Route selection by drag and drop

• US 8,856,671 B2
• Filed: 05/11/2008
• Issued: 10/07/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 05/11/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: HERE Global B.V. (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Navteq B.V.
• Inventors: Halbherr, Michael, Knauth, Daniel, Saarinen, Kalle Sakari, Eichhorn, Mirko, Koerbitz, Sven
• Primary Examiner(s): Kim, Matt
• Assistant Examiner(s): IPAKCHI, MARYAM M
• Application Number:
  US12/118,726
• Publication Number:
  US 20090282353A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,340 Days
• Field of Search: 715/769, 715/855
• US Class Current: 715/769
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/362 received from an external device or application, e.g. PDA, mobile phone or calendar application
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3679 Retrieval, searching and output of POI information, e.g. hotels, restaurants, shops, filling stations, parking facilities G01C21/3611 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3682 output of POI information on a road map G01C21/3614, G01C21/3685 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0486 Drag-and-drop

Abstract

The various embodiments of the present invention may be directed to a system for facilitating data processing in a visual manner. An application may include, inter alia, a basket component for visually representing the particular data items that a user desires to be processed by an application. The application may allow a user to initially search for data items that may be of interest (e.g., points-of-interest or POIs). A user may select POIs to obtain additional descriptive information regarding each data item. If the selected POI is to be included in processing, a user may drag the visual representation of the POI into the basket component. When the basket component contains all POIs desired for processing, the user may further instruct the application to formulate a result that is a composite of some or all of the POIs in the basket component.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

determining to display a basket component in a map application of a communication device, the basket component including at least a visual representation of a container configured to accept interest information;

formulating the interest information including a plurality of points of interest based on, at least in part, a point of interest category, each of the plurality of points of interest including at least descriptive information;

determining to display the interest information in a source collection and determining to display other interest information in one or more other source collections;

selecting at least one point of interest from formulated interest information to be moved into the basket component by a drag-and-drop interface activity;

formulating composite information based on selected points of interest in the basket component;

determining to display the composite information on a map; and

communicating between the communication device and a remote application platform to facilitate a synchronization function, wherein the synchronization function comprises one or more of storage and communication of the interest information to facilitate information sharing amongst subscribers to the map application, and communication of one or more of synchronization requests, commands and synchronization-related information.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the map application is at least one of an executable program on the communication device and a browser application for accessing Internet web pages.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the one or more other source collections indicates a plurality of points of interest based on, at least in part, a respective point of interest category, formulating the interest information further comprises executing a query based on the point of interest category, and the other interest information is formulated by at least one other query based on at least one respective point of interest category.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein determining to display the interest information includes displaying at least one of the plurality of points of the interest information with a respective address in the source collection and displaying an indication of an availability of user review information in the source collection for at least one of the points of interest.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting at least one point of interest triggers display of the descriptive information related to the at least one selected point of interest.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting the at least one selected point of interest includes selecting a visual representation of the at least one point of interest using a computer pointing device and moving the at least one point of interest into the visual representation of the container.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein formulating composite information includes combining the composite information based on the selected points of interest in the basket component into an integrated visual representation.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

saving the composite information based on the selected points of interest in the basket component on a remote resource for storage for later use.

33. The method of claim 1, wherein determining to display the composite information on the map includes displaying the composite information as a best route, in terms of distance and time, between the selected points of interest, on the map.

9. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium carrying one or more sequences of one or more instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause an apparatus to at least perform the following steps:

to display a basket component in a map application of the apparatus, the basket component including at least a visual representation of a container configured to accept interest information;

formulating the interest information including a plurality of points of interest based on, at least in part, a point of interest category, each of the plurality of points of interest including at least descriptive information;

determining to display the interest information in a source collection and determining to display other interest information in one or more other source collections;

selecting at least one point of interest from formulated interest information to be moved into the basket component by a drag-and-drop interface activity;

formulating composite information based on selected points of interest in the basket component;

determining to display the composite information on a map; and

communicating between the apparatus and a remote application platform to facilitate a synchronization function, wherein the synchronization function comprises one or more of storage and communication of the interest information to facilitate information sharing amongst subscribers to the map application, and communication of one or more of synchronization requests, commands and synchronization-related information.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the map application is at least one of an executable program on the apparatus and a browser application for accessing Internet web pages.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein formulating interest information includes executing a query based on parameters configured in an application interface by a user.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein determining to display the interest information includes displaying each of the points of interest including some of the descriptive information.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein selecting at least one point of interest triggers a display of descriptive information related to at least one selected point of interest.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein selecting the at least one selected point of interest includes selecting a visual representation of the one selected point of interest using a computer pointing device and moving the one selected point of interest into the visual representation of the container.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein formulating composite information includes combining the composite information based on the selected points of interest in the basket component into an integrated visual representation.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the apparatus is caused to further perform:

saving the composite information based on the selected points of interest in the basket component on a remote resource for storage for later use.

34. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the determining to display the composite information on the map includes determining to display the composite information as a best route, in terms of distance and time, between the selected points of interest, on the map.

17. An apparatus, comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory including computer program code for one or more programs,

the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform at least the following,

display a basket component in a map application of the apparatus, the basket component including at least a visual representation of a container configured to accept interest information;

formulate the interest information including a plurality of points of interest based on, at least in part, a point of interest category, each of the plurality of points of interest including at least descriptive information;

display the interest information in a source collection and display other interest information in one or more other source collections;

select at least one point of interest from formulated interest information to be moved into the basket component by a drag-and-drop interface activity;

formulate composite information based on selected points of interest in the basket component;

display the composite information on a map; and

communicate between the apparatus and a remote application platform to facilitate a synchronization function, wherein the synchronization function comprises one or more of storage and communication of the interest information to facilitate information sharing amongst subscribers to the map application, and communication of one or more of synchronization requests, commands and synchronization-related information.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the map application is at least one of an executable program on the apparatus and a browser application for accessing Internet web pages.

19. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein formulating the interest information includes executing a query based on parameters configured in an application interface by a user.

20. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein determining to display the interest information includes displaying each of the points of interest including some of the descriptive information.

21. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein selecting at least one point of interest triggers display of the descriptive information related to at least one selected point of interest.

22. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein selecting at least one selected point of interest includes selecting a visual representation of the point of interest using a computer pointing device and moving the at least one selected point of interest into a visual representation of the basket component.

23. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein formulating composite information includes combining the composite information based on the selected points of interest in the basket component into an integrated visual representation.

24. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the apparatus is further caused to:

save the selected points of interest in the basket component on a remote resource for storage for later use.

35. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein determining to display the composite information on the map includes determining to display the composite information as a best route, in terms of distance and time, between the selected points of interest, on the map.

25. An apparatus, comprising:

means for determining to display a basket component in a map application of the apparatus, the basket component including at least a visual representation of a container configured to accept interest information;

means for formulating the interest information including a plurality of points of interest based on, at least in part, a point of interest category, each of the plurality of points of interest including at least descriptive information;

means for determining to display the interest information in a source collection and means for determining to display other interest information in one or more other source collections;

means for selecting at least one point of interest from formulated interest information to be moved into the basket component by a drag-and-drop interface activity;

means for formulating composite information based on selected points of interest in the basket component;

means for determining to display the composite information on a map;

means for communicating between the apparatus and a remote application platform to facilitate a synchronization function, wherein the synchronization function comprises one or more of storage and communication of the interest information to facilitate information sharing amongst subscribers to the map application, and communication of one or more of synchronization requests, commands and synchronization-related information.

36. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the determining to display the composite information on the map includes determining to display the composite information as a best route, in terms of distance and time, between the selected points of interest, on the map.

26. A system comprising:

at least one apparatus;

the at least one apparatus determining to display a basket component in a map application, the basket component including at least a visual representation of a container configured to accept interest information;

the at least one apparatus formulating the interest information, based on a user configuration and based on, at least in part, a point of interest category, including a plurality of points of interest to the user, each of the plurality of points of interest including at least descriptive information;

the at least one apparatus determining to display the interest information in a source collection to the user and determining to display other interest information in one or more other source collections to the user, the user further selecting at least one point of interest from formulated interest information;

the user further selecting the at least one selected point of interest to be moved into the basket component by a drag-and-drop interface activity;

triggering the at least one apparatus to formulate composite information based on selected points of interest in the basket component;

the at least one apparatus determining to display the composite information to the user on a map; and

the at least one apparatus communicating with a remote application platform to facilitate a synchronization function, wherein the synchronization function comprises one or more of storage and communication of the interest information to facilitate information sharing amongst subscribers to the map application, and communication of one or more of synchronization requests, commands and synchronization-related information.

37. The system of claim 26, wherein the determining to display the composite information to the user on the map includes determining to display the composite information as a best route, in terms of distance and time, between the selected points of interest, on the map.

27. An apparatus, comprising:

a display;

an interface architecture including a basket component integrated within a user interface for a map application of the apparatus configured to display user-selected data items including a plurality of points of interest in a source collection for the point of interest category and display user-selected data items in one or more other source collections, the basket component being configured to receive the user-selected data items via a drag-and-drop interface activity; and

a communication module configured to communicate between the apparatus and a remote application platform to facilitate a synchronization function, wherein the synchronization function comprises one or more of storage and communication of the user-selected data items to facilitate information sharing amongst subscribers to the map application, and communication of one or more of synchronization requests, commands and synchronization-related information.

28. The interface architecture of claim 27, wherein each of the user-selected data items represents a point-of-interest to be used in formulating the map by the map application, each of the user-selected data items including at least information describing a corresponding point-of-interest.

29. The interface architecture of claim 28, wherein each of the user-selected data items is represented by a point-of-interest included in the map formulated by the map application.

30. The interface architecture of claim 29, wherein point-of-interest representations are used to form a travel route connecting two or more adjacent representations on the map formulated by the map application.

38. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the map application is further configured to formulate the user-selected data items into a best route, in terms of distance and time, between selected points of interest, on the map.

31. A chipset, comprising:

a processor; and

at least one memory configured with computer-readable program code that, when executed by the processor;

activates a map application configured to display user-selected data items including a plurality of points of interest in a source collection for the point of interest category and to display user-selected data items in one or more other source collections;

determines to display a user interface for the map application, the user interface including at least a basket component configured to receive one or more user-selected data items via a drag-and-drop interface activity; and

facilitates communication for communicating with a remote application platform to facilitate a synchronization function, wherein the synchronization function comprises one or more of storage and communication of the user-selected data items to facilitate information sharing amongst subscribers to the map application, and communication of one or more of synchronization requests, commands and synchronization-related information.

39. The chipset of claim 31, wherein the map application is further configured to formulate the user-selected data items into a best route, in terms of distance and time, between selected points of interest, on the map.

32. A non-transitory computer-readable storage carrying one or more sequences of one or more instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause an apparatus to at least perform the following steps:

activating a map application configured to display user-selected data items including a plurality of points of interest in a source collection for the point of interest category and to display user-selected data items in one or more other source collections;

determining to display a user interface for the map application, the user interface including at least a basket component configured to receive one or more user-selected data items via a drag-and-drop interface activity; and

communicating with a remote application platform to facilitate a synchronization function, wherein the synchronization function comprises one or more of storage and communication of the user-selected data items to facilitate information sharing amongst subscribers to the map application, and communication of one or more of synchronization requests, commands and synchronization-related information.

40. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 32, wherein the map application is further configured to formulate the user-selected data items into a best route, in terms of distance and time, between selected points of interest, on the map.