Multi modal annotation of maps

• US 10,627,246 B2
• Filed: 03/25/2016
• Issued: 04/21/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 03/25/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Andrew, Felix, Moncayo, Silvana, Maertens, Katherine Anne, Thomas, Myron
• Primary Examiner(s): To, Tuan C
• Assistant Examiner(s): Williams, Kelly D
• Application Number:
  US15/081,673
• Publication Number:
  US 20170276497A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,488 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3423 Multimodal routing, i.e. combining two or more modes of transportation, where the modes can be any of, e.g. driving, walking, cycling, public transport
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3626 Details of the output of route guidance instructions traffic control systems for road vehicles involving transmission of navigation instructions to the vehicle G08G1/0968
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3641 Personalized guidance, e.g. limited guidance on previously travelled routes

Abstract

Techniques for modifying and presenting instructions for traversing a route include obtaining original instructions and receiving input to modify the instructions. The instructions may be modified and/or annotated based on the input received to provide more intuitive and helpful instructions for traversing a route. The modified instructions may be presented to a user of a computing device as the computing device traverses the route. The modifications and/or annotations to the original instructions may be presented as the computing device traverses the route based at least in part on the location and/or speed of the computing device on the route.

Claims

1. A computing device comprising:

one or more processors;

a display; and

memory communicatively coupled to the one or more processors and storing computer-readable instructions that, when executed, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising;

obtaining, via a network from a mapping service, instructions for traversing a route from a start location to an end location, the instructions comprising waypoints along the route and segments spanning between the waypoints, wherein the mapping service corresponds to a repository for storing one or more instructions for a plurality of users;

presenting the instructions in a user interface on the display;

receiving, via the user interface and from a user associated with the computing device, an input to modify the instructions, wherein the input comprises an instruction to add a waypoint and an associated annotation corresponding to the waypoint to the waypoints;

identifying a location on the route to include the waypoint and the associated annotation;

adjusting the route to include the waypoint, wherein one or more sub-routes associated with the waypoint are provided from the location on the route corresponding to the waypoint to the end location of the route, and wherein the associated annotation includes a script file configured to perform one or more operations for determining one or more suggestions between the one or more sub-routes to be presented via the user interface of the display;

modifying the instructions based at least in part on the input; and

outputting the modified instructions on the user interface of the display.

2. The computing device of claim 1, wherein obtaining instructions comprises:

presenting a plurality of instructions corresponding to respective routes to traverse from the start location to the end location; and

receiving a selection of the instructions from the plurality of instructions.

3. The computing device of claim 1, wherein presenting the instructions comprises at least one of:

presenting a list of textual instructions representing the waypoints and the segments;

or

presenting the waypoints and the segments on a map by mapping the waypoints and the segments to positions on the map corresponding to the route.

4. The computing device of claim 1, wherein receiving the input includes:

receiving input to edit the instructions; and

in response to receiving the input, causing presentation of an annotation interface usable to modify the instructions.

5. The computing device of claim 1, wherein modifying the instructions comprises at least one of the following:

modifying text associated with the waypoint or a corresponding segment of the instructions;

adding the waypoint or the corresponding segment to the instructions;

deleting a second waypoint or a second segment from the instructions;

associating an image with the waypoint or the corresponding segment of the instructions;

associating ink data with the waypoint or the corresponding segment of the instructions;

associating video data with the waypoint or the corresponding segment of the instructions;

associating a three-dimensional virtual object with the waypoint or the corresponding segment of the instructions;

associating a reminder with the waypoint or the corresponding segment of the instructions;

or

associating audio data with the waypoint or the corresponding segment of the instructions.

6. The computing device of claim 1, the operations further comprising sending, by network interfaces of the computing device, the modified instructions to another computing device.

7. The computing device of claim 1, wherein modifying the instructions comprises:

associating the associated annotation with the waypoint, the associated annotation comprising a suggestion to take one of a first route or a second route based on one or more conditions, the one or more conditions comprising at least one of traffic conditions, weather conditions, or scenic conditions.

8. A computer-implemented method comprising:

obtaining, via a network by one or more processors of a computing device having a display, instructions for traversing a route from a start location to an end location, the instructions including original instructions and a modification to the original instructions, wherein the original instructions are obtained via the network from a mapping service corresponding to a repository for storing one or more instructions for a plurality of users, and wherein the modification to the original instructions includes an instruction to add a waypoint and an associated annotation corresponding to the waypoint to a location on the route, and wherein one or more sub-routes associated with the waypoint are provided from the location on the route corresponding to the waypoint to the end location of the route, and wherein the associated annotation includes a script file configured to perform one or more operations for determining one or more suggestions between the one or more sub-routes to be presented via the user interface of the display;

receiving a command to output the instructions for traversing the route;

monitoring a location of the computing device on the route using one or more Global Positioning System (GPS) location systems to determine the location of the computing device traversing the route;

outputting the instructions for traversing the route based at least in part on the location of the computing device;

determining, by the one or more processors and based at least in part on the location of the computing device, that the computing device is approaching the location on the route associated with the modification to the original instructions; and

outputting the modification on a user interface of the display.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, wherein obtaining the instructions comprises:

identifying a first route and a second route comprising at least one annotation provided by a user associated with the computing device;

presenting, on a display associated with the computing device, the first route and the second route from the start location to the end location and an icon associated with at least one of the first route or the second route, the icon representing an annotation included in the at least one of the first route or the second route; and

receiving a selection of the first route.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, wherein outputting the instructions for traversing the route comprises:

determining an order in which to present the original instructions and the modification to the original instructions; and

outputting turn-by-turn directions based at least in part on order.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, wherein outputting the instructions comprises outputting a first portion of the instructions via the computing device and outputting a second portion of the instructions via a second computing device.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, wherein outputting the instructions comprises:

interpreting the modification to the original instructions;

determining, based at least in part on the interpreting, that an original instruction from the original instructions has been modified; and

outputting the original instruction that has been modified.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, wherein outputting the modification comprises presenting a visual indicator representing the associated annotation on a display associated with the computing device.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, wherein outputting the modification comprises presenting the associated annotation, the waypoint, or at least one corresponding segment of the instructions, the associated annotation comprising at least one of an image, a reminder, ink data, video data, three-dimensional object data, or audio data.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, wherein the modification comprises the associated annotation associated with the waypoint or one of the corresponding segments of the instructions, and wherein outputting the modification comprises:

determining that the associated annotation comprises a user-input suggestion to take one of a first route or a second route to reach the end location based on one or more conditions, the one or more conditions comprising at least one of traffic conditions, weather conditions, or scenic conditions; and

outputting the suggestion to take the first route.

16. A system comprising:

one or more processors;

one or more displays;

memory communicatively coupled to the one or more processors and storing;

a map layer associated with map data obtained via a network from a mapping service, the mapping service corresponding to a repository for storing one or more instructions for a plurality of users;

original instructions for traversing a route represented on the map layer, the route comprising waypoints and segments;

one or more modifications to the original instructions, the one or more modifications modifying at least one of a map view or a list view of the original instructions, wherein the one or more modifications include an instruction to add a waypoint and an associated annotation corresponding to the waypoint to a location on the route, wherein one or more sub-routes associated with the waypoint are provided from the location on the route corresponding to the waypoint to the end location of the route, and wherein the associated annotation includes a script file configured to perform one or more operations for determining one or more suggestions between the one or more sub-routes to be presented via the user interface of the display; and

computer-readable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, perform acts comprising;

interpreting the original instructions and the one or more modifications;

determining final instructions based at least in part on the interpreting; and

outputting the final instructions on a user interface of the one or more displays.

17. The system of claim 16, further comprising a presentation module stored in the memory and comprising computer-readable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors:

present the map layer as a first layer on the one or more displays;

present roads of an area represented on the map layer as a second layer on the one or more displays;

present the waypoints and the segments of the route as a third layer on the one or more displays;

present one or more annotations of the modifications as a fourth layer on the one or more displays; and

present text representing the final instructions as a fifth layer on the one or more displays.

18. The system of claim 16, further comprising:

a presentation module stored in the memory and comprising computer-readable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, present a visual portion of the final instructions on the one or more displays as a three-dimensional representation, the presenting including;

identifying a viewpoint at which the three-dimensional representation is being presented on the one or more displays; and

based at least in part on the viewpoint, presenting text of the associated annotation along a plane substantially parallel to a plane defined by the one or more displays.

19. The system of claim 16, wherein the one or more processors identifies one or more of:

traffic conditions associated with a portion of the route;

weather conditions associated with a portion of the route;

or an estimated amount of time required to traverse the distance between the waypoint or a corresponding segment of the route and an end destination of the route.