Mobile device and geographic information system background and summary of the related art
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method comprising:
- orienting, by a headset including at least a digital compass, a mobile device pointing in a direction to intersect a particular one of an object, a geographic feature, and a location of interest to a user;
providing, by a controller, geographic information according to local queries and distal queries, wherein the local queries relate to local characteristics of at least one of the object, the geographic feature, and the location, wherein the distal queries relate to distant characteristics that are not in purview of the local characteristics; and
selecting and ordering, by the controller, in response to at least one query of the local and distal queries, query results based on two-dimensional (2D) or three-dimensional (3D) query windows and weighing the query results based on predetermined relationships to the 2D or 3D query windows, wherein the predetermined relationships include mathematical relevance of a particular one of the object, the geographic feature, and the location based on a type or a theme of the query.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention provides a system and mobile device for providing geographic information to a user. The system includes a mobile device that is wirelessly connected to a geographic database. The mobile device includes a plurality of sensors for determining a first location and a first direction. A controller is adapted to provide information requested based on local queries and distal queries. In addition, the controller can respond to thematic queries of each variety, wherein the database search is limited to objects, entities or features that fit within a selected theme. Finally, the controller is adapted to select and order query results based upon two- and three-dimensional query windows.
96 Citations
20 Claims
-
1. A method comprising:
-
orienting, by a headset including at least a digital compass, a mobile device pointing in a direction to intersect a particular one of an object, a geographic feature, and a location of interest to a user; providing, by a controller, geographic information according to local queries and distal queries, wherein the local queries relate to local characteristics of at least one of the object, the geographic feature, and the location, wherein the distal queries relate to distant characteristics that are not in purview of the local characteristics; and selecting and ordering, by the controller, in response to at least one query of the local and distal queries, query results based on two-dimensional (2D) or three-dimensional (3D) query windows and weighing the query results based on predetermined relationships to the 2D or 3D query windows, wherein the predetermined relationships include mathematical relevance of a particular one of the object, the geographic feature, and the location based on a type or a theme of the query. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
-
-
5. A method comprising:
-
facilitating, from a remote location, connection of a database to a mobile device, wherein the mobile device includes a headset and a Global Positioning System (GPS)-enabled device, wherein the database contains geographic information and is accessible via a network connection, wherein the GPS-enabled device includes at least a controller and a position sensor; determining, by at least one of the controller and the position sensor, at least one of a location of the mobile device and the headset including at least a digital compass being adapted to orient the mobile device pointing in a direction to intersect a particular one of an object, a geographic feature, or a location of interest to a user; and receiving, by the controller of the GPS-enabled device, a thematic query from a user, the thematic query related to at least one selected theme for the particular one of the object, geographic feature, or location of interest to the user, wherein the controller is further to retrieve a portion of the geographic information from the database selected by one or more of the location of the mobile device, a pointing direction of the mobile device, the thematic query, and the geographic information about the particular object, the geographic feature, or the location. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8)
-
-
9. A method comprising:
-
facilitating, from a remote location, connection of a database to a mobile device, wherein the mobile device includes a headset and a Global Positioning System (GPS)-enabled device, wherein the database contains geographic information and is accessible via a network connection, wherein the GPS-enabled device includes at least a controller and a position sensor; determining, by at least one of the controller and the position sensor, at least one of a location of the mobile device and the headset including at least a digital compass being adapted to orient the mobile device pointing in a direction to intersect a particular one of an object, a geographic feature, or a location of interest to a user; and receiving, by the controller of the GPS-enabled device, a thematic query from a user, the thematic query related to at least one selected theme for the particular one of the object, geographic feature, or location of interest to the user, wherein the controller is further to retrieve, with respect to at least one of the object, the geographic feature, and the location of interest to the user, geographic information from the database being at least based on the location of the mobile device in combination with a user action of pointing the mobile device to define a pointing direction of the mobile device or the location of the mobile device in combination with a user action of generating the thematic query about the object, the geographic feature, and the location of interest to the user. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12)
-
-
13. An apparatus comprising:
a mobile device comprising headset and a Global Positioning System (GPS)-enabled device connectable to a database from a remote location, wherein the GPS-enable device having at least a controller and a position sensor to determine a location of the mobile device and the headset including at least a digital compass being adapted to orient the mobile device pointing in a direction to intersect a particular one of an object, a geographic feature or a location of interest to a user, the controller of the GPS-enabled device being adapted to receive a thematic query from the user, the thematic query related to at least one selected theme for the particular one of the object, geographic feature, or location of interest to the user, the controller being further adapted to retrieve a portion of the geographic information from the database selected by a combination of the location of the mobile device, a pointing direction of the mobile device, the thematic query, and the geographic information is about the particular object, the geographic feature or the location. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16)
-
17. The apparatus comprising:
a mobile device comprising a headset and a Global Positioning System (GPS)-enabled device connectable to a database from a remote location, wherein the GPS-enable device having at least a controller and a position sensor to determine a location of the mobile device and the headset including at least a digital compass being adapted to orient the mobile device pointing in a direction to intersect a particular one of an object, a geographic feature or a location of interest to a user, the controller of the GPS-enabled device being adapted to receive a thematic query from the user, the thematic query related to at least one selected theme for the particular one of the object, geographic feature, or location of interest to the user, the controller being further adapted to retrieve, with respect to at least one of the object, the geographic feature, or location of interest to the user, the geographic information from the database with selection of the geographic information from the database being at least based on the location of the mobile device in combination with a user action of pointing the mobile device to define a pointing direction of the mobile device or the location of the mobile device in combination with the user action of generating the thematic query about the object, the geographic feature, or the location of interest to the user. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
Specification