Integrated mapping and navigation application

• US 10,176,633 B2
• Filed: 09/30/2012
• Issued: 01/08/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 06/05/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Moore, Bradford A., van Os, Marcel, Blumenberg, Christopher, Law, Brady A., Vulcano, Emanuele, Koch, Jonathan, Williamson, Richard J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Edwards, Jerrah
• Assistant Examiner(s): Wallace, Donald J
• Application Number:
  US13/632,132
• Publication Number:
  US 20130325319A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,291 Days
• Field of Search: 701455, 701432, 701454, 34099514, 34099515, 34099516, 34099527
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/36 Input/output arrangements for on-board computers
• 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 21/3626 Details of the output of route guidance instructions traffic control systems for road vehicles involving transmission of navigation instructions to the vehicle G08G1/0968
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3635 Guidance using 3D or perspective road maps
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3638 including 3D objects and buildings three dimensional [3D] modelling, e.g. data description of 3D objects G06T17/00; geographic models G06T17/05
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3664 Details of the user input interface, e.g. buttons, knobs or sliders, including those provided on a touch screen; remote controllers; input using gestures
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/367 Details, e.g. road map scale, orientation, zooming, illumination, level of detail, scrolling of road map or positioning of current position marker
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3673 Labelling using text of road map data items, e.g. road names, POI names
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3682 output of POI information on a road map G01C21/3614, G01C21/3685 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3874 Structures specially adapted for data searching and retrieval
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3881 Tile-based structures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/29 Geographical information databases
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/53 Querying
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/532 Query formulation, e.g. graphical querying
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9038 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04808 Several contacts: gestures triggering a specific function, e.g. scrolling, zooming, right-click, when the user establishes several contacts with the surface simultaneously; e.g. using several fingers or a combination of fingers and pen
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/041 Digitisers, e.g. for touch screens or touch pads, characterised by the transducing means
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0484 for the control of specific functions or operations, e.g. selecting or manipulating an object, an image or a displayed text element, setting a parameter value or selecting a range
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0488 : using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 13/20 : 3D [Three Dimensional] animation
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 17/05 : Geographic models
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 19/00 : Manipulating 3D models or images for computer graphics
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 29/00 : Maps; Plans; Charts; Diagrams, e.g. route diagram star maps G09B27/04; devices for holding or supporting maps A47B97/02; for computing purposes G06G1/14, G09B1/16; display boards G09F
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 29/005 : Map projections or methods associated specifically therewith
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 29/007 : using computer methods
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 29/10 : Map spot or coordinate position indicators; Map reading aids optical projection apparatus per se G03B
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 : in wireless communication networks

Abstract

An integrated map and navigation program is described. The program provides a first operational mode for browsing and searching a map. The program provides a second operational mode for providing a navigation presentation that provides a set of navigation directions along a navigated route by reference to the map.

Claims

1. A non-transitory machine readable medium storing an integrated map and navigation application for execution by at least one processing unit of a device, the application comprising sets of instructions for:

displaying a map to search and browse in a first operational mode of the application;

displaying a navigation presentation in a second operational mode of the application, the navigation presentation (i) displaying a representation of a tracked current location of the device on the map as the device moves along a navigated route and (ii) providing turn-by-turn navigation instructions;

providing a set of controls for transitioning from one of the first and second operational modes to the other operational mode; and

to represent the transition, displaying a presentation that transitions from a first presentation of the map in the first operational mode to a second presentation of the map in the second operational mode, wherein the map is rendered in a first style for the first operational mode and a second style for the second operational mode, wherein the first and second styles provide different presentations of a common area on the map at a same zoom level and angle of view.

2. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 1, wherein the set of controls comprises a search user interface (UI) comprising a set of selectable items, wherein the set of instructions for displaying the presentation comprises a set of instructions for displaying the presentation upon selection of one of the selectable items in the search UI.

3. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 1, wherein the set of controls comprises at least one of a selectable direction control for selecting a route, and an information banner control that is displayed over the map for a selected location.

4. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 3, wherein the information banner control comprises a point of interest (POI) banner that opens and partially overlaps the map to display (i) a selectable control for displaying additional information about the selected location and (ii) a selectable navigation-initiation control for navigation to the selected location.

5. The machine readable medium of claim 1, wherein the application further comprises a set of instructions for displaying a first set of floating controls for performing a first set of operations in the first operational mode and a second set of floating controls for performing a second set of operations in the second operational mode, said floating controls adaptively sliding over a presentation of the map to change the displayed set of floating controls whenever the application switches between the first and second operational modes.

6. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 5 wherein the application further comprises sets of instructions for:

removing the second set of floating controls from a presentation of the map in response to receiving a first input during the second operational mode; and

displaying the second set of floating controls again over the presentation of the map in response to receiving a second input during the second operational mode.

7. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 6, wherein the set of instructions for removing the second set of floating controls comprises a set of instructions for generating an animation to slide the second set of floating controls off of a display area on which the presentation is displayed and the set of instructions for displaying, again, the second set of floating controls comprises a set of instructions for generating an animation to slide the second set of floating controls onto the display area.

8. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 1, wherein the second style is a more immersive rendering of the map than the first style.

9. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 1, wherein the provided turn-by-turn navigation instructions are included in a first set of navigation instructions, wherein the set of instructions for providing the second operational mode further comprises sets of instructions for:

generating a second set of navigation instructions upon detecting that the device is no longer on the navigated route based on the tracked location of the device; and

providing the second set of navigation instructions during the navigation presentation that describes a new navigated route.

10. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 1, wherein the current location of the device is tracked by using global positioning system (GPS) data generated by a GPS receiver of the device.

11. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 1, wherein the application further comprises a set of instructions for providing a route generation and inspection mode that identifies a route between two locations and provides a set of controls to allow an inspection of the identified route.

12. A non-transitory machine readable medium storing an integrated map and navigation application for execution by at least one processing unit of a device, the application comprising sets of instructions for:

displaying a map to search and browse in a first operational mode of the application;

displaying a navigation presentation in a second operational mode of the application, the navigation presentation (i) displaying a representation of a tracked current location of the device on the map as the device moves along a navigated route and (ii) providing turn-by-turn navigation instructions; and

displaying an animated presentation that transitions from a first presentation of the map during the first operational mode to a second presentation of the map in the second operational mode;

said displaying the animated presentation comprises moving a virtual camera that defines a map view to render from a top-down two-dimensional (2D) view of the map during the first operational mode to a perspective three-dimensional (3D) view of the map during the second operational mode, said movement of the virtual camera resulting in the animated presentation showing the map transitioning from the 2D view to the perspective 3D view.

13. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 12, wherein the second presentation provides a scene with more detail than the scene provided by the first presentation, wherein the additional detail comprises at least one of additional colors, textures, and objects in the scene.

14. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 12, wherein the displayed turn-by-turn navigation instructions are included in a first set of navigation instructions, wherein the set of instructions for providing the second operational mode further comprises sets of instructions for:

generating a second set of navigation instructions upon detecting that the device is no longer on the navigated route based on the tracked position of the device; and

providing the second set of navigation instructions during the navigation presentation that describes a new navigated route.

15. For an integrated map and navigation application executable by at least one processing unit of a device, a method comprising:

for the application,

providing a first operational mode for browsing and searching a map;

providing a second operational mode for providing a navigation presentation that (i) displays a representation of a tracked current location of the device on the map as the device moves along a navigated route comprising a plurality of junctures, and (ii) provides a plurality of navigation instruction banners each of which partially overlaps the map and provides navigation instructions for each juncture along the route; and

providing a plurality of controls for transitioning from the first operational mode to the second operational mode, the set of controls comprising (i) a selectable direction control for specifying start and destination locations for a navigation presentation displayed in the second operational mode, (ii) a search field for displaying (1) previous terms used to search the map in the first mode and (2) previous start and destination locations of previous navigation presentations displayed in the second operational mode, and (iii) a navigation-initiation control in an information banner control that is displayed over the map for a location selected in the first operational mode, wherein the map is rendered using a first stylesheet for the first operational mode and a second stylesheet for the second operational mode, wherein the first and second stylesheets are applied to provide distinct visual representations of a common view of the map at a same zoom level and angle of view.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the second style is a more immersive and animated rendering of the map than the first style.

17. The method of claim 15 further comprising providing a set of controls for transitioning from one of the first and second operational modes to the other operational mode.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the set of controls comprises at least one of a search user interface, a selectable direction control for selecting a route, and an information banner control that is displayed over the map for a selected location.

19. A mobile device comprising:

a display screen;

at least one processing unit; and

a storage for storing an integrated map and navigation program executable by the processing unit, the program comprising sets of instructions for;

displaying a map on the display screen to browse and search in a first operational mode;

providing a plurality of navigation-initiation controls during map browsing in the first operational mode, wherein selection of each navigation-initiation control directs the program to display an animated presentation that transitions from the first operational mode to a second operational mode, wherein displaying the animated presentation comprises moving a virtual camera that defines a map view to render from a top-down two-dimensional (2D) view of the map during the first operational mode to a perspective three-dimensional (3D) view of the map during the second operational mode; and

displaying a navigation presentation on the display screen in the second operational mode, the navigation presentation (i) displaying a representation of a tracked current location of the device on the map as the device moves along a navigated route comprising a plurality of junctures, and (ii) providing a plurality of navigation instruction banners each of which partially overlaps the map and provides navigation instructions for each juncture along the route.

20. The device of claim 19, wherein the plurality of navigation-initiation controls comprises at least one of a search user interface, a selectable direction control for selecting a route, and an information banner control that is displayed over the map for a selected location.

21. The device of claim 19, wherein the animated presentation displays the map presentation at various different perspective three-dimensional angles.

22. The device of claim 19, wherein the set of instructions for displaying the map comprises a set of instructions for displaying a first presentation of the map during the first operational mode and the set of instructions for displaying the navigation presentation comprises a set of instructions for displaying a second presentation of the map during the second operational mode;

and

wherein the program further comprises a set of instructions for presenting a selectable control as one corner of the first presentation of the map that is curled upwards,

wherein a selection of the selectable control displays an animation that makes the first presentation of the map appear as if it is being lifted from the corner upwards to reveal a display area below it that includes a plurality of additional selectable controls,

wherein upon the transition from the first operational mode to the second operational mode, an animation is displayed that uncurls the curled upward corner of the first presentation before displaying the second presentation.

23. The device of claim 19, wherein the program further comprises sets of instructions for displaying first and second sets of floating controls for performing first and second sets of operations respectively during the first and second operational modes, said floating controls sliding over a presentation of the map to change the displayed set of floating controls whenever the program switches between the first and second operational modes.

24. The device of claim 23 further comprising a set of instructions for receiving input, wherein when a first input is received during the second operational mode, the second set of floating controls is removed from the presentation of the map, wherein when a second input is received subsequently during the second operational mode, the second set of floating controls is displayed again over the presentation of the map.

25. The device of claim 19, wherein during the first operational mode, displaying the navigation presentation in a first style that is designed for browsing and searching the map, and during the second operational mode, displaying the navigation presentation in a second style, wherein the second style is a more immersive and animated rendering of the map presentation than the first style.

26. The device of claim 19, wherein the plurality of navigation-initiation controls are for a plurality of selectable locations on the map presentation, wherein the plurality of selectable locations includes a set of locations that the program identifies in responses to a search query, wherein each selectable location overlaps the map presentation to display (i) information about the selectable location and (ii) a navigation-initiation control for the selectable location.

27. The device of claim 26, wherein the plurality of selectable locations includes a set of points of interests (POIs) that are selectable on the map presentation, wherein each selectable POI comprises a navigation-initiation control for the selectable POI.

28. A non-transitory machine readable medium storing a multi-mode mapping program for execution by at least one processing unit of a device, the program comprising sets of instructions for:

providing at least one map presentation during first and second operational modes of the mapping program, wherein the first mode is for browsing and searching the map while the second mode is for tracking a current position of the device and displaying a tracked current location of the device on the map as the device moves along a route, wherein the map is rendered in a first style for the first operational mode and a second style for the second operational mode, wherein the first and second styles provide different presentations of a common area on the map at a same zoom level and angle of view; and

displaying first and second sets of floating controls for respectively causing the device to perform first and second sets of operations respectively during the first and second operational modes of the mapping program,

said first and second sets of floating controls comprising controls that slide over the map presentation to change the displayed set of floating controls whenever the program switches between the first and second operational modes, wherein the second set of floating controls includes at least one control that is also in the first set of floating controls and one control that is not in the first set of floating controls.

29. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 28, wherein the control that is in the second set but not the first set is a list control that when selected, causes the program to display a list relevant to an operation performed in the second operational mode.

30. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 29, the program further comprising sets of instructions for displaying a third set of floating controls during a third operational mode, wherein the third set of floating controls includes the list control, said list control providing a first list during the second operational mode and a second list during the third operational mode, said first and second lists having different designs to reflect their use during different operational modes.