Displaying images in a network or visual mapping system

• US 20060271287A1
• Filed: 03/31/2006
• Published: 11/30/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 03/24/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: A9.com Incorporated (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: A9.com Incorporated (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Gold, Jonathan A., Hjelmstad, John Alan, Ha, Huy T., Volkert, Christopher Aaron, Caro-Bruce, Timothy
• Granted Patent: US 7,587,276 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/211
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/26 specially adapted for navigation in a road network
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/367 Details, e.g. road map scale, orientation, zooming, illumination, level of detail, scrolling of road map or positioning of current position marker
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3673 Labelling using text of road map data items, e.g. road names, POI names
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9537 Spatial or temporal dependent retrieval, e.g. spatiotemporal queries
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04806 Zoom, i.e. interaction techniques or interactors for controlling the zooming operation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04812 Interaction techniques based on cursor appearance or behaviour, e.g. being affected by the presence of displayed objects
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04817 using icons graphical or visual programming using iconic symbols G06F8/34
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04842 Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements G06F3/0482 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04845 for image manipulation, e.g. dragging, rotation, expansion or change of colour
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04847 Interaction techniques to control parameter settings, e.g. interaction with sliders or dials
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0485 Scrolling or panning
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/083 Shipping
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0256 User search
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2200/24 involving graphical user interfaces [GUIs]
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 3/047 Fisheye or wide-angle transformations
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 3/40 Scaling of whole images or parts thereof, e.g. expanding or contracting
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 3/4038 Image mosaicing, e.g. composing plane images from plane sub-images
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 29/12 Relief maps relief models G09B25/06

Abstract

Embodiments of the present invention provide a method and system for generating a street map that includes a position identifier that identifies a location on the street map. The method and system may also generate and display a plurality of images representative of the location of the position identifier. A user may interact with a position identifier or one of several scroll icons to view images of other locations on the street map and/or to obtain driving directions between two locations.

Claims

1. A computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon that direct a computing system to:

display a position identifier at a location on a street map;

display around the position identifier, a first scroll icon and a second scroll icon, wherein the first scroll icon and the second scroll icon are oriented in a parallel direction with a street on the street map;

display an image representative of the location;

display a plurality of secondary images in a filmstrip-type view, wherein the plurality of images are representative of an area surrounding the location in directions of the first scroll icon and second scroll icon; and

display at ends of the filmstrip-type view a third scroll icon and a fourth scroll icon, wherein the first scroll icon and the third scroll icon are directionally correlated.

2. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the filmstrip-type view is a dual filmstrip-type view.

3. The computer-readable medium of claim 2, wherein the dual filmstrip-type view provides images representative of objects geographically located on both sides of the street on the street map near the location of the position identifier.

4. The computer-readable medium of claim 2, wherein the dual filmstrip-type view provides a montage of images representative of an area surrounding the location of the position identifier.

5. The computer-readable medium of claim 2, wherein the dual filmstrip-type view provides a panoramic view of an area surrounding the location of the position identifier.

6. The computer-readable medium of claim 2, wherein the dual filmstrip-type view provides images representative of objects geographically located on one side of the street on the street map near the location of the position identifier.

7. The computer-readable medium of claim 2, wherein the third scroll icon and fourth scroll icon are displayed at opposing ends of a first filmstrip-type view of the dual filmstrip-types view;

and

the computer-readable medium further having instructions stored thereon that direct a computing system to;

display at opposing ends of a second filmstrip-type view of the dual filmstrip-type view a fifth scroll icon and a sixth scroll icon, wherein the first scroll icon, the third scroll icon and the fifth scroll icon are directionally correlated.

8. A computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon that direct a computing system to:

display at a location on a street map, a position identifier having a first scroll icon and a second scroll icon; and

display a plurality of images representative of the location.

9. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, further having instructions stored thereon that direct a computing system to:

receive an interaction with the first scroll icon; and

in response to receiving an interaction with the first scroll icon,

display the position identifier at a second location; and

replace the first plurality of images with a second plurality of images representative of the second location.

10. The computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the second location is adjacent to the first location.

11. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, further having instructions stored thereon that direct a computing system to:

display near the plurality of images a third scroll icon and a fourth scroll icon, wherein the first scroll icon and the third scroll icon are directionally correlated.

12. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the first plurality of images and the second plurality of images are displayed in a filmstrip-type view, and the third scroll icon and the fourth scroll icon are displayed at opposing ends of the filmstrip-type view.

13. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, further having instructions stored thereon that direct a computing system to:

receive an interaction with the third scroll icon; and

in response to receiving an interaction with the third scroll icon,

display the position identifier at a second location; and

replace the first plurality of images with a second plurality of images representative of the second location.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the second location is adjacent to the first location.

15. The computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the second location is in a direction of the first scroll icon.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the first plurality of images and the second plurality of images are displayed in a filmstrip-type view, and the third scroll icon and the fourth scroll icon are displayed at opposing ends of the filmstrip-type view.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the first position identifier and the second position identifier are oriented in a parallel direction with a street on which the position identifier is located.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the first position identifier and the second position identifier are oriented in a parallel direction with a street on which the position identifier is located;

and

wherein interaction with the first scroll icon results in a second plurality of images in the direction of the first scroll icon being displayed.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein interaction with the first scroll icon relocates the position identifier to an adjacent location on the street in a direction of the first scroll icon.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the plurality of images represent objects located on both sides of the street on which the position identifier is located;

and

wherein the plurality of images are displayed in a dual filmstrip-type view, each filmstrip-type view containing images from a respective side of the street.

21. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, further having instructions stored thereon that direct a computing system to:

graphically emphasize streets displayed on the street map that include associated images.

22. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein if there are no images representative of the location, a plurality of images near the location are provided.

23. A method for providing directions between a first location and a second location, comprising:

determining a route between the first location and the second location;

providing direction details of the route, wherein at least one of the direction details includes a link to an image representative of that direction detail; and

providing a map with the route graphically emphasized on the map.

24. The method of claim 23, further comprising:

identifying images representative of direction details of the route, wherein the images are identified based on geographic coordinates of a location of the direction details.

25. The method of claim 23, wherein the at least one of the direction details is a turn along the route;

and

wherein the image is an image of objects physically located near the turn identified by the at least one of the direction details.

26. The method of claim 23, wherein the image is a place holder representing the type of the at least one of the direction detail.

27. The method of claim 23, wherein the place holder is selected when an image representative of objects physically located near the at least one of the direction details is not available.

28. The method of claim 23, further comprising:

identifying an image representative of a driving detail; and

providing the image graphically adjacent to the driving detail.

29. The method of claim 23, further comprising:

providing at a location on the route, a position identifier having a first scroll icon and a second scroll icon.

30. The method of claim 23, further comprising:

providing a plurality of images representative of the location of the position identifier.

31. The method of claim 30, further comprising:

providing a third scroll icon and a fourth scroll icon, wherein the first scroll icon and the third scroll icon are related.

32. The method of claim 31, further comprising:

receiving an interaction with the third scroll icon; and

in response to receiving the interaction, moving the position identifier in the direction of the first scroll icon to a second location; and

providing a plurality of images representative of the second location.

33. The method of claim 29, wherein the position identifier is associated with the route;

the method further comprising;

receiving an interaction with the first scroll icon; and

moving the position identifier along the route.

34. The method of claim 29, wherein the first scroll icon and the second scroll icon are positioned parallel to a street included in the route.

35. The method of claim 23, further comprising:

receiving an interaction with the direction detail that includes a link;

providing the image representative of that direction detail; and

providing on the map a position identifier at a location of the direction detail.

36. The method of claim 23, further comprising:

receiving a selection of a first location and a second location, wherein selection of the first location is received from interaction with a street map.

37. The method of claim 23, further comprising:

receiving a selection of a first location and a second location, wherein the second location identifies a location to which the directions are to go.

38. The method of claim 23, further comprising:

receiving a selection of a first location and a second location, wherein selection of the first location is received from interaction with a street map; and

wherein selection of the second location is received from interaction with the street map.

39. A computer system having a computer-readable medium including a computer-executable program therein for performing a method for providing information regarding a location, the method comprising:

selecting a location;

displaying a position identifier on a street map at the selected location;

identifying a plurality of images associated with the selected location; and

displaying a double film-strip type view illustrating the plurality of images in a geographic order.

40. The computer system of claim 39, wherein the position identifier includes a first scroll icon oriented in a direction of a street on which the position identifier is located;

and

wherein the double film-strip type view includes a second scroll icon directionally correlated with the first scroll icon.

41. The computer system of claim 40, further comprising:

receiving an interaction with the first scroll icon; and

in response to receiving an interaction with the first scroll icon,

identifying a second plurality of images geographically adjacent to the plurality of images in the direction of the first scroll icon; and

displaying in the dual filmstrip-type view, the second plurality of images.

42. The computer system of claim 41, further comprising:

in response to receiving an interaction with the first scroll icon,

displaying the position identifier at a second location on the street map, wherein the second location is geographically adjacent to the location in the direction of the first scroll icon, and wherein the second plurality of images are associated with the second location.

43. The computer system of claim 39, wherein the plurality of images are representative of objects physically located at the selected location.

44. The computer system of claim 39, wherein the plurality of images displayed in the dual filmstrip-type view are images of objects located on either side of a street near the selected location.

45. The computer system of claim 39, wherein the plurality of images are a montage of images representative of an area surrounding the selected location.

46. The computer-readable medium of claim 39, wherein the plurality of images provide a panoramic view of an area surrounding the location.