SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DISPLAYING INFORMATION LOCAL TO A SELECTED AREA

• US 20130176321A1
• Filed: 01/06/2012
• Published: 07/11/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 01/06/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Mitchell, Henry Hiroshi, Ikejima, Shun, Iwasaki, Naoki
• Granted Patent: US 9,189,556 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/522
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3682 output of POI information on a road map G01C21/3614, G01C21/3685 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9537 Spatial or temporal dependent retrieval, e.g. spatiotemporal queries
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 29/007 using computer methods

Abstract

A system and method of the subject technology displays non-geographic information associated with a viewed point of interest in an interactive internet map. When the map is repositioned by a user, a new point of interest is determined based on one or more coordinates and one or more predefined rules, and new non-geographic information is automatically generated and displayed for the new point of interest, all without a user having to enter search criteria.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for updating non-geographic location information relating to a displayed geographic location in a viewport, comprising:

providing for display, non-geographic information related to a currently displayed point of interest in an interactive map;

determining a user has repositioned the interactive map;

automatically determining a new geographic point of interest displayed on the repositioned interactive map based on information received from the interactive map and a predefined rule;

automatically determining new non-geographic information related to the new geographic point of interest; and

providing, for display, the new non-geographic information related to the new geographic point of interest.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein determining the user has repositioned the interactive map includes determining the user has repositioned the interactive map by more than a predetermined amount.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the information received from the interactive map includes one or more coordinates.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, wherein the one or more coordinates includes a coordinate representative of a geographic location at the center of a viewport in which the interactive map is displayed.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, wherein the predefined rule determines the new geographic point of interest as a geographic entity having a location that is closest to the one or more coordinates.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, wherein the predefined rule determines the new geographic point of interest as a geographic entity having the largest population within the repositioned interactive map.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, wherein the predefined rule determines as the new geographic point of interest a geographic entity having the largest area within the repositioned interactive map.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein automatically determining new non-geographic information related to the new geographic point of interest comprises automatically determining new non-geographic information related to an area surrounding the new geographic point of interest.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, wherein the area surrounding the new geographic point of interest is bounded by an edge of the interactive map.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the new non-geographic information includes two or more items selected from the group consisting of local trends associated with the new geographic point of interest, information on businesses at or proximal to the new geographic point of interest, one or more photos associated with the new geographic point of interest, tourism information associated with the new geographic point of interest, and advertisements associated with the new geographic point of interest.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein determining the user has repositioned the interactive map includes determining a GPS-enabled device has moved from a first geographic location to a second geographic location.

12. A machine-readable medium including machine-executable instructions stored thereon, which when executed by a machine or computer-enabled device, cause the machine or computer-enabled device to perform a method of updating non-geographic location information relating to a geographic location in a displayed interactive map, the method comprising:

providing for display, the interactive map, and non-geographic information related to a current point of interest in the interactive map;

determining the interactive map has been repositioned;

on determining the interactive map has been repositioned more than a predetermined amount, automatically determining a new point of interest in the interactive map based on a displayed area and a predefined rule;

automatically determining new non-geographic information related to the new point of interest; and

providing to the user interface, updated non-geographic information based on the new point of interest.

13. The machine-readable medium of claim 12, wherein determining the interactive map has been repositioned includes determining a user has repositioned the interactive map by more than a predetermined amount.

14. The machine-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the predefined rule determines the new point of interest as a location closest to a center of a viewport in which the interactive map is displayed.

15. The machine-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the predefined rule determines the new point of interest as a location with the largest population relative to other locations in the displayed interactive map.

16. The machine-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the predefined rule determines the new point of interest as a location having the largest square miles relative to other locations in the displayed interactive map.

17. The machine-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the updated non-geographic information is retrieved from a storage location based on one or more coordinates associated with the new point of interest.

18. The machine-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the interactive map is repositioned in response to movement of a GPS-enabled device from a first geographic location to a second geographic location.

19. The machine-readable medium of claim 12, wherein automatically determining new non-geographic information related to the new point of interest comprises automatically determining new non-geographic information related to an area surrounding the new point of interest.

20. The machine-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the updated non-geographic information includes two or more items selected from the group consisting of local trends associated with the new point of interest, information on businesses at or proximal to the new point of interest, one or more photos associated with the new point of interest, tourism information associated with the new point of interest, and advertisements associated with the new point of interest.