Automatic display of trip information in a mapping application

• US 9,285,234 B1
• Filed: 10/29/2013
• Issued: 03/15/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 10/29/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Graf, Daniel, Delaye, Darren, Chen, Rita
• Primary Examiner(s): Khatib, Rami
• Application Number:
  US14/066,335
• Time in Patent Office: 868 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3614 through interaction with a road map, e.g. selecting a POI icon on a road map
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3667 Display of a road map G01C21/3614 takes precedence; guidance using 3D or perspective road maps G01C21/3635
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/29 Geographical information databases

Abstract

An interactive digital map of a geographic area is provided via a user interface of a computing device. A selection of a point on the digital map is received, where the selected point corresponds to a selected location within the geographic area. In response to receiving the selection of the point and without receiving a request for directions from a user via the user interface, an indication of a length of a trip between a current location of the computing device and the selected location is automatically obtained. The indication of the length of the trip along with the interactive digital map are displayed via the user interface.

Claims

1. A method in a computing device for efficiently providing information related to directions to a user, the method comprising:

providing an interactive digital map of a geographic area via a user interface of the computing device;

receiving, by one or more processors via a user interface of the computing device, a selection of a point on the digital map, wherein the selected point corresponds to a selected location within the geographic area;

in response to receiving the selection of the point and without receiving a request for directions from a user via the user interface, automatically obtaining an indication of a length of a trip between a current location of the computing device and the selected location, by the one or more processors; and

displaying, via the user interface, the indication of the length of the trip along with the interactive digital map, including;

determining, using the indication of the length of the trip, whether an estimated distance between the current location and the selected location is greater than a certain threshold value, and

when the estimated distance is greater than the threshold value, displaying the estimated distance between the current location and the selected location as the indication of the length of the trip,

otherwise, when the estimated distance is not greater than the threshold value, displaying an estimated duration of the trip as the indication of the length of the trip.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

subsequently to displaying the indication of the length of the trip, receiving a request for the step-by-step directions from the user via the user interface;

in response to receiving the request, obtaining the step-by-step directions; and

displaying the step-by-step directions via the user interface.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

in response to receiving the selection of the point and without receiving a request for directions from the user via the user interface, automatically obtaining step-by-step directions for travelling from the current location to the selected location.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

subsequently to obtaining the step-by-step directions, receiving a request for the step-by-step directions from the user via the user interface; and

in response to receiving the request, providing the previously received step-by-step directions via the user interface.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein displaying the indication of the length of the trip includes generating a selectable informational card that overlays a portion of the digital map, wherein the informational card includes the indication of the length of the trip.

6. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing thereon instructions for generating interactive digital maps via a user interface of a computing device disposed at a current location, wherein the instructions execute on one or more processors to:

provide an interactive digital map of a geographic area via a user interface of the computing device;

receive a search term via the user interface;

obtain a plurality of search results corresponding to the received search term, wherein each of the plurality of search results corresponds to a respective location within the geographic area;

automatically and without receiving a user request via the user interface, obtain indications of lengths of trips between the current location and the locations corresponding to the plurality of search results, including not obtain step-by-step directions for the trips;

provide, via the user interface, indications of the lengths of the trips along with the interactive digital map including;

determine, using the indication of the length of the trip, whether an estimated distance between the current location and the selected location is greater than a certain threshold value; and

(i) when the estimated distance is greater than the threshold value, display the estimated distance between the current location and the selected location as the indication of the length of the trip, otherwise, when the estimated distance is not greater than the threshold value, display an estimated duration of the trip as the indication of the length of the trip;

subsequently to providing the indications of the lengths of the trips, receive a selection of one of the plurality of search results via the user interface; and

in response to receiving the selection, obtain step-by-step directions for travelling between the current location and the location corresponding to the selected search result.

7. The computer-readable medium of claim 6, wherein the instructions further execute on the one or more processors to:

provide the step-by-step directions via the user interface.

8. The computer-readable medium of claim 6, wherein to display the indications of the lengths of the trips, the instructions are configured to generate an informational card overlaying a certain portion of the digital map, wherein the informational card includes information related to a currently selected one of the plurality of search results and the corresponding indication of the length of the trip.

9. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the instructions are further configured to update the informational card in response to the user selecting a new one of the plurality of search results.

10. The computer-readable medium of claim 6, wherein the instructions are configured to obtain the indications of lengths of trips in accordance with a last mode of transport selected by the user, wherein the mode of transport is selected from a group including driving, public transit, and walking.

11. The computer-readable medium of claim 6, wherein the instructions execute on one or more processors to receive the indications of lengths of trips and the step-by-step directions from a server via a communication network.

12. The computer-readable medium of claim 6, where the indications of the lengths of the trips are received from a server via a communication network along with the corresponding search results.

13. The computer-readable medium of claim 6, wherein to obtain the indications of the lengths of the trips, the instructions execute on one or more processors to request the lengths of the trips from a server via a communication network.

14. A computing device comprising:

one or more processors;

a user interface including a display device; and

a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing thereon instructions that, when executed on the one or more processors, cause the computing device to;

provide an interactive digital map of a geographic area via the user interface,

receive, via the user interface, a selection of a point on the digital map, wherein the selected point corresponds to a selected location within the geographic area,

in response to receiving the selection of the point and without receiving a request for directions from a user via the user interface, automatically obtain an indication of a length of a trip between a current location of the computing device and the selected location, and

display, via the user interface, the indication of the length of the trip along with the interactive digital map, including select one of an estimated distance of the trip or an estimated duration of the trip as the indication of the length of the trip for display, based on whether the estimated distance is greater than a certain threshold value.

15. The computing device of claim 14, wherein the instructions further cause the computing device to:

subsequently to displaying the indication of the length of the trip, receive a request for the step-by-step directions from the user via the user interface;

in response to receiving the request, obtain the step-by-step directions; and

display the step-by-step directions via the user interface.

16. The computing device of claim 14, wherein the instructions further cause the computing device to:

in response to receiving the selection of the point and without receiving a request for directions from the user via the user interface, automatically obtain step-by-step directions for travelling from the current location to the selected location.

17. The computing device of claim 16, wherein the instructions further cause the computing device to:

subsequently to obtaining the step-by-step directions, receive a request for the step-by-step directions from the user via the user interface; and

in response to receiving the request, provide the previously received step-by-step directions via the user interface.