Range of focus in an augmented reality application

• US 9,430,496 B2
• Filed: 06/13/2014
• Issued: 08/30/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 11/02/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Tseng, Erick
• Primary Examiner(s): Du, Haixia
• Application Number:
  US14/304,308
• Publication Number:
  US 20140297683A1
• Time in Patent Office: 809 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3611 using character input or menus, e.g. menus of POIs character input methods in general G06F3/0233
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3632 Guidance using simplified or iconic instructions, e.g. using arrows G01C21/365 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3644 Landmark guidance, e.g. using POIs or conspicuous other objects
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3673 Labelling using text of road map data items, e.g. road names, POI names
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/13 Receivers
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/29 Geographical information databases
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/18 involving self-service terminals [SST], vending machines, kiosks or multimedia terminals
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 19/006 Mixed reality object pose determination, tracking or camera calibration for mixed reality G06T7/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/60 Analysis of geometric attributes

Abstract

A computer-implemented augmented reality method includes receiving one or more indications, entered on a mobile computing device by a user of the mobile computing device, of a distance range for determining items to display with an augmented reality application, the distance range representing geographic distance from a base point where the mobile computing device is located. The method also includes selecting, from items in a computer database, one or more items that are located within the distance range from the mobile computing device entered by the user, and providing data for representing labels for the selected one or more items on a visual display of the mobile computing device, the labels corresponding to the selected items, and the items corresponding to geographical features that are within the distance range as measure from the mobile computing device.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

sending, by a mobile computing device to a computing system, a search query that was entered at the mobile computing device;

receiving, by the mobile computing device from the computing system, a first set of one or more items that are search results responsive to the search query and that pertain to geographical features that are located within a first geographic zone, the first geographic zone including a base geographic point at which the mobile computing device is located, wherein the first geographic zone is an area in which at least a portion of a boundary of the area is a first geographic distance from the base geographic point;

receiving, by the mobile computing device from the computing system, a second set of one or more items that are search results responsive to the search query and that pertain to geographical features that are located within a second geographic zone, wherein the second geographic zone is an area in which at least a portion of a boundary of the area is a second geographic distance from the base geographic point, wherein the second geographic zone contains at least a portion of the first geographic zone, wherein the second geographic distance is greater than the first geographic distance, and wherein the second set of one or more items pertains to geographical features that are located in a region of the second geographic zone that excludes the first geographic zone;

displaying, by the mobile computing device, a first set of one or more labels that correspond to the first set of one or more items, each label in the first set of labels corresponding to a respective geographical feature that is located within the first geographic zone;

storing, by the mobile computing device, information regarding the second set of one or more items but not displaying a second set of one or more labels that correspond to the second set of one or more items while one or more geographical features to which the second set of one or more items pertains is within a region of the second geographic zone that excludes the first geographic zone;

determining, by the mobile computing device, that the mobile computing device has moved, from the base geographic point to a new geographic location, toward a geographic feature to which a particular item of the second set of one or more items pertains such that the geographic feature to which the particular item pertains has become within the first geographic distance of the new geographic location of the mobile computing device of the geographic feature after the determined movement; and

displaying, by the mobile computing device, a label that corresponds to the particular item in response to determining that the mobile computing device has moved toward the geographic feature to which the particular item of the second set of one or more items pertains such that the geographic feature to which the particular item pertains is within the first geographic distance of the new geographic location of the mobile computing device of the geographic feature after the determined movement.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising sending, by the mobile computing device to the computing system, an indication of a field of view that is defined by a compass on the mobile computing device, and

wherein the first geographic zone is within the field of view sent by the mobile computing device, and

wherein the second zone includes a portion of an area that extends radially outward the first geographic distance from the base point and that is outside the field of view sent by the mobile computing device.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the field of view represents a direction in which a camera on the mobile computing device is pointed.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the displaying, by the mobile computing device, the first set of one or more labels that correspond to the first set of one or more items includes displaying the first set of one or more labels over an image captured by a camera of the mobile computing device in locations on a display screen that are selected to correspond to distances from the base point to geographical locations of the geographical features to which the first set of labels pertain.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving, at the mobile computing device, data indicating that the user selected a label that corresponds to a first one of the first set of one or more items, and, in response, generating a second search query that includes at least one term representative of the first one of the selected items, and sending the second search query that includes the at least one term representative of the first one of the selected items to the computing system.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a touch input on a label, and in response to receiving the touch input, causing a telephone call to be made by the mobile computing device to a telephone number that is determined to be associated with a geographical feature corresponding to the label.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising changing a presentation on the display of the mobile computing device from an augmented reality presentation to a map presentation in response to identifying a user input of a specified motion to the mobile computing device.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein displaying the first set of one or more labels that correspond to the first set of one or more items includes displaying the first set of one or more labels over an image captured by a camera of the mobile computing device.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile computing device displays the label that corresponds to the particular item without obtaining additional labels from the computing system.

10. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

sending, by a mobile computing device to a computing system, a search query that was entered at the mobile computing device;

receiving, by the mobile computing device from the computing system, a first set of one or more items that are search results responsive to the search query and that pertain to geographical features that are located within a first geographic zone, the first geographic zone including a base geographic point at which the mobile computing device is located;

receiving, by the mobile computing device from the computing system, a second set of one or more items that are search results responsive to the search query and that pertain to geographical features that are located within a second geographic zone, the second geographic zone being larger than the first geographic zone and containing at least a portion of the first geographic zone, and the second set of one or more items pertaining to geographical features that are located in a region of the second geographic zone that excludes the first geographic zone;

displaying, by the mobile computing device, a first set of one or more labels that correspond to the first set of one or more items, each label in the first set of labels corresponding to a respective geographical feature that is located within the first geographic zone;

storing, by the mobile computing device, information regarding the second set of one or more items but not displaying a second set of one or more labels that correspond to the second set of one or more items while one or more geographical features to which the second set of one or more items pertains is within a region of the second geographic zone that excludes the first geographic zone;

selecting certain ones of the second set of labels to display, in response to the user changing a direction in which the mobile computing device is pointed; and

displaying the selected labels based on the direction in which the mobile computing device is pointed having changed without obtaining additional labels from the computing system.

11. A tangible, non-transitory recordable medium having recorded thereon instructions, that when executed, perform actions comprising:

sending, by a mobile computing device to a computing system, a search query that was entered at the mobile computing device;

receiving, by the mobile computing device from the computing system, a first set of one or more items that are search results responsive to the search query and that pertain to geographical features that are located within a first geographic zone, the first geographic zone including a base geographic point at which the mobile computing device is located, wherein the first geographic zone is an area in which at least a portion of a boundary of the area is a first geographic distance from the base geographic point;

receiving, by the mobile computing device from the computing system, a second set of one or more items that are search results responsive to the search query and that pertain to geographical features that are located within a second geographic zone, wherein the second geographic zone is an area in which at least a portion of a boundary of the area is a second geographic distance from the base geographic point, wherein the second geographic zone contains at least a portion of the first geographic zone, wherein the second geographic distance is greater than the first geographic distance, and wherein the second set of one or more items pertains to geographical features that are located in a region of the second geographic zone that excludes the first geographic zone;

displaying, by the mobile computing device, a first set of one or more labels that correspond to the first set of one or more items, each label in the first set of labels corresponding to a respective geographical feature that is located within the first geographic zone;

storing, by the mobile computing device, information regarding the second set of one or more items but not displaying a second set of one or more labels that correspond to the second set of one or more items while one or more geographical features to which the second set of one or more items pertains is within a region of the second geographic zone that excludes the first geographic zone;

determining, by the mobile computing device, that the mobile computing device has moved, from the base geographic point to a new geographic location, toward a geographic feature to which a particular item of the second set of one or more items pertains such that the geographic feature to which the particular item pertains has become within the first geographic distance of the new geographic location of the mobile computing device of the geographic feature after the determined movement; and

displaying, by the mobile computing device, a label that corresponds to the particular item in response to determining that the mobile computing device has moved toward the geographic feature to which the particular item of the second set of one or more items pertains such that the geographic feature to which the particular item pertains is within the first geographic distance of the new geographic location of the mobile computing device of the geographic feature after the determined movement.

12. The tangible, non-transitory recordable medium of claim 11, the actions further comprising sending, by the mobile computing device to the computing system, an indication of a field of view that is defined by a compass on the mobile computing device, and

wherein the first geographic zone is within the field of view sent by the mobile computing device, and

wherein the second zone includes a portion of an area that extends radially outward the first geographic distance from the base point and that is outside the field of view sent by the mobile computing device.

13. The tangible, non-transitory recordable medium of claim 12, wherein the field of view represents a direction in which a camera on the mobile computing device is pointed.

14. The tangible, non-transitory recordable medium of claim 11, wherein the displaying, by the mobile computing device, the first set of one or more labels that correspond to the first set of one or more items includes displaying the first set of one or more labels over an image captured by a camera of the mobile computing device in locations on a display screen that are selected to correspond to distances from the base point to geographical locations of the geographical features to which the first set of labels pertain.

15. The method of claim 11, the actions further comprising receiving a touch input on a label, and in response to receiving the touch input, causing a telephone call to be made by the mobile computing device to a telephone number that is determined to be associated with a geographical feature corresponding to the label.

16. The method of claim 11, the actions further comprising changing a presentation on the display of the mobile computing device from an augmented reality presentation to a map presentation in response to identifying a user input of a specified motion to the mobile computing device.

17. The tangible, non-transitory recordable medium of claim 11, wherein displaying the first set of one or more labels that correspond to the first set of one or more items includes displaying the first set of one or more labels over an image captured by a camera of the mobile computing device.

18. The tangible, non-transitory recordable medium of claim 11, wherein the mobile computing device is configured to display the label that corresponds to the particular item without obtaining additional labels from the computing system.

19. A tangible, non-transitory recordable medium having recorded thereon instructions, that when executed, perform actions comprising:

sending, by a mobile computing device to a computing system, a search query that was entered at the mobile computing device;

receiving, by the mobile computing device from the computing system, a first set of one or more items that are search results responsive to the search query and that pertain to geographical features that are located within a first geographic zone, the first geographic zone including a base geographic point at which the mobile computing device is located;

receiving, by the mobile computing device from the computing system, a second set of one or more items that are search results responsive to the search query and that pertain to geographical features that are located within a second geographic zone, the second geographic zone being larger than the first geographic zone and containing at least a portion of the first geographic zone, and the second set of one or more items pertaining to geographical features that are located in a region of the second geographic zone that excludes the first geographic zone;

displaying, by the mobile computing device, a first set of one or more labels that correspond to the first set of one or more items, each label in the first set of labels corresponding to a respective geographical feature that is located within the first geographic zone; and

storing, by the mobile computing device, information regarding the second set of one or more items but not displaying a second set of one or more labels that correspond to the second set of one or more items while one or more geographical features to which the second set of one or more items pertains is within a region of the second geographic zone that excludes the first geographic zone;

selecting certain ones of the second set of labels to display, in response to the user changing a direction in which the mobile computing device is pointed; and

displaying the selected labels based on the direction in which the mobile computing device is pointed having changed without obtaining additional labels from the computing system.

20. A system comprising:

one or more computers and one or more storage devices storing instructions that are operable, when executed by the one or more computers, to cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising;

receiving, by a mobile computing device from a computing system, a first set of one or more items that are search results responsive to a search query and that pertain to geographical features that are located within a first geographic zone the first geographic zone including a base geographic point at which the mobile computing device is located, wherein the first geographic zone is an area in which at least a portion of a boundary of the area is a first geographic distance from the base geographic point;

receiving, by the mobile computing device from the computing system, a second set of one or more items that are search results responsive to the search query and that pertain to geographical features that are located within a second geographic zone, wherein the second geographic zone is an area in which at least a portion of a boundary of the area is a second geographic distance from the base geographic point, wherein the second geographic zone contains at least a portion of the first geographic zone, wherein the second geographic distance is greater than the first geographic distance, and wherein the second set of one or more items pertains to geographical features that are located in a region of the second geographic zone that excludes the first geographic zone;

displaying, by the mobile computing device, a first set of one or more labels that correspond to the first set of one or more items, each label in the first set of labels corresponding to a respective geographical feature that is located within the first geographic zone; and

storing, by the mobile computing device, information regarding the second set of one or more items but not displaying a second set of one or more labels that correspond to the second set of one or more items while one or more geographical features to which the second set of one or more items pertains is within a region of the second geographic zone that excludes the first geographic zone;

determining, by the mobile computing device, that the mobile computing device has moved, from the base geographic point to a new geographic location, toward a geographic feature to which a particular item of the second set of one or more items pertains such that the geographic feature to which the particular item pertains has become within the first geographic distance of the new geographic location of the mobile computing device of the geographic feature after the determined movement; and

displaying, by the mobile computing device, a label that corresponds to the particular item in response to determining that the mobile computing device has moved toward the geographic feature to which the particular item of the second set of one or more items pertains such that the geographic feature to which the particular item pertains is within the first geographic distance of the new geographic location of the mobile computing device of the geographic feature after the determined movement.