Google adds ‘Explore nearby’ voice command to launch Field Trip

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Google has raised the profile of the Field Trip app, which provides a virtual tour guide to help you explore an area, by enabling users to launch it by voice with an “Ok Glass, explore nearby” command. Previously, you had to launch it via the touchpad. Existing users will need to toggle the app to launch it by voice.

Engadget reports that the app has also been updated with content from more publishers.

A little over 200, in fact. Some of the more recent additions include Happy Vermont and Guide to Copenhagen. Yennie Solheim Fuller, a Niantic Labs marketing associate, tells us that they’re constantly scouring the web for hyperlocal content that they can incorporate into the app, with sources that range from Zagat all the way to smaller blogs and community sites. “We want content on tiny towns like Belmont too,” she said, emphasizing that Field Trip won’t just have info about big cities.

While the app first appeared on Android and iOS, developer Niantic Labs said at the time it was launched on Glass that it was “conceived with Glass in mind, but Glass wasn’t ready.”