Assessment of a view through the overlay of maps

• US 8,165,350 B2
• Filed: 11/27/2007
• Issued: 04/24/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 11/27/2007
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Activision Publishing Incorporated (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Fuhrmann, Oded, Pelleg, Dan
• Primary Examiner(s): Carter, Aaron W
• Application Number:
  US11/945,283
• Publication Number:
  US 20090136155A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,610 Days
• Field of Search: 382/106, 382/154, 382/195, 345419-427
• US Class Current: 382/106
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions

Abstract

A system for evaluating a view, including a first mapper for encoding an image of a view according to a first parameter to create a first map having multiple defined areas, a second mapper for encoding the image according to a second parameter to create a second map having multiple defined areas, an overlap mapper for combining the maps to create an overlap map, a tabulator for measuring areas in the overlap map corresponding to overlapping defined areas, creating a set of measurements of the image, and an analyzer for analyzing the set of measurements of the image and a learning set of measurement groups with associated values to compute an estimated value associated with the image where the estimated value relates to the set of measurements of the image in the same manner that each value in the learning set relates to its associated measurement group.

Claims

1. A system for evaluating a view, the system comprising:

a first mapper configured to encode an image of a view according to a first parameter to create a first map comprising a plurality of defined areas;

a second mapper configured to encode said image according to a second parameter to create a second map comprising a plurality of defined areas;

an overlap mapper configured to combine said maps to create an overlap map;

a tabulator configured to measure areas in said overlap map corresponding to overlapping ones of any of said defined areas, thereby creating a set of measurements of said image; and

an analyzer configured to perform an analysis of said set of measurements of said image and a learning set of measurement groups with associated values to compute on a non-transitory computer-readable medium an estimated value associated with said image wherein said estimated value relates to said set of measurements of said image in the same manner that each value in said learning set relates to its associated measurement group.

2. A system according to claim 1 wherein said first parameter is a type of content in said image.

3. A system according to claim 1 wherein said second parameter is the relative distance of a type of content in said image from the point of view of the observer of said view.

4. A system according to claim 1 wherein said overlap mapper combines said first and second maps by superimposition.

5. A system according to claim 1 wherein said areas in said overlap map are measured in pixels.

6. A system according to claim 1 wherein said analysis is a regression analysis.

7. A system according to claim 1 wherein said computed estimated value associated with said image is used to price a real estate property.

8. A system according to claim 1 wherein said image is generated by computer aided design software.

9. A system according to claim 1 wherein said image is of a view of or from a virtual property in a computer-generated virtual world.

10. A method for evaluating a view, the method comprising:

encoding an image of a view according to a first parameter to create a first map comprising a plurality of defined areas;

encoding said image according to a second parameter to create a second map comprising a plurality of defined areas;

combining said maps to create an overlap map;

measuring areas in said overlap map corresponding to overlapping ones of any of said defined areas, thereby creating a set of measurements of said image; and

performing an analysis of said set of measurements of said image and a learning set of measurement groups with associated values, thereby computing an estimated value associated with said image wherein said estimated value relates to said set of measurements of said image in the same manner that each value in said learning set relates to its associated measurement group.

11. A method according to claim 10 wherein said first encoding step comprises encoding wherein said first parameter is a type of content in said image.

12. A method according to claim 10 wherein said second encoding step comprises encoding wherein said second parameter is the relative distance of a type of content in said image from the point of view of the observer of said view.

13. A method according to claim 10 wherein said combining step comprises combining said first and second maps by superimposition.

14. A method according to claim 10 wherein said measuring step comprises measuring areas in said overlap map in pixels.

15. A method according to claim 10 wherein said performing an analysis step comprises performing a regression analysis.

16. A method according to claim 10 wherein said performing an analysis step comprises associating said estimated value with a real estate property.

17. A method according to claim 10 and further comprising performing any of said steps where said image is generated by computer aided design software.

18. A method according to claim 10 and further comprising performing any of said steps where said image is of a view of or from a virtual property in a computer-generated virtual world.

19. A method according to claim 10 and further comprising performing any of said steps for a plurality of images of a plurality of views of or from a plurality of virtual property designs.

20. A method according to claim 19 and further comprising calculating said value for said plurality of images in an environmental impact analysis.

21. A method according to claim 10 and further comprising performing any of said steps for a plurality of images of a plurality of views from a plurality of locations along a route segment.

22. A method according to claim 21 and further comprising summing a plurality of said values calculated for said plurality of images.

23. A method according to claim 21 and further comprising summing a plurality of said values calculated for said plurality of images associated with a plurality of said route segments.

24. A computer program embodied on a non-transitory computer-readable medium, the computer program comprising:

a first code segment operative to encode an image of a view according to a first parameter to create a first map comprising a plurality of defined areas;

a second code segment operative to encode said image according to a second parameter to create a second map comprising a plurality of defined areas;

a third code segment operative to combine said maps to create an overlap map;

a fourth code segment operative to measure areas in said overlap map corresponding to overlapping ones of any of said defined areas, thereby creating a set of measurements of said image; and

a fifth code segment operative to perform an analysis of said set of measurements of said image and a learning set of measurement groups with associated values, thereby computing an estimated value associated with said image wherein said estimated value relates to said set of measurements of said image in the same manner that each value in said learning set relates to its associated measurement group.