System and method for automatically generating an electronic journal

• US 9,494,437 B2
• Filed: 06/15/2015
• Issued: 11/15/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 09/22/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Subramanian, Sowmya, Wilden, LeifHendrik, Golden, Keith Patrick
• Primary Examiner(s): MARC-COLEMAN, MARTHE Y
• Application Number:
  US14/739,143
• Publication Number:
  US 20150276414A1
• Time in Patent Office: 519 Days
• Field of Search: 701/521, 701/439, 4554561-4563, 455/404.2, 455/414
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/28 with correlation of data from several navigational instruments
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/30 Map- or contour-matching
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/20 Monitoring the location of vehicles belonging to a group, e.g. fleet of vehicles, countable or determined number of vehicles

Abstract

A system and method of the subject technology automatically generates an electronic journal of a series of events based on input from data sources already used to record the series of events, and then displays those events in an electronic publication representative of the series of events. A GPS track may be used in connection with the series of events to generate the electronic journal in connection with an interactive map.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for generating an electronic journal, the method comprising:

receiving, by one or more computing devices, location data from one or more data devices;

determining, by the one or more computing devices, a travel route based on the location data;

receiving, by the one or more computing devices, a plurality of digital pictures generated along the travel route;

determining, by the one or more computing devices, that a cluster of digital pictures of the plurality of digital pictures are related based on timestamps of the digital pictures; and

correlating, by the one or more computing devices, meta-data from the cluster of digital pictures with the location data associated with the travel route to generate one or more travel events corresponding to the cluster of digital pictures, each travel event including one or more data recordings associated with a location on the travel route.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining that the cluster of digital pictures are related comprises determining that the cluster of digital pictures are related based on both the timestamps and an image analysis of the digital pictures.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing, by the one or more computing devices, an interactive map including the travel route and one or more event representations positioned along the travel route, each of the one or more event representations operable to, when selected, display one or more respective travel events.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the meta-data includes a plurality of first timestamps and wherein correlating the meta-data from the cluster of digital pictures with the location data associated with the travel route comprises correlating a first timestamp of the plurality of first timestamps with a second timestamp associated with the location data.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein a travel event of the one or more travel events is generated when two or more of the plurality of first timestamps are substantially within a same predetermined time frame, the predetermined time frame being substantially at a respective second timestamp.

6. The method of claim 3, further comprising generating, by the one or more computing devices, a chronological storyline representative of the one or more travel events along the travel route, the chronological storyline operable to be displayed in combination with the interactive map.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

receiving, by the one or more computing devices, textual data associated with the travel route; and

generating, by the one or more computing devices, a narrative associated with the chronological storyline based on the received textual data.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

determining, by the one or more computing devices, a mode of transportation along the travel route based on the location data; and

providing, by the one or more computing devices, text related to the mode of transportation within the narrative.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising extracting, by the one or more computing devices, the metadata from the cluster of digital pictures.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the cluster of digital pictures are determined to be related based, at least in part, when at least a portion of an image subject of each of the cluster of digital pictures is the same.

11. A tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations, comprising:

receiving location data from one or more data devices;

determining a travel route based on the location data;

receiving a plurality of digital pictures generated along the travel route;

determining that a cluster of digital pictures of the plurality of digital pictures are related based on timestamps of the digital pictures; and

correlating meta-data from the cluster of digital pictures with the location data associated with the travel route to generate one or more travel events corresponding to the cluster of digital pictures, each travel event including one or more data recordings associated with a location on the travel route.

12. The computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein determining that the cluster of digital pictures are related comprises determining that the cluster of digital pictures are related based on both the timestamps and an image analysis of the digital pictures.

13. The computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein the operations further comprise providing an interactive map including the travel route and one or more event representations positioned along the travel route, each of the one or more event representations operable to, when selected, display one or more respective travel events.

14. The computer readable medium of claim 13, wherein the operations further comprise generating a chronological storyline representative of the one or more travel events along the travel route, the chronological storyline operable to be displayed in combination with the interactive map.

15. The computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein the operations further comprise extracting, by the one or more computing devices, the metadata from the cluster of digital pictures.

16. The computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein the cluster of digital pictures are determined to be related based, at least in part, when at least a portion of an image subject of each of the cluster of digital pictures is the same.

17. A system for generating an electronic journal, comprising:

one or more processors;

a memory storing software that, when executed by the one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to;

receive location data from one or more data devices;

determine a travel route based on the location data;

receive a plurality of digital pictures generated along the travel route;

determine that a cluster of digital pictures of the plurality of digital pictures are related based on timestamps of the digital pictures; and

correlate meta-data from the cluster of digital pictures with the location data associated with the travel route to generate one or more travel events corresponding to the cluster of digital pictures, each travel event including one or more data recordings associated with a location on the travel route.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the software, when executed, causes the one or more processors to determine that the cluster of digital pictures are related based on both the timestamps and an image analysis of the digital pictures.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the cluster of digital pictures are determined to be related based, at least in part, when at least a portion of an image subject of each of the cluster of digital pictures is the same.

20. The system of claim 17, wherein the software, when executed, further causes the one or more processors to provide an interactive map including the travel route and one or more event representations positioned along the travel route, each of the one or more event representations operable to, when selected, display one or more respective travel events.