AI overviews invaded Google search last year, and the company has consistently expanded its use of these search summaries. Now, AI Overviews will get some new travel tweaks that might make it worth using. When you search for help with trip planning, AI Overviews can generate a plan with locations, photos, itineraries, and more.
You can easily export the data to Docs or Gmail from the AI Overviews screen. However, it’s only available in English for US users at this time. You can also continue to ignore AI Overviews as Google won’t automatically expand these lengthier AI responses.
Google adds trip planning to AI Overviews.
Credit: Google
Google adds trip planning to AI Overviews. Credit: Google
Google’s longtime price alerts for flights have been popular, so the company is expanding that functionality to hotels, too. When searching for hotels using Google’s tool, you’ll have the option of receiving email alerts if prices drop for a particular set of results. This feature is available globally starting this week on all mobile and desktop browsers.
Google is also pointing to a few previously announced features with a summer travel focus. AI Overviews in Google Lens launched in English late last year, which can be handy when exploring new places. Just open Lens, point the camera at something, and use the search option to ask a question. This feature will be launching soon in Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, and Spanish in most countries with AI Overview support.
Updated March 27 with details of on-device image processing in Maps.
With measles declared eliminated from the US in 2000 and national herd immunity strong, health experts have recommended that American children get two doses of the Measles, Mumps, and Rubella (MMR) vaccine—the first between the ages of 12 and 15 months and the second between the ages of 4 and 6 years, before they start school.
Before 12 months, vulnerable infants in the US have been protected in part by maternal antibodies early in infancy as well as the immunity of the people surrounding them. But if they travel to a place where population immunity is unreliable, experts recommend that infants ages 6 to 11 months get an early dose—then follow it up with the standard two doses at the standard times, bringing the total to three doses.
The reason they would need three—and the reason experts typically recommend waiting until 12 months—is because the maternal antibodies infants carry can interfere with the vaccine response, preventing the immune system from mounting long-lasting protection. Still, the early dose provides boosted protection in that 6-to-11-month interval.
In the past, this early, extra dose was recommended for infants traveling internationally—to countries that hadn’t achieved America’s enviable level of herd immunity and were vulnerable to outbreaks. But now, with US vaccination rates slipping, herd immunity becoming spotty, cases rising by the day, and outbreaks simmering in multiple states, the US is no longer different from far-off places that struggle with the extremely infectious virus.
In an article published today in JAMA, prominent health experts—including former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky—call for the US to update its MMR recommendations to include the early, extra dose for infants who are not only traveling abroad, but domestically, to any areas where measles is a concern.
“With some local immunization levels inadequate to avert outbreaks and ongoing disease spread in various regions of the country, a dichotomy between domestic and international travel is not appropriate,” the experts write. “For many travel itineraries, there may even be a higher risk of measles exposure at the US point of departure than at the international destinations.”
Vaccinating at-risk infants early is critical to their own health—as well as the people around them, the experts note. “[I]nfants younger than one year face a heightened risk of severe measles-related complications such as pneumonia, encephalitis, and death. Younger infants are also at increased risk of developing subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE), a rare measles complication that has a high fatality rate and may surface years after initial infection,” according to the experts.
Enlarge/ A view from a hospital as children receiving medical treatment, in capital Kabul, Afghanistan on April 18, 2022. More than 130 children have died from the measles in Afghanistan since the beginning of this year.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Medical Association sent out separate but similar pleas on Monday for unvaccinated Americans to get vaccinated against the extremely contagious measles virus as vaccination rates have slipped, cases are rising globally and nationally, and the spring-break travel period is beginning.
In the first 12 weeks of 2024, US measles cases have already matched and likely exceeded the case total for all of 2023. According to the CDC, there were 58 measles cases reported from 17 states as of March 14. But media tallies indicate there have been more cases since then, with at least 60 cases now in total, according to CBS News. In 2023, there were 58 cases in 20 states.
“As evident from the confirmed measles cases reported in 17 states so far this year, when individuals are not immunized as a matter of personal preference or misinformation, they put themselves and others at risk of disease—including children too young to be vaccinated, cancer patients, and other immunocompromised people,” AMA President Jesse Ehrenfeld said in a statement urging vaccination Monday.
The latest data indicates that vaccination rates among US kindergarteners have slipped to 93 percent nationally, below the 95 percent target to prevent the spread of the disease. And vaccine exemptions for non-medical reasons have reached an all-time high.
The CDC released a health advisory on Monday also urging measles vaccination. The CDC drove home the point that unvaccinated Americans are largely responsible for importing the virus, and pockets of unvaccinated children in local communities spread it once it’s here. The 58 measles infections that have been reported to the agency so far include cases from seven outbreaks in seven states. Most of the cases are in vaccine-eligible children aged 12 months and older who are unvaccinated. Of the 58 cases, 54 (93 percent) are linked to international travel, and most measles importations are by unvaccinated US residents who travel abroad and bring measles home with them, the CDC flagged.
The situation is likely to worsen as Americans begin spring travel, the CDC suggested. “Many countries, including travel destinations such as Austria, the Philippines, Romania, and the United Kingdom, are experiencing measles outbreaks,” the CDC said. “To prevent measles infection and reduce the risk of community transmission from importation, all US residents traveling internationally, regardless of destination, should be current on their [measles-mumps-rubella (MMR)] vaccinations.” The agency added in a recommendation to parents that “even if not traveling, ensure that children receive all recommended doses of MMR vaccine. Two doses of MMR vaccine provide better protection (97 percent) against measles than one dose (93 percent). Getting MMR vaccine is much safer than getting measles, mumps, or rubella.”
For Americans who are already vaccinated and communities with high vaccination coverage, the risk is low, the CDC noted. “However, pockets of low coverage leave some communities at higher risk for outbreaks.” This, in turn, threatens wider, continuous spread that could overturn the country’s status of having eliminated measles, which was declared in 2000. The US was close to losing its elimination status in 2019 when outbreaks among unvaccinated children drove 1,247 cases across 31 states. Vaccination rates have only fallen since then.
“The reduction in measles vaccination threatens to erase many years of progress as this previously eliminated vaccine-preventable disease returns,” the AMA’s Ehrenfeld warned.
As Ars has reported previously, measles is among the most contagious viruses known and can linger in airspace for up to two hours. Up to 90 percent of unvaccinated people exposed will contract it. Symptoms can include high fever, runny nose, red and watery eyes, and a cough, as well as the hallmark rash. About 1 in 5 unvaccinated people with measles are hospitalized, while 1 in 20 infected children develop pneumonia, and up to 3 in 1,000 children die of the infection. Brain swelling (encephalitis) can occur in 1 in 1,000 children, which can lead to hearing loss and intellectual disabilities. The virus can also destroy immune responses to previous infections—a phenomenon known as “immune amnesia”—which can leave children vulnerable to various other infections for years afterward.
The metaverse can be summed up as the augmented world. So, naturally, it has implications for travel. How and when people travel may both seriously change as spatial communication and digital twins make some kinds of travel less likely, while AR and automation reimagine the travel that we do engage in. A report by Booking.com for Business, titled “The Future of Business Travel” explores the next 30 years of travel.
AR and Space Hotels
The report begins with “A Timeline of Future Business Travel Predictions.” To the potential dismay of augmented reality enthusiasts, the report puts AR in 2027 – the same year as “space hotels”. The report acknowledges existing AR use cases including augmenting areas with contextual information. However, the authors are waiting for something better.
“Right now, AR is limited, lacking a wide field-of-view and having resolution, battery, and 3D sensing issues,” reads the report. “It’s thought that by 2027 people will have access to unconstrained, immersive AR experiences and the associated advantages for travel professionals.”
Why 2027? The paper doesn’t explicitly mention powerful AR wearables, but the time frame and their insistence on “unconstrained” experiences suggest that this is what the authors are waiting for. We already have consumer AR glasses, with limited FoV, but these are almost exclusively “viewers” for virtual screens that can’t offer the real-time contextual information people want.
In a recent interview with ARPost Lumus VP of Optics David Goldman placed a consumer AR device based on Z-Lens around 2025, with 2027 seeing models with 50-degree FoV eventually getting as wide as 70 or 80 degrees. That sounds like it’s getting more in line with people’s expectations for AR travel.
More Interest in VR?
Augmented travel is one thing, but virtual travel is another. Virtual reality has higher immersion due to a heads-up interface, greater graphical fidelity, and wider field of view. Further, VR hardware is becoming increasingly accessible, affordable, and popular with consumers.
The report also included a collection of the most-searched business travel trends, which included virtual travel in the top three. A ranking of the most talked about travel trends in the media also includes “hotel metaverse” at number three and “hotel virtual events” at number eight.
The authors attribute this to virtual travel “reducing the necessary number of business trips and giving corporate travelers the chance to explore the world with VR and metaverse experience.” Specific use cases anticipated in the report include immersive tours prior to booking, virtual conferences and events, virtual site visits to digital twins, and immersive in-flight entertainment.
More to the Metaverse
Immersive technology is first in our minds and hearts here at ARPost, but the metaverse is about more than just display technologies. The report also includes predictions related to other emerging technologies including artificial intelligence and blockchain.
For example, the authors predict blockchain technology becoming standard in hotels the year before they anticipate AR kicking off. And, around the beginning of the next decade, the authors predict “guest comfort and energy efficiency will be managed and optimized by AI in most hotels.”
Other predictions, including hotel-specific crypto-driven rewards programs and robot assistants, can be found in the full report.
A Lot to Look Forward To
All predictions should be taken with a healthy dose of salt – and that’s particularly true of predictions based on when to expect a given development. Disclaimers aside, Booking.com has presented a very interesting look at trends regarding what people want out of the metaverse when it comes to travel.
