Method and apparatus of physically moving a portable unit to view an image of a stationary map

• US 8,620,545 B1
• Filed: 08/14/2013
• Issued: 12/31/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 12/26/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Thaddeus Gabara
• Original Assignee: TrackThings LLC
• Inventors: Gabara, Asher Thomas, Gabara, Constance Marie, Gabara, Thaddeus John
• Primary Examiner(s): Tarcza, Thomas
• Assistant Examiner(s): Dunn, Alex C
• Application Number:
  US13/967,299
• Publication Number:
  US 20130328939A1
• Time in Patent Office: 139 Days
• Field of Search: 701/66
• US Class Current: 701/66
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/367 Details, e.g. road map scale, orientation, zooming, illumination, level of detail, scrolling of road map or positioning of current position marker
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 15/00 3D [Three Dimensional] image rendering
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 29/007 using computer methods
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 29/10 Map spot or coordinate position indicators; Map reading aids optical projection apparatus per se G03B
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/02 characterised by the way in which colour is displayed details of colour display specific for CRTs G09G1/28; specific for flat matrix panels other than liquid crystal displays G09G3/2003; specific for liquid crystal displays G09G3/3607

Abstract

A background map remains stationary while a portable unit moves within a plane parallel to the screen of the portable unit. As the user moves the unit, images of the background map appear on the screen of the portable device. The user scans the stationary map presented on the screen of the portable unit. This has several benefits since now relative distances and angular displacements within the plane between objects that are outside of the range of the screen of the handheld unit can be immediately be located and placed into view on the screen of a portable unit. The handheld unit is like a Sliding Window which provides a view of this image of a stationary map lying in the background of the portable unit.

Claims

1. A portable unit comprising:

a background image of a stationary map at a given scale;

a second location in the background image displaced from a first location in the background image by a known vector;

an image displayed at the given scale on a screen of the portable unit and the background image at the given scale are matched and remains superimposed over one another;

a diagonal of the screen less than a distance of the known vector; and

only the first location in the background image displayed on the screen at the known scale, wherein

the portable unit is moved along the known vector until the image containing the second location is displayed on the screen.

2. The portable unit of claim 1, further comprising:

a memory to store the background image of the stationary map; and

an RF module to receive and store data from an external database corresponding to the background image in the memory.

3. The portable unit of claim 1, further comprising:

the background image of the stationary map formed from either two dimensions with two axes forming a first plane displayed on the screen or three dimensions with three axes projected onto a second plane displayed on the screen.

4. The portable unit of claim 1, further comprising:

an inertial guidance system operable to provide data corresponding to a movement of the portable unit to a microprocessor, wherein

the microprocessor calculates either an angle or a phi angle and a theta angle and the distance of the known vector is by using software.

5. The portable unit of claim 1, further comprising:

an origin mapped to the first location in the background image of the stationary map.

6. The portable unit of claim 5, wherein

the origin is assigned to a center of the screen located in front of a user at a comfortable distance from a face of the user.

7. The portable unit of claim 6, wherein

the user returns to the origin if the user fails to locate the second location.

8. A portable unit comprising:

a background image of a stationary map stored at a given scale in a memory;

a first location and at least one other location presented in an image displayed on a screen of the portable unit at the given scale, wherein

the image displayed on the screen matches and remains superimposes over a corresponding portion of the background image of the stationary map; and

the at least one other location located by a known vector with respect to the first location displayed on the screen, wherein

the given scale of the background image and the image presented on the screen of the portable unit is magnified to display a larger scaled image containing only the first location and the portable unit is moved by a user along the known vector to display the at least one other location on the screen in the corresponding portion of the background image of the stationary map.

9. The portable unit of claim 8, further comprising:

the background image of the stationary map formed from either two dimensions with two axes forming a first plane displayed on the screen or three dimensions with three axes projected onto a second plane displayed on the screen.

10. The portable unit of claim 9, wherein

the first plane and the second plane are co-planar with the screen presenting the image of the corresponding plane of the stationary map on the screen.

11. The portable unit of claim 8, further comprising:

a memory to store the background image of a stationary map, and

an RF module to receive and store data from an external database corresponding to the background image in the memory.

12. The portable unit of claim 8, further comprising:

an inertial guidance system operable to provide data corresponding to a movement of the portable unit to a microprocessor, wherein

the microprocessor calculates either an angle or a phi angle and a theta angle and a distance of the known vector is by using software.

13. The portable unit of claim 8, further comprising:

an origin mapped to the first location in the background image of the stationary map.

14. The portable unit of claim 13, wherein

the origin is assigned to a center of the screen located in front of a user at a comfortable distance from a face of the user.

15. The portable unit of claim 14, wherein

the user returns to the origin if the user fails to locate the at least one other location.

16. A method of moving a portable unit by a user a directional distance displaying a first location to display a new location comprising the steps of:

storing of a background image of a stationary map at a given scale in a memory;

displaying an image on a screen of the portable unit matched and remains superimposed to the corresponding portion of the background image of the stationary map;

locating the first location and the new location on the screen by the user;

identifying a known vector by the user corresponding to the new location with respect to the first location; and

magnifying the given scale on the screen of the portable unit and the given scale of the background image to display only the first location, wherein

the portable unit is moved by the user along the known vector to display the image of the new location on the screen corresponding the new location of the stationary map.

17. The process of claim 16, further comprising the steps of:

forming the background image of the stationary map from either two dimensions with two axes forming a first plane displayed on the screen or three dimensions with three axes projected onto a second plane displayed on the screen.

18. The process of claim 16, further comprising the steps of:

providing data corresponding to a movement of the portable unit from an inertial guidance system to a microprocessor, wherein

the microprocessor calculates either an angle or a phi angle and a theta angle and a distance of the known vector is by using software.

19. The process of claim 16, further comprising the steps of:

storing the background image of the stationary map to a memory;

receiving data from an external database by an RF module; and

storing data corresponding to the background image in the memory.

20. The process of claim 16, further comprising the steps of:

mapping an origin to the first location in the background image of the stationary map.

21. The process of claim 20, wherein

the origin is assigned to a center of the screen located in front of a user at a comfortable distance from a face of the user.

22. The process of claim 21, wherein

the user returns to the origin if the user fails to locate the new location.