System and method for gesture-based point of interest search

• US 10,073,535 B2
• Filed: 12/02/2016
• Issued: 09/11/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 03/15/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Edge 3 Technologies, LLC, Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Edge Technologies, Inc, Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Inventors: Vaghefinazari, Pedram, Yamamoto, Stuart Masakazu, El Dokor, Tarek A., Cluster, Jordan, Holmes, James E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Olszewski, John
• Assistant Examiner(s): Ziaeianmehdizadeh, Navid
• Application Number:
  US15/367,526
• Publication Number:
  US 20170083106A1
• Time in Patent Office: 648 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2360/146 Instrument input by gesture
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2360/1464 3D-gesture
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2360/148 Instrument input by voice
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2360/166 Navigation
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2360/589 Wireless data transfers
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2360/592 Data transfer involving external databases
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2360/595 Data transfer involving internal databases
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/00 Instruments specially adapted for vehicles; Arrangement of instruments in or on vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/10 Input arrangements, i.e. from user to vehicle, associated with vehicle functions or specially adapted therefor
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/22 Display screens
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/28 characterised by the type of the output information, e.g. video entertainment or vehicle dynamics information; characterised by the purpose of the output information, e.g. for attracting the attention of the driver
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/85 Arrangements for transferring vehicle- or driver-related data
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3664 Details of the user input interface, e.g. buttons, knobs or sliders, including those provided on a touch screen; remote controllers; input using gestures
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3679 Retrieval, searching and output of POI information, e.g. hotels, restaurants, shops, filling stations, parking facilities G01C21/3611 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3682 output of POI information on a road map G01C21/3614, G01C21/3685 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/017 Gesture based interaction, e.g. based on a set of recognized hand gestures interaction based on gestures traced on a digitiser G06F3/04883
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0346 with detection of the device orientation or free movement in a 3D space, e.g. 3D mice, 6-DOF [six degrees of freedom] pointers using gyroscopes, accelerometers or tilt-sensors
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/167 Audio in a user interface, e.g. using voice commands for navigating, audio feedback
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/20 in augmented reality scenes
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/113 Recognition of static hand signs

Abstract

A user, such as the driver of a vehicle, to retrieve information related to a point of interest (POI) near the vehicle by pointing at the POI or performing some other gesture to identify the POI. Gesture recognition is performed on the gesture to generate a target region that includes the POI that the user identified. After generating the target region, information about the POI can be retrieved by querying a server-based POI service with the target region or by searching in a micromap that is stored locally. The retrieved POI information can then be provided to the user via a display and/or speaker in the vehicle. This process beneficially allows a user to rapidly identify and retrieve information about a POI near the vehicle without having to navigate a user interface by manipulating a touchscreen or physical buttons.

Claims

1. A vehicle-based computer-implemented method for retrieving information associated with a point of interest (POI), the method comprising:

accessing, at a computer system, movement data representing a current speed of a vehicle;

accessing location data identifying a current location and an orientation of the vehicle;

analyzing the movement data and the location data to find a region that the vehicle is likely to travel through;

retrieving, from a POI data server, information associated with one or more points of interest inside the region;

storing the information in a local storage;

subsequent to storing the information, receiving a data signal representing an identifying gesture performed by a user inside the vehicle;

performing gesture recognition on the data signal to determine a direction vector representing a direction of the identifying gesture;

analyzing the direction vector and the location data to generate a target region exterior to the vehicle and corresponding to the direction of the identifying gesture;

receiving a voice command issued by the user inside the vehicle;

performing voice recognition on the voice command to determine one or more words spoken by the user as part of the voice command;

analyzing the voice command words to identify a POI located in the target region;

retrieving, from the local storage, information associated with the POI; and

providing the retrieved information to the user, the retrieved information including information associated with the POI,

wherein the target region is in a shape of a cone,

wherein a tip of the cone corresponds to the current location of the vehicle,

wherein the target region aligns with the direction vector, and

wherein an extent of the target region is dependent on the current speed of the vehicle.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the identifying gesture comprises a hand with an outstretched index finger pointing in the direction.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising retrieving additional information associated with the POI from the POI data server, and providing the retrieved additional information to the user.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, wherein the retrieved information and the retrieved additional information are merged into a single set of POI information before being provided to the user.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein retrieving, from the local storage information associated with the POI comprises:

determining whether the target region overlaps with the region;

responsive to determining that the target region overlaps with the region, accessing the locally stored information associated with the POI.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein providing the retrieved information to the user comprises sending at least part of the retrieved information to be shown on a display in the vehicle.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein finding the region that the vehicle is likely to travel through comprises:

identifying a plurality of candidate regions that the vehicle is likely to travel through; and

selecting the region from among the plurality of candidate regions.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein analyzing the movement data and the location data to find the region that the vehicle is likely to travel through comprises:

analyzing the current speed, the current location, and the orientation of the vehicle to generate a retrieval region in front of the vehicle; and

identifying a portion within the retrieval region as the region.

9. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium for storing computer program instructions for retrieving information associated with a point of interest (POI), the program instructions when executed by a processor cause the processor to perform steps including:

accessing movement data representing a current speed of a vehicle;

accessing location data identifying a current location and an orientation of the vehicle;

analyzing the movement data and the location data to find a region that the vehicle is likely to travel through;

retrieving, from a POI data server, information associated with one or more points of interest inside the region;

storing the information in a local storage;

subsequent to storing the information, receiving a data signal representing an identifying gesture performed by a user inside the vehicle;

performing gesture recognition on the data signal to determine a direction vector representing the direction of the identifying gesture;

analyzing the direction vector and the location data to generate a target region exterior to the vehicle and corresponding to the direction of the identifying gesture;

receiving a voice command issued by the user inside the vehicle;

performing voice recognition on the voice command to determine one or more words spoken by the user as part of the voice command;

analyzing the voice command words to identifying a POI located in the target region;

retrieving, from the local storage, information associated with the POI; and

providing the retrieved information to the user, the retrieved information including information associated with the POI,

wherein the target region is in a shape of a cone,

wherein a tip of the cone corresponds to the current location of the vehicle,

wherein the target region aligns with the direction vector, and

wherein an extent of the target region is dependent on the current speed of the vehicle.

10. The storage medium of claim 9, wherein the program instructions further cause the processor to retrieve additional information associated with the POI from the POI data server, and provide the retrieved additional information to the user.

11. The storage medium of claim 9, wherein retrieving, from the local storage, information associated with the POI comprises:

determining whether the target region overlaps with the region;

responsive to determining that the target region overlaps with the region, accessing the locally stored information associated with the POI.

12. A vehicle-based computing system for retrieving information associated with a point of interest (POI), the system comprising:

a POI information retrieval module including a local storage;

a location module that is included as a module of the POI information retrieval module and is configured to access location data identifying a current location and an orientation of a vehicle;

a management module that is included as a module of the POI information retrieval module and is configured to;

access movement data representing a current speed of the vehicle;

analyze the movement data and the location data to find a region that the vehicle is likely to travel through;

retrieve, from a POI data server, information associated with one or more points of interest inside the region; and

store the information in the local storage;

a gesture recognition module that is included as a module of the POI information retrieval module and is configured to;

receive a data signal representing an identifying gesture performed by a user inside the vehicle, the identifying gesture oriented in a direction; and

perform gesture recognition on the data signal to determine a direction vector representing the direction of the identifying gesture;

a voice recognition module that is included as a module of the POI information retrieval module and is configured to;

receive a voice command, the voice command issued by the user inside the vehicle; and

perform voice recognition on the voice command to determine one or more words spoken by the user as part of the voice command;

an input analysis module that is included as a module of the POI information retrieval module and is configured to;

analyze the direction vector and the location data to generate a target region exterior to the vehicle and corresponding to the direction of the identifying gesture; and

analyze the voice command words to identify a POI located in the target region;

a search module that is included as a module of the POI information retrieval module and is configured to retrieve, from the locally stored information, information associated with the POI; and

a data output module that is included as a module of the POI information retrieval module and is configured to provide the retrieved information to the user, the retrieved information including information associated with the POI,

wherein the target region is in a shape of a cone,

wherein a tip of the cone corresponds to the current location of the vehicle,

wherein the target region aligns with the direction vector, and

wherein an extent of the target region is dependent on the current speed of the vehicle.

13. The computing system of claim 12, wherein the search module comprises a POI search module configured to receive, from the POI data server, additional information associated with the POI.

14. The computing system of claim 12,

wherein the input analysis module is further configured to determine whether the target region overlaps with the region, and

wherein the search module is configured to access and retrieve the locally stored information associated with the POI.