Street-side maps and paths

• US 7,840,032 B2
• Filed: 07/28/2006
• Issued: 11/23/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 10/04/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Ofek, Eyal
• Primary Examiner(s): Tucker; Wes
• Assistant Examiner(s): ENTEZARI, MICHELLE M
• Application Number:
  US11/460,878
• Publication Number:
  US 20070076920A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,579 Days
• Field of Search: 382/276, 382/113, 382/294, 382/284, 345629-641, 348584-601
• US Class Current: 382/113
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 3/4038 Image mosaicing, e.g. composing plane images from plane sub-images

Abstract

The claimed subject matter relates to a computer-implemented architecture that can generate a map. The map can be a hybrid between an orthographic projection map and street-side images, thus including useful aspects from both types of representations. For example, an orthographic projection map is very effective at presenting global relationships among the features of the map, but not effective at presenting local detail. In contrast, street-side images show excellent detail, but do not convey the global information of an orthographic projection map. The hybrid map can thus provide a richer set of information than conventional maps, and can also display objects/features of the hybrid map in multiple perspectives simultaneously on a single representation that is printable.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented system that provides local information at or near a feature on a global map, comprising:

a global map with a feature at a feature position, the global map having a top-down perspective;

a local image that depicts an object visible from the feature position, the local image having a ground-level, first-person perspective; and

an interpolation component that embeds the local image in the global map to produce a hybrid map.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the interpolation component embeds the local image at or near the feature position.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the interpolation component embeds the local image oriented with respect to the feature.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the global map is an orthogonal map of a surface.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the global map is a road map that emphasizes roads and omits other features physically present in the extent of the global map, and wherein the feature is a road.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the interpolation component inserts the local image at or near the feature position along the road oriented with respect to the road.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the interpolation component inserts the local image at or near the feature position oriented such that a perspective axis of the local image is aligned with a compass direction for the global map.

8. The system of claim 1, further comprising an intelligence component that determines at least one of an orientation of the local image, a display style of the local image, and an importance of an object in the local image.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the display style is at least one of parallel rectangles, trapezoidal shapes, two-dimensional representations, and three-dimensional representations.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein the object is at least one of emphasized and deemphasized based at least in part upon the importance of the object.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the local image is a street-side image.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the local image is a panorama image.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the local image is a three-dimensional model.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein the local image embedded in the hybrid map includes a hyperlink to information associated with at least one of the local image, an object of the local image, the feature, the feature position, and an object at or near the feature position.

15. The system of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of local images of the object, wherein each of the respective local images depicts the object from a different perspective.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein each of the plurality of local images is oriented on the hybrid map based upon at least one of alignment with the feature, alignment relative to a second feature, alignment relative to a second object, and alignment of a perspective axis with a compass direction for the global map.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the hybrid map displays multiple perspectives of the object in a single, printable representation.

18. A hybrid map that provides local information about an object at or near a feature on a map, comprising:

a global map with a feature at a feature position,

wherein the global map is an orthogonal perspective map,

and

wherein the global map has a top-down perspective; and

a plurality of local images of an object at or near the feature,

wherein each of the plurality of local images depicts the object from a different ground-level, first-person perspective, and

wherein each of the plurality of local images is arranged around the feature position on the global map based upon the respective perspective.

19. The hybrid map of claim 18, further comprising a plurality of objects, wherein each of the respective objects is displayed from multiple perspectives simultaneously.

20. One or more non-transitory computer storage media storing computer-executable instructions for performing a method for generating a hybrid map that provides local detail information and global map context, the method comprising:

receiving a street-side image of a corporeal object that corresponds to a scene at a location on an orthographic projection map, the street-side image having a ground-level, first-person perspective, and the orthographic projection map having a top-down perspective;

determining a location for the street-side image;

determining an orientation of the street-side image;

determining a display style for the street-side image; and

inserting the street-side image into the orthographic projection map to create a hybrid map,

wherein the street-side image is displayed with the determined display style at the determined location and at the determined orientation, and

wherein the hybrid map does not have a dominant perspective.