Providing an improved view of a location in a spatial environment

• US 8,515,669 B2
• Filed: 06/25/2010
• Issued: 08/20/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 06/25/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: DeMaio, Pasquale, Henriksson, Kristoffer Bernt, Aguera-Arcas, Blaise Hilary
• Primary Examiner(s): Cheung, Mary
• Assistant Examiner(s): TESTARDI, DAVID A
• Application Number:
  US12/823,142
• Publication Number:
  US 20110320116A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,152 Days
• Field of Search: 701/433, 701/436, 701/454, 701/457, 340/995.14, 340/995.16
• US Class Current: 701/436
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3638 including 3D objects and buildings three dimensional [3D] modelling, e.g. data description of 3D objects G06T17/00; geographic models G06T17/05
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/88 Lidar systems specially adapted for specific applications

Abstract

Technologies are described herein for providing an improved view of a location in a spatial environment. A current image associated with a current location of a geographic area is displayed. A user-selected point on the current image is received. A target location of the geographic area is determined based on the user-selected point. A distance between the current location and the target location is determined. A determination is made as to whether the distance between the current location and the target location is greater than a distance threshold. If this distance is greater than the distance threshold, then a far distance process configured to determine and display a first target view of the target location is performed. If this distance is not greater than the distance threshold, then a near distance process configured to determine and display a second target view of the target location is performed.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for providing an improved view of a location in a spatial environment, the method comprising computer-implemented operations for:

displaying, through a computer having a memory and a processor, a current image associated with a current location of a geographic area;

receiving, through the computer, a user-selected point on the current image;

determining, through the computer, a target location of the geographic area based on the user-selected point;

determining, through the computer, a distance between the current location and the target location;

determining, through the computer, whether the distance between the current location and the target location is greater than a distance threshold;

in response to determining that the distance between the current location and the target location is greater than the distance threshold, performing, through the computer, a far distance process configured to determine and display a first target view of the target location where the distance is greater than the distance threshold; and

in response to determining that the distance between the current location and the target location is not greater than the distance threshold, performing, through the computer, a near distance process configured to determine and display a second target view of the target location where the distance is not greater than the distance threshold by

retrieving, through the computer, a set of candidate images within a second distance threshold from the target location,

penalizing and removing, through the computer, one or more candidate from the set of candidate images according to criteria,

determining, through the computer, whether the set of candidate images contains at least one candidate image,

in response to determining that the set of candidate images does not contain at least one candidate image, performing, through the computer, a feedback event,

in response to determining that the set of candidate images contains at least one candidate image, selecting, through the computer, a target image from the set of candidate images having a lowest penalty and where a corresponding image location is a shortest distance to the target location, and

transitioning, through the computer, from displaying the current image to displaying the target image.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the current image comprises a three-dimensional representation of the current location, the three-dimensional representation comprising a street-level photograph of the current location, global positioning system (GPS) data identifying the current location, and depth information identifying depths of objects in the street-level photograph.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the depth information is generated based on light detection and ranging (LIDAR) data.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein determining, through the computer, a target location of the geographic area based on the user-selected point comprises computer implemented operations for determining, through the computer, the target location of the geographic area by intersecting the user-selected point with the GPS data and the depth information.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein performing, through the computer, a far distance process configured to determine and display a first target view of the target location where the distance is greater than the distance threshold comprises computer-implemented operations for:

retrieving, through the computer, a target image having a corresponding image location that is a shortest distance to the target location and is within a cone between the current location and the target location;

upon retrieving the target image, determining, through the computer, whether the target image is the current image;

in response to determining that the target image is the current image, performing, through the computer, a feedback event; and

in response to determining that the target image is not the current image, transitioning, through the computer, from displaying the current image to displaying the target image.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein performing, through the computer, the feedback event comprises performing a zoom operation on the current image.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein the method further comprises computer-implemented operations for:

determining, through the computer, an angle difference between the current location and the target location;

determining, through the computer, whether the angle difference is greater than an angle threshold;

in response to determining that the angle difference is greater than the angle threshold, performing, through the computer, the feedback event; and

wherein retrieving, through the computer, the target image comprises in response to determining that the angle difference is not greater than the angle threshold, retrieving, through the computer, the target image from a plurality of images.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

determining, through the computer, a distance between the current location and the corresponding image location of the target image;

determining, through the computer, whether the distance between the current location and the corresponding image location of the target image is greater than another distance threshold;

in response to determining that the distance between the current location and the corresponding image location of the target image is greater than the another distance threshold, performing, through the computer, the feedback event; and

in response to determining that the distance between the current location and the corresponding image location of the target image is not greater than the another distance threshold, transitioning, through the computer, from displaying the current image to displaying the target image.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein penalizing and removing, through the computer, one or more candidate images from the set of candidate images according to criteria comprises computer-implemented operations for:

for each candidate image in the set of candidate images, penalizing, through the computer, the candidate image where an altitude of a corresponding image location is below an altitude of the current image;

for each candidate image in the set of candidate images, removing, through the computer, the candidate image from the set of candidate images where a distance between the corresponding image location and the target location is greater than a third distance threshold;

for each candidate image in the set of candidate images, removing, through the computer, the candidate image from the set of candidate images where the corresponding image location is outside a cone, wherein a point of the cone represents the current location and a center of the cone represents the target location;

for each candidate image in the set of candidate images, removing, through the computer, the candidate image from the set of candidate images where a distance between the corresponding image location and the target location is less than a fourth distance threshold; and

for each candidate image in the set of candidate images, removing, through the computer, the candidate image from the set of candidate images where the target location is closer to the current location than to the corresponding image location.

10. A computer system, comprising:

a processor;

a memory communicatively coupled to the processor; and

a map application (i) which executes in the processor from the memory and (ii) which, when executed by the processor, causes the computer system to provide an improved view of a location in a spatial environment by

displaying a current image associated with a current location of a geographic area, wherein the current image comprises a three-dimensional representation of the current location, the three-dimensional representation comprising a street-level photograph of the current location, global positioning system (GPS) data identifying the current location, and depth information identifying depths of objects in the street-level photograph,

receiving a user-selected point on the current image,

determining a target location of the geographic area based on the user-selected point,

determining a distance between the current location and the target location,

determining whether the distance between the current location and the target location is greater than a distance threshold,

in response to determining that the distance between the current location and the target location is greater than the distance threshold, performing a far distance process configured to determine and display a first target view of the target location where the distance is greater than the distance threshold by

retrieving a target image having a corresponding image location that is a shortest distance to the target location and is within a cone between the current location and the target location;

upon retrieving the target image, determining whether the target image is the current image;

in response to determining that the target image is the current image, performing a feedback event; and

in response to determining that the target image is not the current image, transitioning from displaying the current image to displaying the target image; and

in response to determining that the distance between the current location and the target location is not greater than the distance threshold, performing a near distance process configured to determine and display a second target view of the target location where the distance is not greater than the distance threshold by

retrieving a set of candidate images within a second distance threshold from the target location;

penalizing and removing one or more candidate images from the set of candidate images according to criteria;

determining whether the set of candidate images contains at least one candidate image;

in response to determining that the set of candidate images does not contain at least one candidate image, performing a feedback event;

in response to determining that the set of candidate images contains at least one candidate image, selecting a target image from the set of candidate images having a lowest penalty and where a corresponding location is a shortest distance to the target location; and

transitioning from displaying the current image to displaying the target image.

11. The computer system of claim 10, wherein determining a target location of the geographic area based on the user-selected point comprises determining the target location of the geographic area by intersecting the user-selected point with the GPS data and the depth information.

12. The computer system of claim 10, wherein performing a feedback event performing a zoom operation on the current image by decreasing a field of view.

13. The computer system of claim 10, wherein the map application, when executed by the processor, causes the computer system to provide an improved view of a location in a spatial environment by further

determining an angle difference between the current location and the target location;

determining whether the angle difference is greater than an angle threshold;

in response to determining that the angle difference is greater than the angle threshold, performing the feedback event; and

wherein retrieving the target image comprises in response to determining that the angle difference is not greater than the angle threshold, retrieving, through the computer, the target image from a plurality of images.

14. The computer system claim 10, further comprising the steps of:

determining a distance between the current location and the corresponding image location of the target image;

determining whether the distance between the current location and the corresponding image location is greater than another distance threshold;

in response to determining that the distance between the current location and the corresponding image location is greater than the another distance threshold, performing the feedback event; and

in response to determining that the distance between the current location and the corresponding image location is not greater than the another distance threshold, transitioning from displaying the current image to displaying the target image.

15. The computer system of claim 10, wherein penalizing and removing one or more candidate images from the set of candidate images according to criteria comprises:

for each candidate image in the set of candidate images, penalizing the candidate image where an altitude of a corresponding image location is below an altitude of the current image;

for each candidate image in the set of candidate images, removing the candidate image from the set of candidate images where a distance between the corresponding image location and the target location is greater than a third distance threshold;

for each candidate image in the set of candidate images, removing the candidate image from the set of candidate images where the corresponding image location is outside a cone, wherein a point of the cone represents the current location and a center of cone represents the target location;

for each candidate image in the set of candidate images, removing the candidate image from the set of candidate images where a distance between the corresponding image location and the target location is less than a fourth distance threshold; and

for each candidate image in the set of candidate images, removing the candidate image from the set of candidate images where the target location is closer to the current location than to the corresponding image location.

16. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to:

display, through a computer having a memory and a processor, a current image associated with a current location of a geographic area, wherein the current image comprises a three-dimensional representation of the current location, the three-dimensional representation comprising a street-level photograph of the current location, global positioning system (GPS) data identifying the current location, and depth information identifying depths of objects in the street-level photograph, and wherein the depth information is generated based on light detection and ranging (LIDAR) data;

receive, through the computer, a user-selected point on the current image;

determine, through the computer, a target location of the geographic area based on the user-selected point;

determine, through the computer, a distance between the current location and the target location;

determine, through the computer, whether the distance between the current location and the target location is greater than a distance threshold;

in response to determining that the distance between the current location and the target location is greater than the distance threshold, perform, through the computer, a far distance process configured to determine and display a first target view of the target location where the distance is greater than the distance threshold; and

in response to determining that the distance between the current location and the target location is not greater than the distance threshold, perform, through the computer, a near distance process configured to determine and display a second target view of the target location where the distance is not greater than the distance threshold by retrieving, through the computer, a set of candidate images within a second distance threshold from the target location by

penalizing and removing, through the computer, one or more candidate images from the set of candidate images according to criteria;

determining, through the computer, whether the set of candidate images contains at least one candidate image;

in response to determining that the set of candidate images does not contain at least one candidate image, performing, through the computer, a feedback event;

in response to determining that the set of candidate images contains at least one candidate image, selecting, through the computer, a target image from the set of candidate images having a lowest penalty and where a corresponding image location is a shortest distance to the target location; and

transitioning, through the computer, from displaying the current image to displaying the target image.

17. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein to perform, through the computer, a far distance process configured to determine and display a first target view of the target location where the distance is greater than a distance threshold, the computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon which, when executed by the computer, cause the computer to:

retrieve, through the computer, a target image having a corresponding image location that is a shortest distance to the target location and is within a cone between the current location and the target location;

upon retrieving the target image, determine, through the computer, whether the target image is the current image;

in response to determining that the target image is the current image, perform, through the computer, a feedback event; and

in response to determining that the target image is not the current image, transition, through the computer, from displaying the current image to displaying the target image.