Method and Apparatus of a Marking Objects in Images Displayed on a Portable Unit

• US 20130162626A1
• Filed: 12/26/2011
• Published: 06/27/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 12/26/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Thaddeus Gabara
• Original Assignee: Truemaps LLC
• Inventors: Gabara, Thaddeus John
• Granted Patent: US 9,965,140 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/419
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04802 3D-info-object: information is displayed on the internal or external surface of a three dimensional manipulable object, e.g. on the faces of a cube that can be rotated by the user
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04803 Split screen, i.e. subdividing the display area or the window area into separate subareas
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04804 Transparency, e.g. transparent or translucent windows
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04806 Zoom, i.e. interaction techniques or interactors for controlling the zooming operation
• 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 3/04815 Interaction with a metaphor-based environment or interaction object displayed as three-dimensional, e.g. changing the user viewpoint with respect to the environment or object
• 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 3/0485 Scrolling or panning
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04886 by partitioning the display area of the touch-screen or the surface of the digitising tablet into independently controllable areas, e.g. virtual keyboards or menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0489 using dedicated keyboard keys or combinations thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/147 using display panels
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 17/05 Geographic models
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2340/0407 Resolution change, inclusive of the use of different resolutions for different screen areas
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2340/10 Mixing of images, i.e. displayed pixel being the result of an operation, e.g. adding, on the corresponding input pixels
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2340/145 related to small screens

Abstract

Location markers are placed on objects presented on a display screen. The location markers can be letters, numbers, or shapes placed near the desired objects to be viewed. After magnification, those earlier determined location markers of the display screen are located off-screen. However, arrows are labeled and point to the off-screen markers. The user moves the background image in the direction of the arrow to find that object. This innovative technique allows the user to mark locations, magnify the image of the map, and find all marked locations (without reverting to a lower magnification) by following pointers that direct the user to locations that are currently out of view of the screen. Furthermore, the user can find all marked locations without getting lost.

Claims

1. A portable unit comprising:

a screen displaying a map at a first scale;

a plurality of locations in the map are marked by location markers;

the map is set to a second scale;

at least one location marker is not displayed on the screen; and

a transparent arrow points in a direction to each missing location marker.

2. The portable unit of claim 1, further comprising:

the transparent arrow identifies the identity of each missing location marker.

3. The portable unit of claim 1, further comprising:

an image of the map mapping onto a two dimensional plane.

4. The portable unit of claim 1, further comprising:

an origin mapped to a point on the image of the map.

5. The portable unit of claim 1, further comprising:

an X-axis mapped to a line on the image of the map.

6. The portable unit of claim 5, further comprising:

a microprocessor calculates an angle of the direction of each transparent arrow points using software.

7. The portable unit of claim 1, further comprising:

a memory to store the image of a map; and

an RF module to access an external database to supply the memory with data.

8. A portable unit comprising:

a screen displaying a map on a first plane;

a plurality of locations in the map are marked by location markers;

the map is moved displaying a new portion of the map on the screen;

at least one location marker is not displayed on the screen; and

a transparent arrow points to each missing location marker.

9. The portable unit of claim 8, further comprising:

an image of the map maps into a three dimensional space.

10. The portable unit of claim 8, further comprising:

an origin mapped to any three dimensional point within an image of the map representing the three dimensional space.

11. The portable unit of claim 8, further comprising:

an X-axis mapped to a line in an image of the map.

12. The portable unit of claim 8, further comprising:

a microprocessor to calculate a projected angle of each transparent arrow on the first plane.

13. The portable unit of claim 8, further comprising:

a transparent head with a diameter proportion to a height above the first plane of each missing location marker; and

a transparent tail with a diameter proportion to a depth below the first plane of each missing location marker.

14. The portable unit of claim 8, further comprising:

a memory to store an image of the map; and

an RF module to access an external database to supply the memory with data.

15. A method of moving a portable unit by a distance to display a new location comprising the steps of:

displaying a map on a first plane of a screen;

marking a plurality of locations in the map by location markers;

displaying a new portion of the map when the map is moved, whereby at least one location marker is not displayed on the screen; and

a transparent arrow points to each missing location marker.

16. The process of claim 15, further comprising the steps of:

mapping an image of the map within a three dimensional space.

17. The process of claim 15, further comprising the steps of:

mapping an origin to a point within the image of the map representing the three dimensional space.

18. The process of claim 15, further comprising the steps of:

calculating a projected angle of each transparent arrow on the first plane by a microprocessor.

19. The process of claim 18, further comprising the steps of:

displaying a transparent head with a diameter proportion to a height above the first plane of each missing location marker; and

displaying a transparent tail with a diameter proportion to a depth below the first plane of each missing location marker.

20. The process of claim 15, further comprising the steps of:

storing an image of a map to a memory; and

accessing an external database with an RF module to supply the memory with data.

21. A portable unit comprising:

a screen displaying a map at a first scale;

a user marks at least two locations in the map by markers;

the map is set to a second scale excluding at least one location markers; and

a transparent arrow points to the excluded location marker.