CREATION AND USE OF DIGITAL MAPS

• US 20090132941A1
• Filed: 11/09/2008
• Published: 05/21/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 11/10/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Geomonkey Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Geomonkey Incorporated
• Inventors: Moore, Jacob, Karpenske, Kevin, McDonald, Adam, Pilskalns, Orest
• Granted Patent: US 9,245,041 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/764
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/29 Geographical information databases
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9537 Spatial or temporal dependent retrieval, e.g. spatiotemporal queries

Abstract

Techniques described herein allow a user to automatically associate an object with a location of the user and/or the object. This object and associated location may then be transferred to an entity for publishing the object and location on a map. For example, a user may capture a digital picture or video on a device and, in response, may automatically transmit the picture or video and corresponding location data for publishing to a map that is associated with the user. The described techniques also allow a user to create a journal that is associated with an annotated map. For instance, the user may create a journal having one or more portions that are associated with one or more portions of an annotated map. As a user consumes (e.g., reads, views, listens, etc.) the created journal, the view of the map or the displayed annotations may correspondingly change. Finally, the described techniques allow for creation of multiple overlays on a digital map. That is, these tools may allow each of multiple users to create an overlay, comprising one or more annotations, onto a digital map. These tools may then allow consuming users to choose whether to view all, some, or none of these user-created overlays.

Claims

1. One or more computer-readable media storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed on one or more processors, perform acts comprising:

capturing, at a particular location, an object;

determining the particular location at which the object was captured;

associating the captured object with the determined particular location; and

transmitting the captured object and the determined particular location for publishing to at least one annotated digital map.

2. The computer-readable media of claim 1, wherein the capturing comprises capturing an object comprising at least one of:

a photograph, a video, a document, text, audio, a media file, an email, and a text message.

3. The computer-readable media of claim 1, wherein the determining comprises continually gathering location information for a device that performs the capturing.

4. The computer-readable media of claim 1, wherein the capturing causes location information to be gathered about the particular location.

5. The computer-readable media of claim 1, wherein the associating further comprises allowing the user to annotate information to the object before said transmitting.

6. The computer-readable media of claim 1, further comprising presenting a user-interface from which a user can select from multiple sites that can host the annotated digital maps.

7. The computer-readable media of claim 1, wherein the capturing, determining, associating and transmitting are performed in real-time.

8. A graphical user interface comprising:

a first screen area to display a journal that includes at least one link to an annotation on a digital map;

a second screen area to display the digital map; and

a third screen area to display an object associated with the annotation on the digital map in response to a user arriving at the at least one link in the journal.

9. A graphical user interface comprising:

a first screen area listing two or more overlays, wherein each of the two or more overlays;

(i) is associated with a particular user who created the respective overlay, (ii) comprises one or more annotations for display over a digital map, and (iii) is selectable to display or hide the one or more annotations on the digital map; and

a second screen area to display the digital map and selected overlays on the digital map.

10. A system comprising:

a mechanism for capturing an object;

a mechanism for determining a location at which the object was captured;

a mechanism for associating the captured object with the determined location;

a mechanism for transmitting the captured object and the determined location for publication on a digital map; and

,

a device that includes first, second, and third screen areas, wherein the first screen area lists two or more overlays, wherein each of the two or more overlays;

(i) is associated with a particular user who created the respective overlay, (ii) comprises one or more annotations for display over the digital map, and (iii) is selectable to display or hide the one or more annotations on the digital map and wherein the first screen area displays a journal that includes at least one link to the one or more annotations on the digital map, and wherein the second screen area displays the digital map and selected overlays on the digital map, and wherein the third screen area displays the captured object associated with the annotation on the digital map in response to an individual user arriving at the at least one link in the journal.

11. One or more computer-readable media storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed on one or more processors, perform acts comprising:

obtaining a captured object and location information associated with the capture; and

,

sending the captured object and location information to a web-site for publishing on a digital map based upon the location information.

12. The computer-readable media of claim 11, further comprising allowing a user that captured the object to pre-define the web-site.

13. The computer-readable media of claim 11, further comprising automatically selecting the web-site.

14. The computer-readable media of claim 11, further comprising presenting a list of potential web-sites to a user that captured the object and allowing the user to select the web-site from the list.

15. The computer-readable media of claim 11, further comprising identifying the web-site from an account that relates to a user that captured the object.

16. The computer-readable media of claim 11, wherein the web-site is predefined before the obtaining.

17. The computer-readable media of claim 11, wherein the web-site is predefined after the obtaining and before the sending.

18. One or more computer-readable media storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed on one or more processors, perform acts comprising:

determining a geographical location of a mobile device;

identifying an object affiliated with the geographical location; and

transmitting the object to the mobile device.

19. The computer-readable media of claim 18, wherein the determining comprises tracking the mobile device where the mobile device belongs to a user that has previously agreed to allow the tracking and to conditions for said transmitting.

20. One or more computer-readable media storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed on one or more processors, perform acts comprising:

receiving a data package; and

publishing an object of the data package on a digital map based upon location data contained in the digital package.

21. The computer-readable media of claim 20, wherein the publishing is performed only when the data package is received from a subscriber.

22. One or more computer-readable media storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed on one or more processors, perform acts comprising:

interacting with a user to allow the user to publish an object captured by the user to a digital map; and

communicating with a publisher to allow the publisher to receive the object for publication on the digital map according to location information associated with the object.

23. The computer-readable media of claim 22, wherein the interacting comprises presenting a list of digital maps to the user and allowing the user to select the map from the list.

24. The computer-readable media of claim 22, wherein the communicating comprises receiving the object from the user and relaying the object to the publisher.

25. The computer-readable media of claim 22, wherein the communicating comprises establishing an account for the user with the publisher so that the publisher can receive the object from the user.