{"id":256311,"date":"2026-01-28T18:49:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T18:49:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/256311\/"},"modified":"2026-01-28T18:49:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T18:49:08","slug":"google-launches-ai-powered-city-guide-comic-postcards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/256311\/","title":{"rendered":"Google launches AI-powered City Guide, Comic Postcards"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Google<\/a> has unveiled <a href=\"https:\/\/artsandculture.google.com\/city-guide\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">City Guide<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/artsandculture.google.com\/camera\/comic-postcards\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Comic Postcards<\/a>, two early-stage, artificial intelligence (AI)-powered features meant to push the boundaries of travel inspiration.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re launching two experimental features in the Google Arts &amp; Culture app that look beyond the logistics of travel to spark inspiration for where to go and what to see,\u201d Google said in a <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.google\/company-news\/outreach-and-initiatives\/arts-culture\/city-guide-and-comic-postcards\" ek-link=\"true\" title=\"blog post.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">blog post<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>City Guide, which is launching as a pilot in 11 cities including New York, Berlin, Osaka and Paris, is intended to help users connect with the surrounding culture. Google said it is exploring how AI can move past basic recommendations to share a combination of live events and landmarks to match users\u2019 personal tastes.<\/p>\n<p>The feature will adapt to the traveler\u2019s schedule, and Google said users can set a timeframe such as \u201cthis weekend\u201d or \u201ctoday\u201d and then choose from a dozen categories including \u201cvisual arts,\u201d \u201chistory\u201d and \u201chidden gems.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, the Comic Postcards feature serves as a \u201ccreative extension\u201d to City Guide, Google said. The generative AI tool uses photos to put the user within a dynamic narrative taking place in the city they\u2019re exploring.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhether you\u2019re seeking a moment of zen among the ancient ruins of Rome or channeling an adventurous mood while navigating Tokyo\u2019s neon-lit streets, Comic Postcards uses your selfie, mood and art style preferences to cast you as the protagonist of a unique story,\u201d Google said. \u201cIt creates a playful memento that reflects the city.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The feature also helps users learn about the art style selected for the narrative.<\/p>\n<p>The launch comes after Google\u2019s announcement of its Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) earlier this month. The standard will support customers through discovery, buying and post-purchase support. Several industry leaders said it <a href=\"https:\/\/www.phocuswire.com\/google-universal-commerce-protocol-agentic-ai-mcp\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">stands to impact travel<\/a>, while other stakeholders are\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.phocuswire.com\/google-ucp-not-game-changer-travel\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">not as convinced<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Google also said in November that it is developing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.phocuswire.com\/google-agentic-travel-booking-ai\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">agentic booking capabilities<\/a> on an unspecified timeline. The company said it <a href=\"https:\/\/www.phocuswire.com\/phocuswright-conference-2025-executive-interview-james-byers-google\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">anticipates the agentic booking commercial model<\/a> will be similar to what exists today. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Google has unveiled City Guide and Comic Postcards, two early-stage, artificial intelligence (AI)-powered features meant to push the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":256312,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[363,367,147911,111,43,139,69,1870,145,147912,72013,147913,147914],"class_list":["post-256311","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-google","tag-home-2nd-tier","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-search","tag-technology","tag-tours-and-activities","tag-travel-guide","tag-travel-inspiration","tag-travel-planning"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256311","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=256311"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256311\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/256312"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=256311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=256311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=256311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}