SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CREATING, STORING AND UTILIZING IMAGES OF A GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION
First Claim
1. In a system including an image source and a user terminal having a screen and an input device, a method for enabling visual navigation of a geographic area from the user terminal, the method comprising:
- receiving a first user input specifying a first location in the geographic area;
retrieving from the image source a first image associated with the first location, the image source providing a plurality of images depicting views of objects in the geographic area, the views being substantially elevations of the objects in the geographic area, wherein the images are associated with image frames acquired by an image recording device moving along a trajectory;
displaying on the screen a direction identifier for indicating the viewing direction depicted in the first image;
receiving a second user input specifying a navigation direction relative to the first location in the geographic area;
determining a second location based on the user specified navigation direction; and
retrieving from the image source a second image associated with the second location.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method synthesizing images of a locale to generate a composite image that provide a panoramic view of the locale. A video camera moves along a street recording images of objects along the street. A GPS receiver and inertial navigation system provide the position of the camera as the images are being recorded. The images are indexed with the position data provided by the GPS receiver and inertial navigation system. The composite image is created on a column-by-column basis by determining which of the acquired images contains the desired pixel column, extracting the pixels associated with the column, and stacking the columns side by side. The composite images are stored in an image database and associated with a street name and number range of the street being depicted in the image. The image database covers a substantial amount of a geographic area allowing a user to visually navigate the area from a user terminal.
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Citations
74 Claims
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1. In a system including an image source and a user terminal having a screen and an input device, a method for enabling visual navigation of a geographic area from the user terminal, the method comprising:
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receiving a first user input specifying a first location in the geographic area; retrieving from the image source a first image associated with the first location, the image source providing a plurality of images depicting views of objects in the geographic area, the views being substantially elevations of the objects in the geographic area, wherein the images are associated with image frames acquired by an image recording device moving along a trajectory; displaying on the screen a direction identifier for indicating the viewing direction depicted in the first image; receiving a second user input specifying a navigation direction relative to the first location in the geographic area; determining a second location based on the user specified navigation direction; and retrieving from the image source a second image associated with the second location. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. In a system including an image source and a user terminal having a screen and an input device, a method for enabling visual navigation of a geographic area from the user terminal, the method comprising:
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providing by the image source a plurality of images depicting views of objects in the geographic area, the views being substantially elevations of the objects in the geographic area, wherein the images are associated with image frames acquired by an image recording device moving along a trajectory; receiving by the user terminal a first user input specifying a first location in the geographic area; retrieving by the user terminal a first image associated with the first location, the first image being one of the plurality of images provided by the image source; displaying the first image on the screen of the user terminal; displaying on the screen a direction identifier for indicating the viewing direction depicted in the first image; receiving by the user terminal a second user input specifying a navigation direction relative to the first location in the geographic area; determining a second location based on the user specified navigation direction; retrieving by the user terminal a second image associated with the second location, the second image being one of the plurality of images provided by the image source; and updating the first image with the second image. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A method for enabling visual navigation of a geographic area via a computer system coupled to an image source, the computer system including one or more computer devices, at least one of the computer devices having a display screen, the method comprising:
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providing by the image source a plurality of images depicting views of objects in the geographic area, the views being substantially elevations of the objects in the geographic area, wherein the images are associated with image frames acquired by an image recording device moving along a trajectory; receiving by the computer system a first user input specifying a first location in the geographic area; retrieving by the computer system a first image associated with the first location, the first image being one of the plurality of images provided by the image source; providing by the computer system the retrieved first image for displaying on a first display area of the display screen; invoking by the computer system a display of a direction identifier for indicating the viewing direction depicted in the first image; receiving by the computer system a second user input specifying a navigation direction relative to the first location in the geographic area; determining by the computer system a second location based on the user specified navigation direction; retrieving by the computer system a second image associated with the second location, the second image being one of the plurality of images provided by the image source; and providing by the computer system the retrieved second image for updating the first image with the second image. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42)
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43. A user terminal coupled to an image source for visually navigating a geographic area, the user terminal including:
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a display screen; a processor coupled to the display screen; and a memory coupled to the processor and storing computer program instructions therein, the processor configured to execute the computer program instructions, the computer program instructions including; receiving a first user input specifying a first location in the geographic area; retrieving from the image source a first image associated with the first location, the image source providing a plurality of images depicting views of objects in the geographic area, the views being substantially elevations of the objects in the geographic area, wherein the images are associated with image frames acquired by an image recording device moving along a trajectory; displaying on the display screen a direction identifier for indicating the viewing direction depicted in the first image; receiving a second user input specifying a navigation direction relative to the first location in the geographic area; determining a second location based on the user specified navigation direction; retrieving from the image source a second image associated with the second location; and updating the first image with the second image. - View Dependent Claims (44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54)
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55. A system for enabling visual navigation of a geographic area, the system comprising:
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an image source providing a plurality of images depicting views of objects in the geographic area, the views being substantially elevations of the objects in the geographic area, wherein the images are associated with image frames acquired by an image recording device moving along a trajectory; and one or more computer devices coupled to the image source, at least one of the computer devices having a display screen, the one or more computer devices being configured to execute computer program instructions including; receiving a first user input specifying a first location in the geographic area; retrieving a first image associated with the first location, the first image being one of the plurality of images provided by the image source; providing the retrieved first image for displaying on a first display area of the display screen; invoking display of a direction identifier for indicating the viewing direction depicted in the first image; receiving a second user input specifying a navigation direction relative to the first location in the geographic area; determining a second location based on the user specified navigation direction; retrieving a second image associated with the second location, the second image being one of the plurality of images provided by the image source; and providing the retrieved second image for updating the first image with the second image. - View Dependent Claims (56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74)
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Specification