System and method for selecting user generated content related to a point of interest

• US 9,460,160 B1
• Filed: 10/08/2014
• Issued: 10/04/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 11/29/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Agarwal, Sameer, Seitz, Steven Maxwell, Gallup, David Robert
• Primary Examiner(s): VU, BAI DUC
• Application Number:
  US14/509,682
• Time in Patent Office: 727 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24578 using ranking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/29 Geographical information databases
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/58 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/583 using metadata automatically derived from the content

Abstract

A system and machine-implemented method for providing one or more photos associated with a point of interest on a map, the method including receiving an indication of a request from a user to view photos associated with a point of interest on a map, identifying a set of photos associated with the point of interest, wherein the photos comprise at least one of photos taken from the point of interest or photos that depict at least part of the point of interest, ranking the photos within the set of photos according to ranking criteria, wherein the ranking criteria comprises one or more of map context, photo quality, photo type or user request information and providing one or more photos of the set of photos to the user according to the ranking.

Claims

1. A method for providing one or more photos, comprising:

receiving, with one or more computing devices, at a first time a request to view photos associated with a point of interest on a map;

accessing, with the one or more computing devices, a set of photos associated with the point of interest, each photo in the set having a viewpoint defined by one of a field of view of the photo and a viewing direction of the photo;

scoring, with the one or more computing devices, individual photos within the set of photos based at least in part on a similarity between the viewpoint of the individual photo and a map viewpoint at the first time; and

providing for display, with the one or more computing devices, one or more of the individual photos based on the score.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying a query comprising one of a point within the map, a region within the map, or a text query; and

identifying the point of interest according to the query.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the map is partitioned into a plurality of cells,

wherein accessing the set of photos associated with the point of interest comprises identifying one or more cells of the plurality of cells within the map covering the point of interest within the map, and

wherein the set of photos comprise one or more photos associated with each of the one or more cells.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

referencing a spatial index, the spatial index storing an association between each of the plurality of cells within the map and one or more photos; and

identifying the one or more photos associated with each of the one or more cells.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the one or more photos for each of the plurality of cells within the spatial index include at least one of one or more photos that see the cell, and one or more photos captured from the cell.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the spatial index is generated by processing each of the one or more photos through a structure from motion system.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of photos comprise user generated photos.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising calculating a cost for each photo.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the map viewpoint at the first time is defined by one or more of a map viewport at the first time, map tilt, map heading and map zoom level.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the scoring is further based on photo quality of the individual photo, wherein the photo quality is defined by one or more of photo position and orientation, photo popularity, photo alignment, photo contrast, photo saturation or whether the photo is a panorama.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the scoring is further based on user request information, wherein the user request information includes one or more of text entered by the user to identify the point of interest or photo type requested by the user.

12. A system for providing one or more photos, comprising:

a memory storing a set of photos in association with a point of interest on a map; and

one or more processors in communication with the memory, the one or more processors programmed to;

receive at a first time a request to view photos associated with the point of interest on the map;

access a set of photos associated with the point of interest, each photo in the set having a viewpoint defined by one of a field of view of the photo and a viewing direction of the photo;

score individual photos within the set of photos based at least in part on a similarity between the viewpoint of the individual photo and a map viewpoint at the first time; and

provide for display one or more of the individual photos based on the score.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the received request comprises one of a selection of a point on the map, a region on the map, or a text query corresponding to a point or region on the map.

14. The system of claim 12, wherein the processor is further programmed to:

identify one or more cells within the map covering the point of interest, wherein the map is partitioned into a plurality of cells; and

wherein the set of photos comprise photos associated with each of the one or more cells according to a spatial index, the spatial index indicating an association between each of the plurality of cells within the map and one or more photos.

15. The system of claim 12, wherein the set of photos comprises user generated photos.

16. The system of claim 12, wherein the map viewpoint at the first time is defined by one or more of a map viewport at the first time, map tilt, map heading and map zoom level.

17. The system of claim 12, wherein the scoring is further based on photo quality of the individual photo, wherein the photo quality is defined by one or more of photo position and orientation, photo popularity, photo alignment, photo contrast, photo saturation or whether the photo is a panorama.

18. A non-transitory machine-readable medium comprising instructions stored therein, which when executed by a machine, cause the machine to perform operations comprising:

receiving at a first time a request to view photos associated with a point of interest on a map;

accessing a set of photos associated with the point of interest, each photo in the set having a viewpoint defined by one of a field of view of the photo and a viewing direction of the photo;

scoring individual photos within the set of photos based at least in part on a similarity between the viewpoint of the individual photo and a map viewpoint at the first time; and

providing for display one or more of the individual photos based on the score.

19. The machine-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the identifying the set of photos comprises:

referencing a spatial index defining an association between the plurality of cells within the map and one or more photos.

20. The machine-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the set of photos include user-generated photos.