Using route narrative symbols

• US 7,324,897 B2
• Filed: 06/30/2006
• Issued: 01/29/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 07/17/2003
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AOL LLC (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Inventors: Schmitz, Michael David
• Primary Examiner(s): Tran; Dalena
• Application Number:
  US11/428,163
• Publication Number:
  US 20060241863A1
• Time in Patent Office: 578 Days
• Field of Search: 701/200, 701/202, 701/209, 701/208, 701/211, 340/995.19, 340/995.24, 340/990, 340/995.27, 340/988, 340/995.1, 731/78.R
• US Class Current: 701/211
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3632 Guidance using simplified or iconic instructions, e.g. using arrows G01C21/365 takes precedence

Abstract

Techniques are provided for displaying a route symbol with narrative driving directions. A route symbol for a particular maneuver may be used to represent the road to which the maneuver relates. For example, one type of a route symbol that may be used to represent a road may be an interstate route symbol that has substantially the same appearance (e.g., substantially the same or similar shape, and/or substantially the same coloration) as an interstate route sign used to mark the interstate itself. Another example of a type of a route symbol that represents a road is an highway route symbol that looks substantially the same as a highway route sign used to mark a state highway. A route symbol used for the display of a maneuver also may include route symbols that are related to the type of maneuver, such as the type of a turn, described by the maneuver.

Claims

1. A method for displaying driving directions having multiple maneuvers, the method comprising:

accessing maneuver information for a route from an origin to a destination, wherein the maneuver information comprises text information;

presenting, as a constituent part of the driving directions, a first maneuver along the route involving a particular road;

presenting, as another constituent part of the driving directions, a second maneuver along the route involving the particular road, such that the first and second maneuvers are presented consecutively among the driving directions; and

presenting a graphical road-identifying symbol that has substantially the same appearance as a road sign with less than all maneuvers being presented along the route and involving the particular road.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising repeating the presenting until all first occurrences of particular roads are presented with corresponding graphical road-identifying symbols.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein presenting a graphical road-identifying symbol includes presenting a graphical road-identifying symbol that has substantially the same shape as a road sign and includes a road number with a maneuver of the driving directions that represents a first occurrence of a particular road having the road number in a list of maneuvers for the route.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein presenting a graphical road-identifying symbol includes presenting a graphical road-identifying symbol that has substantially the same coloration as a road sign and includes a road number with a maneuver of the driving directions that represents a first occurrence of a particular road having the road number in a list of maneuvers for the route.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising presenting a turn route symbol with a maneuver based on a turn angle of the maneuver when the maneuver does not represent a first occurrence of a particular road having a particular road number in the list of maneuvers for the route.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein presenting the turn route symbol comprises presenting a slight left turn route symbol with a maneuver that includes a turn angle of a slight left turn.

7. The method of claim 5 wherein presenting the turn route symbol comprises presenting a slight right turn route symbol with a maneuver that includes a turn angle of a slight right turn.

8. The method of claim 5 wherein presenting the turn route symbol comprises presenting a sharp left turn route symbol with a maneuver that includes a turn angle of a sharp left turn.

9. The method of claim 5 wherein presenting the turn route symbol comprises presenting a sharp right turn route symbol with a maneuver that includes a turn angle of a sharp right turn.

10. The method of claim 5 wherein presenting the turn route symbol comprises presenting a merge route symbol with a maneuver that includes an angle of a merge of two roads.

11. The method of claim 5 wherein presenting the turn route symbol comprises presenting an exit route symbol with a maneuver that includes a turn angle of an exit from a road.

12. The method of claim 5 wherein at most one route symbol is presented with a particular maneuver.

13. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

applying priority information to determine a route symbol type of several route symbol types to be presented with a maneuver of the driving directions that does not represent a first occurrence of a particular road; and

presenting the route symbol type with the maneuver.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein the driving directions are displayed by a system provided through an Internet service provider.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein the driving directions are displayed by a printer associated with a client system.

16. The method of claim 1 wherein the driving directions are displayed by a display device associated with a client system.

17. The method of claim 1 wherein the driving directions are displayed by a display device associated with a vehicle on-board navigation system.

18. The method of claim 1 wherein:

the graphical road-identifying symbol is presented with the maneuver that represents only the first occurrence of the particular road among multiple consecutive driving directions involving the particular road, and

the method further comprising presenting the route symbol with a later maneuver that appears in the driving directions and that involves the particular road if the later maneuver is separated by at least one intermediary maneuver from the multiple consecutive driving directions involving the road.

19. The method of claim 1 wherein presenting the graphical road-identifying symbol includes presenting the graphical road-identifying symbol in association with only a first of two or more maneuvers being presented along the route and involving the particular road.

20. A method for displaying driving directions having multiple maneuvers, the method comprising:

accessing maneuver information for a route from an origin to a destination;

presenting, with only a first occurrence of a particular road having a road number in a list of maneuvers for the route, a graphical road-identifying symbol that has substantially the same appearance as a road sign and includes the road number with a maneuver of the driving directions; and

repeating the presenting until all first occurrences of particular roads are presented with corresponding graphical road-identifying symbols.

21. The method of claim 20 further comprising repeating the presenting until all first occurrences of particular roads are presented with graphical road-identifying symbols.

22. The method of claim 20 wherein presenting the graphical road-identifying symbol includes presenting the graphical road-identifying symbol with only a first of two or more maneuvers of the driving directions that represent occurrence of a particular road having the road number in a list of maneuvers for the route.

23. A method for displaying driving directions having multiple maneuvers, the method comprising:

accessing maneuver information for a route from an origin to a destination;

applying priority information to determine a route symbol of several route symbol types to be associated with a maneuver of the driving directions; and

associating the route symbol with the maneuver,

wherein;

a graphical road-identifying symbol that has substantially the same appearance as a road sign and includes a road number is associated with a maneuver of the driving directions that represents an occurrence of a particular road having the road number in a list of maneuvers for the route,

each maneuver in the list of maneuvers for the route is associated with at most one route symbol, and

the graphical road-identifying symbol comprises a route symbol of a country other than the United States.

24. A computer-readable medium or propagated signal having embodied thereon a computer program configured to display driving directions having multiple maneuvers, the medium or signal comprising one or more code segments configured to:

access maneuver information for a route from an origin to a destination, wherein the maneuver information comprises text information;

present, as a constituent part of the driving directions, a first maneuver along the route involving a particular road;

present, as another constituent part of the driving directions, a second maneuver along the route involving the particular road, such that the first and second maneuvers are presented consecutively among the driving directions; and

present a graphical road-identifying symbol that has substantially the same appearance as a road sign with less than all maneuvers being presented along the route and involving the particular road.

25. The medium of claim 24 wherein:

the graphical road-identifying symbol is presented with the maneuver that represents only the first occurrence of the particular road among multiple consecutive driving directions involving the particular road, and

the code segments are further configured to present the route symbol with a later maneuver that appears in the driving directions and that involves the particular road if the later maneuver is separated by at least one intermediary maneuver from the multiple consecutive driving directions involving the road.

26. The medium of claim 24 wherein the one or more code segments are further configured to present the graphical road-identifying symbol in association with only a first of two or more maneuvers being presented along the route and involving the particular road.

27. A computer-readable medium or propagated signal having embodied thereon a computer program configured to display driving directions having multiple maneuvers, the medium or signal comprising one or more code segments configured to:

access maneuver information for a route from an origin to a destination;

present, with only a first occurrence of a particular road having a road number in a list of maneuvers for the route, a graphical road-identifying symbol that has substantially the same appearance as a road sign and includes the road number with a maneuver of the driving directions; and

repeat the presenting until all first occurrences of particular roads are presented with corresponding graphical road-identifying symbols.

28. The medium of claim 27 wherein the one or more code segments are further configured to repeat the presenting until all first occurrences of particular roads are presented with corresponding graphical road-identifying symbols.

29. The medium of claim 28 wherein the one or more code segments are further configured to present a turn route symbol with a maneuver based on a turn angle of the maneuver when the maneuver does not represent a first occurrence of a particular road having a particular road number in the list of maneuvers for the route.

30. The medium of claim 27 wherein the one or more code segments are further configured to:

apply priority information to determine a route symbol type of several route symbol types to be presented with a maneuver of the driving directions that does not represent a first occurrence of a particular road; and

present the route symbol type with the maneuver.

31. The medium of claim 27 wherein the one or more code segments are further configured to present the graphical road-identifying symbol with only a first of two or more maneuvers of the driving directions that represent occurrence of a particular road having the road number in a list of maneuvers for the route.

32. A computer-readable medium or propagated signal having embodied thereon a computer program configured to display driving directions having multiple maneuvers, the medium or signal comprising one or more code segments configured to:

access maneuver information for a route from an origin to a destination;

apply priority information to determine a route symbol of several route symbol types to be associated with a maneuver of the driving directions; and

associate the route symbol with the maneuver,

wherein;

a graphical road-identifying symbol that has substantially the same appearance as a road sign and includes a road number is associated with a maneuver of the driving directions that represents an occurrence of a particular road having the road number in a list of maneuvers for the route, and

each maneuver in the list of maneuvers for the route is associated with at most one route symbol, and

the graphical road-identifying symbol comprises a route symbol of a country other than the United States.

33. A system for displaying driving directions having multiple maneuvers, the system comprising:

means for accessing maneuver information for a route from an origin to a destination, wherein the maneuver information comprises text information;

means for presenting, as a constituent part of the driving directions, a first maneuver along the route involving a particular road;

means for presenting, as another constitute part of the driving directions, a second maneuver along the route involving the particular road, such that the first and second maneuvers are presented consecutively among the driving directions; and

means for presenting a graphical road-identifying symbol that has substantially the same appearance as a road sign with less than all a maneuvers being presented along the route and involving the particular road.

34. The system of claim 33 wherein means for presenting the graphical road-identifying symbol includes means for presenting the graphical road-identifying symbol in association with only a first of two or more maneuvers being presented along the route and involving the particular road.

41. The system of claim 33 wherein means for presenting the graphical road-identifying symbol includes means for presenting the graphical road-identifying symbol with only a first of two or more maneuvers of the driving directions that represent occurrence of a particular road having the road number in a list of maneuvers for the route.

35. A system for displaying driving directions having multiple maneuvers, the system comprising:

means for accessing maneuver information for a route from an origin to a destination;

means for presenting, with only a first occurrence of a particular road having a road number in a list of maneuvers for the route, a graphical road-identifying symbol that has substantially the same appearance as a road sign and includes the road number with a maneuver of the driving directions; and

means for repeating the presenting until all first occurrences of particular roads are presented with corresponding graphical road-identifying symbols.

36. The system of claim 35 further comprising means for repeating the presenting until all first occurrences of particular roads are presented with corresponding graphical road-identifying symbols.

37. The system of claim 35 further comprising means for presenting a turn route symbol with a maneuver based on a turn angle of the maneuver when the maneuver does not represent a first occurrence of a particular road having a particular road number in the list of maneuvers for the route.

38. The system of claim 35 further comprising:

means for applying priority information to determine a route symbol type of several route symbol types to be presented with a maneuver of the driving directions that does not represent a first occurrence of a particular road; and

means for presenting the route symbol type with the maneuver.

39. The system of claim 35 further comprising means for displaying driving directions including the graphical road-identifying symbol presented with a maneuver.

40. The system of claim 35 wherein:

the graphical road-identifying symbol is presented with the maneuver that represents only the first occurrence of the particular road among multiple consecutive driving directions involving the particular road, and

the processor is further configured to present the route symbol with a later maneuver that appears in the driving directions and that involves the particular road if the later maneuver is separated by at least one intermediary maneuver from the multiple consecutive driving directions involving the road.

42. A system for displaying driving directions having multiple maneuvers, the system further comprising:

means for accessing maneuver information for a route from an origin to a destination;

means for applying priority information to determine a route symbol of several route symbol types to be associated with a maneuver of the driving directions; and

means for associating the route symbol with the maneuver,

wherein;

a graphical road-identifying symbol that has substantially the same appearance as a road sign and includes a road number is associated with a maneuver of the driving directions that represents an occurrence of a particular road having the road number in a list of maneuvers for the route,

each maneuver in the list of maneuvers for the route is associated with at most one route symbol, and

the graphical road-identifying symbol comprises a route symbol of a country other than the United States.

43. A method for displaying driving directions having multiple maneuvers, the method comprising:

accessing maneuver information that includes driving directions for a route from an origin to a destination;

determining the existence within the maneuver information of multiple consecutive driving directions involving a particular road; and

for a group of multiple consecutive driving directions, presenting at least one instance of a graphical road-identifying symbol that has substantially the same appearance as a road sign, wherein the number of separate instances of the graphical road-identifying symbol presented is fewer than a number of consecutive directions within the group that involves the particular road.

44. The method of claim 43 wherein the graphical road-identifying symbol corresponding to the road comprises a graphical representation of the road.

45. The method of claim 43 wherein only one graphical road-identifying symbol is presented corresponding to the multiple consecutive mapping directions within the group.

46. The method of claim 45 wherein the one graphical road-identifying symbol is visually oriented corresponding to a first of the multiple consecutive mapping directions in the group.

47. The method of claim 43 wherein mapping directions comprises text information.

48. The method of claim 43 wherein presenting for a group of multiple consecutive driving directions includes presenting for a group of multiple consecutive driving directions involving the particular road.