Systems and methods related to an interactive representative reality

• US 8,803,912 B1
• Filed: 01/18/2011
• Issued: 08/12/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 01/18/2011
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Kenneth Peyton Fouts
• Original Assignee: Kenneth Peyton Fouts
• Inventors: Fouts, Kenneth Peyton
• Primary Examiner(s): Amini, Javid A
• Application Number:
  US13/008,590
• Time in Patent Office: 1,302 Days
• Field of Search: 345/629
• US Class Current: 345/629
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/29 Geographical information databases
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/444 Spatial browsing, e.g. 2D maps, 3D or virtual spaces
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 19/006 Mixed reality object pose determination, tracking or camera calibration for mixed reality G06T7/00
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/377 for mixing or overlaying two or more graphic patterns G09G5/02, G09G5/397 take precedence

Abstract

Disclosed herein are methods and apparatus related to the creation and maintenance of an interactive and explorable representative reality. The interactive representative reality may be compiled from a plurality of geotagged media from a plurality of individual sources. Similarly geotagged images of the geotagged media may be stitched together to form portions of the representative reality. Portions of the representative reality may be layerable spatially and/or temporally. The apparatus and methods disclosed herein provide for recognition of objects within the geotagged images and link the images to one or more related items.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method of creating an interactive representative reality system comprising:

receiving, utilizing one or more processors, a plurality of media from a plurality of individual sources, said media including a plurality of images;

compiling, utilizing said one or more processors, a plurality of geographically similar images of said images, individually resizing one or more of said geographically similar images, and stitching said geographically similar images to one another to thereby form a portion of a representative reality;

wherein said portion of said representative reality is temporally layerable; and

wherein said portion of said representative reality includes a plurality of singular objects each comprised of images from unique of said individual sources taken on unique dates;

analyzing, utilizing said one or more processors, at least said geographically similar images utilized to create said portion of said representative reality for the presence of recognizable objects therein;

linking, utilizing said one or more processors, at least some of said recognizable objects of said portion of said representative reality to at least one related item;

enabling, utilizing said one or more processors, a user to replace at least some of said portion of said representative reality with a plurality of temporally distinct said geographically similar images not utilized to create said portion of said representative reality; and

making, utilizing said one or more processors, at least some of said recognizable objects interactive recognizable objects within said portion of said representative reality, wherein said interactive recognizable objects are actuable and upon actuation by a user display information relative to said at least one related item.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of replacing at least some of said recognizable objects within said geographically similar images with predefined object media from a virtual item database.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein said predefined object media includes a plurality of three dimensional models.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein said predefined object media includes a plurality of high resolution images.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein said portion of said representative reality system is spatially layerable.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of linking some of said geographically similar images not utilized to create said portion of said representative reality with said portion of said representative reality and providing a link to enable a user to view one or more of said geographically similar images not utilized to create said portion of said representative reality when viewing said portion of said representative reality.

7. The method of claim 6 further comprising the step of enabling a user to temporally sort said geographically similar images not utilized to create said portion of said representative reality.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein said portion of said representative reality is of a smaller size than a city block, includes only objects lining a single street, and wherein said geographically similar images utilized to create said portion of said representative reality includes at least three images recorded on unique dates.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein said portion of said representative reality is spatially layerable and includes a plurality of images of said singular objects from different vantage points stitched together.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein said different vantage points include different viewing angles.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein said different viewing angles include interior viewing angles and exterior viewing angles.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein said portion of said representative reality includes a plurality of interchangeable time periods.

13. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of linking at least some of said recognizable objects of said portion of said representative reality with geographic data from said geographically similar images in which they are contained.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein linked of at least some of said recognizable objects are otherwise non-geographically indexed.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising the step of linking at least some of said recognizable objects of said portion of said representative reality with geographical data from other non-geographically similar images in which they are also contained.

16. A computer implemented method of creating an interactive representative reality system comprising:

receiving, utilizing one or more processors, a plurality of media from a plurality of individual sources, said media including a plurality of images;

compiling, utilizing one or more processors, a plurality of geographically similar images of said images, individually resizing one or more of said geographically similar images, and stitching said geographically similar images to one another to thereby form a portion of a representative reality;

wherein said portion of said representative reality is temporally layerable and includes a plurality of interchangeable time periods; and

wherein said portion of said representative reality includes a plurality of singular objects;

analyzing, utilizing one or more processors, at least said geographically similar images utilized to create said portion of said representative reality for the presence of recognizable objects of said singular objects therein;

linking, utilizing one or more processors, at least some of said recognizable objects of said portion of said representative reality to at least one related item;

linking, utilizing one or more processors, at least some of said recognizable objects of said portion of said representative reality with geographic data from said geographically similar images in which they are contained;

wherein linked of at least some of said recognizable objects are otherwise non-geographically indexed; and

linking, utilizing one or more processors, at least some of said recognizable objects of said portion of said representative reality with geographical data from other non-geographically similar images in which they are also contained.

17. The method of claim 16 further comprising the step of making at least some of said recognizable objects interactive recognizable objects within said portion of said representative reality, wherein said interactive recognizable objects are actuable and upon actuation by a user display information relative to said at least one related item.

18. A computer-executable program tangibly embodied on a non-transitory computer-readable medium and adapted to be executed by a processor to perform a method for creating an interactive representative reality, the method comprising:

receiving a plurality of media from a plurality of individual sources, said media including a plurality of images;

compiling a plurality of geographically similar images of said images, individually resizing one or more of said geographically similar images, and stitching said geographically similar images to one another to thereby form a portion of a representative reality;

wherein said portion of said representative reality is at least one of spatially layerable and temporally layerable; and

wherein said portion of said representative reality includes a plurality of singular objects each comprised of images from unique of said individual sources taken on unique dates;

analyzing at least said geographically similar images utilized to create said portion of said representative reality for the presence of recognizable objects therein;

linking at least some of said recognizable objects of said portion of said representative reality to at least one related item;

enabling a user to replace at least some of said portion of said representative reality with a plurality of temporally distinct said geographically similar images not utilized to create said portion of said representative reality; and

making at least some of said recognizable objects interactive recognizable objects within said portion of said representative reality, wherein said interactive recognizable objects are actuable and upon actuation by a user display information relative to said at least one related item.