Method, System, And Apparatus For Maintaining A Street-level Geospatial Photographic Image Database For Selective Viewing
First Claim
1. A method for capturing, storing, and presenting driver'"'"'s eye photographic images, the method comprising:
- Capturing a plurality of driver'"'"'s eye photographic images using a processor controlled digital camera coupled to a ground vehicle moving upon streets of travel, each of the plurality of driver'"'"'s eye photographic images depicting a view corresponding approximately with a driver'"'"'s perspective upon the streets of travel;
Storing the plurality of driver'"'"'s eye photographic images in an image database such that each of the plurality of driver'"'"'s eye photographic images is indexed with respect to a particular street of travel, a location upon the particular street of travel, and a direction of travel upon the particular street of travel;
Accessing an at least one driver'"'"'s eye photographic image from the image database based at least in part upon an input from a user, the input from the user comprising an indication of at least one of a destination location and a look-ahead distance; and
Displaying the at least one driver'"'"'s eye photographic image to the user upon a display screen.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system is disclosed for creating and providing interactive access to, a street-based photographic image database. A plurality of street-level photographic images are captured are stored for each of a plurality of locations along each of a plurality of streets. The photographs depict a first-person view as would be seen by user if traveling down the associated streets. The photographs are stored in a database, indexed with respect to at least one of, the street of travel, the location upon a street of travel, a direction of vehicle flow upon the street of travel, a seasonal condition, a lighting condition, a weather condition, and a traffic condition. The photographs may be interactively accessed and displayed in response to user input and in accordance with one or more indices. An image collection system and method is also disclosed comprising a processor-controlled digital camera mounted upon a ground vehicle. Street-level images are automatically collected at incremental distances along each of plurality of streets of travel, each of the images being indexed with respect to unique correlation data.
45 Citations
46 Claims
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1. A method for capturing, storing, and presenting driver'"'"'s eye photographic images, the method comprising:
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Capturing a plurality of driver'"'"'s eye photographic images using a processor controlled digital camera coupled to a ground vehicle moving upon streets of travel, each of the plurality of driver'"'"'s eye photographic images depicting a view corresponding approximately with a driver'"'"'s perspective upon the streets of travel;
Storing the plurality of driver'"'"'s eye photographic images in an image database such that each of the plurality of driver'"'"'s eye photographic images is indexed with respect to a particular street of travel, a location upon the particular street of travel, and a direction of travel upon the particular street of travel;
Accessing an at least one driver'"'"'s eye photographic image from the image database based at least in part upon an input from a user, the input from the user comprising an indication of at least one of a destination location and a look-ahead distance; and
Displaying the at least one driver'"'"'s eye photographic image to the user upon a display screen. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A method for maintaining an image database of driver'"'"'s eye photographic images for user access and viewing, the method comprising:
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Providing a processor controlled digital camera mounted on a moving ground vehicle and configured to take photographic images that depict a view that corresponds approximately to a driver'"'"'s perspective upon a street of travel;
Capturing a plurality of photographic images with the processor controlled digital camera, the plurality of photographic images being automatically captured under a processor control at incremental distances along the street of travel. Storing the plurality of photographic images in the image database such that each of the plurality of photographic images is indexed with respect to the street of travel, a location upon the street of travel, and a direction of travel upon the street of travel. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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39. A method for accessing and displaying driver'"'"'s eye photographic images, the method comprising:
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Accessing an image database including a plurality of driver'"'"'s eye photographic images, each of the plurality of driver'"'"'s eye photographic images depicting a view corresponding approximately with a driver'"'"'s perspective upon a street of travel, each of the plurality of driver'"'"'s eye photographic images being indexed with respect to the particular street upon which the image was captured and a direction of travel upon the particular street;
Selecting at least one driver'"'"'s eye photographic image from the image database, the selecting being performed based at least in part upon an indicated street and an indicated travel direction with respect to the indicated street; and
Displaying the one or more selected images to a user upon a display screen. - View Dependent Claims (40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46)
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Specification