INTERACTIVE VISUAL REPRESENTATION OF POINTS OF INTEREST DATA

• US 20130249812A1
• Filed: 03/23/2012
• Published: 09/26/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 03/23/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Barnett, Donald A., Impas, Romualdo T., Ramos, Gonzalo A., Wantland, Timothy P.
• Granted Patent: US 9,552,129 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/173
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/367 Details, e.g. road map scale, orientation, zooming, illumination, level of detail, scrolling of road map or positioning of current position marker
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3679 Retrieval, searching and output of POI information, e.g. hotels, restaurants, shops, filling stations, parking facilities G01C21/3611 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3682 output of POI information on a road map G01C21/3614, G01C21/3685 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04806 Zoom, i.e. interaction techniques or interactors for controlling the zooming operation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance

Abstract

Various embodiments provide a visual language that enables a continuous representation, at different levels of detail, that range from a single discrete point to multiple points that are near each other or clustered together to unify the look-and-feel of represented elements and provide interactive consistency across various map properties and platforms.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving an input associated with a search; and

responsive to receiving said input, rendering search results on a map utilizing one or more points of interest, wherein individual points of interest include a casing layer and a core layer,

at least one of the casing layer or core layer being configured to change in size and color at different levels of detail associated with zoom operations.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the casing layer and core layer are circular.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the individual points of interest further comprise a leads layer for a lead line.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein individual points of interest further comprise a content layer in which content can appear.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the casing layer is configured to utilize an ambient color tone that reflects an associated color of the map.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein at least the core layer is configured to be rendered smaller when the map is zoomed out.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the individual points of interest are configured to have different visual styles for a default state, a hover state, and a selected state at particular levels of detail.

8. One or more computer readable storage media embodying computer readable instructions which, when executed, implement a method comprising:

rendering search results on a map utilizing a plurality of points of interest, wherein individual points of interest include a casing layer and a core layer, at least one of the casing layer or core layer being configured to change in size and color at different levels of detail associated with zoom operations, at least some of the points of interest appearing in a cluster in which points of interest overlap;

conducting a zoom operation; and

responsive to conducting the zoom operation, de-clustering overlapping points of interest in the cluster so that overlapping points of interest do not overlap.

9. The one or more computer readable storage media of claim 8, wherein conducting the zoom operation comprises conducting the zoom operation responsive to receiving a touch input.

10. The one or more computer readable storage media of claim 8 further comprising connecting de-clustered points of interest to a respective location using a lead line.

11. The one or more computer readable storage media of claim 8 further comprising connecting de-clustered points of interest to a respective location using a lead line and further comprising receiving a selection of a point of interest and, responsive to receiving the selection, rendering a visual affordance associated with the selected point of interest and using the visual affordance to provide information about the selected point of interest.

12. The one or more computer readable storage media of claim 8 further comprising connecting de-clustered points of interest to a respective location using a lead line and further comprising receiving a selection of a point of interest and, responsive to receiving the selection, rendering a visual affordance associated with the selected point of interest and using the visual affordance to provide information about the selected point of interest, wherein the visual affordance comprises a pop-up menu.

13. The one or more computer readable storage media of claim 8 further comprising receiving a selection of a point of interest and, responsive to receiving the selection, rendering a visual affordance associated with the selected point of interest and using the visual affordance to provide information about the selected point of interest.

14. The one or more computer readable storage media of claim 8, wherein said de-clustering is performed responsive to the overlapping points of interest not exceeding a threshold number;

and further comprising, responsive to the overlapping points of interest exceeding the threshold number, rendering a navigable visual affordance associated with the cluster and configured to enable navigation through points of interest in the cluster.

15. The one or more computer readable storage media of claim 8 further comprising receiving hover input associated with a cluster;

and rendering a numerical value associated with a corresponding number of points of interest that appear in the cluster for which hover input is received.

16. The one or more computer readable storage media of claim 8 further comprising receiving hover input associated with a cluster;

and rendering a numerical value associated with a corresponding number of points of interest that appear in the cluster for which hover input is received, wherein receiving hover input comprises receiving a touch input.

17. The one or more computer readable storage media of claim 8, wherein said de-clustering is performed using Delaunay triangulation.

18. The one or more computer readable storage media of claim 8, wherein said de-clustering is performed using expansion boxes each of which includes one or more points of interest.

19. A system comprising:

one or more computer readable storage media;

an interactive visual representation module embodied on the one or more computer readable storage media and configured to;

render search results on a map utilizing a plurality of points of interest, wherein individual points of interest include a casing layer and a core layer, at least one of the casing layer or core layer being configured to change in at least size or color at different levels of detail associated with zoom operations, at least some of the points of interest appearing in a cluster in which points of interest overlap;

conduct a zoom operation;

responsive to conducting the zoom operation, de-cluster overlapping points of interest in the cluster so that overlapping points of interest do not overlap;

receive hover input associated with a cluster; and

render a numerical value associated with a corresponding number of points of interest that appear in the cluster for which hover input is received.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the interactive visual representation module is further configured to receive a selection of a point of interest and, responsive to receiving the selection, render a visual affordance associated with the selected point of interest and use the visual affordance to provide information about the selected point of interest.