Google Maps. By tapping the option, users will be able to utilize different options such as ‘temperature’, ‘weather’, and ‘live traffic’.