Interactive multimedia tour guide

• US 6,526,351 B2
• Filed: 07/09/2001
• Issued: 02/25/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 07/09/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Whitham Holdings LLC
• Original Assignee: Charles Lamont Whitham
• Inventors: Whitham, Charles Lamont
• Primary Examiner(s): Cuchlinski, Jr., William A.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Marc-Coleman, Marthe Y.
• Application Number:
  US09/900,161
• Publication Number:
  US 20030009281A1
• Time in Patent Office: 596 Days
• Field of Search: 701/201, 701/207, 701/208, 701/209, 701/211, 701/212, 701/213, 340/988, 340/989, 340/990, 340/995
• US Class Current: 701/211
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/343 Calculating itineraries, i.e. routes leading from a starting point to a series of categorical destinations using a global route restraint, round trips, touristic trips travelling salesman problem G06Q10/04; optimisation of routes G06Q10/047
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3644 Landmark guidance, e.g. using POIs or conspicuous other objects
• 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: G01S 19/50 whereby the position solution is constrained to lie upon a particular curve or surface, e.g. for locomotives on railway tracks

Abstract

An interactive multimedia tour guide provides a user with packaged tours in a multimedia format that includes directions and useful information about a selected tour. The packaged tours are composed of principle and ancillary points of interest. A user profile is developed which is used to generate a preference mask for the user. The preference mask is used to select only those ancillary points of interest that would be of most interest to the user. The selected tour is stored on a portable self-contained electronic system which includes a GPS navigation system and cell phone. The system includes voice recognition software and speech synthesis software to provide the user with a verbal interface That provides directions and information on various points of interest during the tour. Combined with optional camera, the interactive multimedia tour guide allows for rapid identification and editing of pictures or videos made on a tour.

Claims

1. An interactive multimedia tour guide comprising:

a Geographic Information System (GIS) database of packaged tours from which a user may select a tour, each tour being comprised of principle points of interest and ancillary points of interest, the ancillary points of interest not being the primary subject of a particular tour; and

a portable self-contained system including a Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) receiver and means for storing at least a selected tour and related information from the GIS database, the portable self-contained system further including a speech synthesis function to provide audible directions and information about points of interest as a tour progresses and audible prompts to the user, the GPS receiver generating location information used to access information in the selected tour, the interactive multimedia tour guide allowing the user to modify the selected tour while in progress.

2. The interactive multimedia tour guide recited in claim 1, further comprising means for accessing an Internet Web site and updating information for a selected tour from the Internet Web site.

3. The interactive multimedia tour guide recited in claim 2, wherein the means for accessing an Internet Web site accesses Web sites, if any, of at least principle points of interest in the selected tour.

4. The interactive multimedia tour guide recited in claim 2, wherein the means for accessing an Internet Web site accesses a Web site of a provider of the GIS database.

5. The interactive multimedia tour guide recited in claim 1, further comprising a user preference mask applied to a selected tour to select those ancillary points of interest in the selected tour which may be of the most interest to a user to generate a customized tour for the user.

6. The interactive multimedia tour guide recited in claim 1, further comprising means for previewing one or more packaged tours in the GIS database, a preview of a packaged tour including an audio/visual presentation of at least the principle points of interest in a packaged tour.

7. The interactive multimedia tour guide recited in claim 6, further comprising selection means allowing a user to select principle points of interest from two or more packaged tours to generate a custom tour.

8. The interactive multimedia tour guide recited in claim 6, further comprising a user preference mask applied to a selected tour to select those ancillary points of interest in the selected tour which may be of most interest to a user to generate a customized tour for the user.

9. The interactive multimedia tour guide recited in claim 1, further comprising:

a user preference mask and a travel companion preference mask;

a combining function for combining the user preference mask and the travel companion preference mask to generate a composite preference mask; and

means for applying the composite preference mask to a selected tour to select those ancillary points of interest in the selected tour which may be of the most interest to a user and travel companion to generate a customized tour for the user and travel companion.

10. The interactive multimedia tour guide recited in claim 1, further comprising a camera interfacing with the portable self-contained system, the camera including means for generating orientation information and obtaining location information, the camera date and time stamping images and providing orientation and location information for images, the orientation and location information being used to access related information from the GIS database to identify a probable subject of an image.

11. The interactive multimedia tour guide recited in claim 10, further comprising means prompting a user to confirm an identified probable subject of an image.

12. The interactive multimedia tour guide recited in claim 11, wherein the user is prompted to identify the image if the identified probable subject of the image is not confirmed.

13. The interactive multimedia tour guide recited in claim 1, wherein the portable self-contained system further includes a portable telephone operable in response to voice commands.

14. The interactive multimedia tour guide recited in claim 13, wherein related information from the GIS database includes Universal Resource Locators (URLs) for at least the principle points of interest of a selected tour, the portable self-contained system prompting a user on approach to a point of interest as determined from location information generated by the GPS receiver whether to access an Internet Web site of the point of interest and, if the user enters a command to access the Web site, accessing the Web site using the portable telephone.

15. The interactive multimedia tour guide recited in claim 1, further comprising a voice recognition function which responds to voiced commands from the user.

16. The interactive multimedia tour guide recited in claim 15, wherein the related information from the GIS database includes amenities, the voice recognition function responding to a voiced command from a user to locate a place to eat by searching the amenities included in the related information to identify proximate places to eat.

17. The interactive multimedia tour guide recited in claim 15, wherein the related information from the GIS database includes amenities, the voice recognition function responding to a voiced command from a user to locate a place to stay by searching the amenities included in the related information to identify proximate places to stay.

18. A portable self-contained interactive multimedia tour guide comprising:

means for storing at least a selected tour from a Geographic Information System (GIS) database of packaged tours, the selected tour being comprised of principle points of interest and ancillary points of interest, the ancillary points of interest not being the primary subject of the selected tour;

a Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) receiver generating location information;

a central processing unit (CPU) receiving said location information and accessing said GIS database;

a display controlled by the CPU to display a map showing a current location relative to the selected tour, and

a speech synthesis function controlled by The CPU to provide audible directions and information about points of interest as the selected tour progresses and audible prompts to a user, wherein the CPU is programmed to allow the user to modify the selected tour while in progress.

19. The portable self-contained interactive multimedia tour guide recited in claim 18, further comprising a portable telephone.

20. The portable self-contained interactive multimedia tour guide recited in claim 19, wherein the portable telephone includes an integrated Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) and the tour guide and portable telephone are housed in a unitary structure.

21. The portable self-contained interactive multimedia tour guide recited in claim 20, further comprising a camera attachment for attaching to said unitary structure, the display serving as a view finder for the camera attachment when attached to the unitary structure.

22. The portable self-contained interactive multimedia tour guide recited in claim 21, wherein the camera attachment includes means for generating orientation information, the CPU using the orientation information from the camera attachment and location information from the GPS system for images taken by the camera attachment to access related information from the GIS database to identify a probable subject of an image.

23. The portable self-contained interactive multimedia tour guide recited in claim 22, further comprising means prompting a user to confirm an identified probable subject of an image.

24. The portable self-contained interactive multimedia tour guide recited in claim 23, wherein the user is prompted to identify the image if the identified probable subject of the image is not confirmed.

25. The portable self-contained interactive multimedia tour guide recited in claim 19, wherein related information from the GIS database includes Universal Resource Locators (URLs) for at least principle points of interest of a selected tour, the portable self-contained multimedia tour guide prompting a user on approach to a point of interest as determined from location information generated by the GPS receiver whether to access an Internet Web site of the point of interest and, if the user enters a command to access the Web site, accessing the Web site using the portable telephone.

26. The portable self-contained interactive multimedia tour guide recited in claim 18, further comprising a voice recognition function which responds to voiced commands from the user.

27. The interactive multimedia tour guide recited in claim 26, wherein the related information from the GIS database includes amenities, the tour guide responds to a voiced command from a user to locate a place to eat by searching the amenities included in the related information to identify proximate places to eat.

28. The interactive multimedia tour guide recited in claim 26, wherein the related information from the GIS database includes amenities, the tour guide responds to a voiced command from a user to locate a place to stay by searching the amenities included in the related information to identify proximate places to stay.

29. A method of providing tours for use in an interactive multimedia tour guide comprising the steps of:

generating a Geographical Information System (GIS) database containing packaged tours tom which a user may select a tour, each tour being comprised of principle points of interest and ancillary points of interest, the ancillary points of interest not being the pi subject of the selected tour,

prompting a user to preview one or more packaged tours in the GIS database, a preview of a packaged tour including an audio/visual presentation of at least the principle points of interest in a packaged tour, and

allowing a user to select principle points of interest from two or more packaged tours to generate a custom tour.

30. The method of providing tours for use in an interactive multimedia tour guide recited in claim 29, further comprising the steps of:

generating a preference mask for the user; and

applying the preference mask to a selected tour to select those ancillary points of interest in the selected tour which may be of the most interest to a user to generate a customized tour for the user.

31. The method of providing tours for use in an interactive multimedia tour guide recited in claim 29, further comprising the steps of:

generating preference masks for the user and a travel companion;

combining the preference masks of the user and the travel companion using a combining function to generate a composite preference mask; and

applying the composite preference mask to a selected tour to select those ancillary points of interest in the selected tour which may be of the most interest to the user and the travel companion to generate a customized tour.

32. The method of providing tours for use in an interactive multimedia tour guide recited in claim 29, further comprising the steps of:

accessing a Web site; and

updating information for the selected tour from the Web site.

33. The method of providing tours for use in an interactive multimedia tour guide recited in claim 32, wherein the step of accessing a Web site includes accessing Web sites, if any, of at least the principle points of interest in a selected tour.

34. The method of providing tours for use in an interactive multimedia tour guide recited in claim 32, wherein the step of accessing a Web site includes accessing a Web site of a provider of the GIS database.

35. The method of providing tours for use in an interactive multimedia tour guide recited in claim 29, wherein the GIS database is Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) enabled and further comprising the steps of:

accessing information for the selected tour in the GIS database using GPS generated location information;

providing audible directions and information about points of interest as the tour progresses; and

allowing the user to modify the selected tour while in progress.

36. The method of providing tours for use in an interactive multimedia tour guide recited in claim 35, further comprising the steps of

receiving orientation and location information from a camera;

accessing information for the selected tour in the GIS database using the orientation and location information from the camera; and

determining a probable subject of an image.

37. The method of providing tours for use in an interactive multimedia tour guide recited in claim 36, further comprising the step of prompting a user to confirm an identified probable subject of an image.

38. The method of providing tours for use in an interactive multimedia tour guide recited in claim 37, further comprising the step of prompting the user to identify the image if the identified probable subject of the image is not confirmed.

39. The method of providing tours for use in an interactive multimedia tour guide recited in claim 35, wherein the information for the selected tour in the GIS database includes amenities and further comprising the steps of:

responding to a voiced command for food or lodging by accessing the amenities information for the selected tour in the GIS database using GPS generated location information; and

providing information on locations of places where food or lodging may be obtained.

40. A camera comprising:

means for recording an image,

a Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) receiver for generating location information at a time when the image is recorded;

a digital compass for generating orientation information at the time when the image is recorded;

a Geographic Information System (GIS) database storing points of interest; and

database search means for searching the GIS database using said location and orientation information generated at the time when the image is recorded to identify a probable subject of the image.

41. The camera recited in claim 40, further comprising means prompting a user to confirm an identified probable subject of an image.

42. The camera recited in claim 41, wherein the user is prompted to identify the image if the identified probable subject of the image is not confirmed.