Google Maps is adding live lane guidance for the Polestar 4 (www.engadget.com)

Google is rolling out live lane guidance in Google Maps for cars with its built-in infotainment system, starting with the Polestar 4 in the US and Sweden over the coming months. The feature uses the vehicle’s front-facing camera and AI to analyze lane markings and road signs in real time, overlaying lane-level directions and issuing visual and audio prompts so drivers know which lane to be in (e.g., warning left-lane drivers when an exit is approaching on the right). Google says the system integrates camera perception with Maps navigation to reduce missed exits and improve lane-level accuracy; it will expand to more road types and additional automakers over time. For the AI/ML community this represents a practical deployment of real-time computer vision and sensor-to-navigation fusion in a safety-critical domain. Key technical implications include robust lane and sign detection under varying weather/lighting, low-latency inference (likely on edge hardware or a tightly coupled cloud/vehicle stack), and seamless integration with map data and HMI (visual + audio cues). The limited rollout and Google’s vague locality details underscore challenges in validation, regulatory compliance, and scaling models across diverse road geometries—areas ripe for research and engineering attention as more OEMs adopt similar in-cabin AI capabilities.