Navigation of computer-navigable physical feature graph

• US 10,437,884 B2
• Filed: 02/17/2017
• Issued: 10/08/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 01/18/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Mital, Vijay, Pan, Henry Hun-Li Reid, Poozhiyil, Suraj T., Coddington, James Jackson, Ilaiwi, Faisal Khaled Faisal, Flutre, Arnaud Christian
• Primary Examiner(s): Tran, Tam T
• Application Number:
  US15/436,661
• Publication Number:
  US 20180203574A1
• Time in Patent Office: 963 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/26 Visual data mining; Browsing structured data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9024 Graphs; Linked lists G06F16/9027 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04815 Interaction with a metaphor-based environment or interaction object displayed as three-dimensional, e.g. changing the user viewpoint with respect to the environment or object
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 19/003 Navigation within 3D models or images

Abstract

Facilitating navigation of a computer-navigable graph of sensed features that were gathered by recognition or estimation of one or more features of physical entities that were sensed over time by sensor(s) within a physical space. The computer-navigable graph includes multiple nodes including multiple signal segment nodes and multiple feature nodes. Each of at least some of the signal segment nodes evidence feature(s) represented in feature node(s). Navigation is facilitated by, for each of multiple signal segment nodes, identifying relationship(s) between the corresponding signal segment node and other node(s) of the graph. At navigation time, when a user navigates to the corresponding signal segment nodes, a visualization of any detected relationship may be rendered to the user. When the user interacts with the rendering in such a way as to select the relationship, the user is navigated to the other node.

Claims

1. A computing system comprising:

one or more processors;

one or more computer-readable media having thereon computer-executable instructions that are structured such that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the computing system to perform a method for facilitating navigation of a computer-navigable graph of a physical space, the method comprising;

accessing at least a portion of a computer-navigable graph of a plurality of features of a plurality of sensed physical entities sensed by one or more sensors in a physical space over a plurality of times, the computer-navigable graph comprising a plurality of nodes including a plurality of signal segment nodes and a plurality of feature nodes, each of at least some of the plurality of signal segment nodes evidencing a feature represented in one or more of the plurality of feature nodes;

for a particular signal segment node included within the accessed portion of the computer-navigable graph, identifying a relationship between the particular signal segment node and another node in of the plurality of nodes of the computer-navigable signal segment graph; and

enabling navigation of from the particular signal segment node to the other node in response to identifying the relationship.

2. The computing system in accordance with claim 1, the particular signal segment node being a first signal segment node of the plurality of signal segment nodes of the computer-navigable graph, and the other node being a second signal segment node of the plurality of signal segment nodes of the computer-navigable graph.

3. The computing system in accordance with claim 2, the relationship being a first relationship, the other node being a first other node, the method further comprising the following for the particular signal segment node:

identifying a second relationship between the particular signal segment node and a second other node in of the plurality of nodes of the computer-navigable signal segment graph; and

enabling navigation of from the particular signal segment node to the second other node in response to identifying the relationship.

4. The computing system in accordance with claim 3, the method further comprising:

detecting that at a user has navigated to the particular signal segment node; and

in response to detecting that the user has navigated to the particular signal segment node, performing the following;

causing a first visualization of the first relationship to be rendered to the user; and

causing a second visualization of the second relationship to be rendered to the user.

5. The computing system in accordance with claim 4, the method further comprising:

detecting that the user has selected the first visualization of the first relationship; and

in response to detecting that the user has selected the first visualization of the first relationship, causing the user to navigate to the first other node.

6. The computing system in accordance with claim 4, the method further comprising:

detecting that the user has selected the second visualization of the second relationship; and

in response to detecting that the user has selected the second visualization of the second relationship, causing the user to navigate to the second other node.

7. The computing system in accordance with claim 1, the relationship comprising a similarity in one or more features between the particular signal segment node and the other node.

8. The computing system in accordance with claim 1, the relationship comprising a dissimilarity in one or more features between the particular signal segment node and the other node.

9. The computing system in accordance with claim 1, the method comprising:

detecting that at a user has navigated to the particular signal segment node; and

in response to detecting that the user has navigated to the particular signal segment node, causing a visualization of the identified relationship to be rendered to the user.

10. The computing system in accordance with claim 9, the method further comprising:

detecting that the user has selected the visualization of the identified relationship; and

in response to detecting that the user has selected the visualization of the identified relationship, causing the user to navigate to the other node.

11. The computing system in accordance with claim 10, the other node comprising a first other node of the computer-navigable graph, the method further comprising the following for the first other node:

identifying a second relationship between the first other node and a second other node in of the plurality of nodes of the computer-navigable signal segment graph; and

enabling navigation of from the first other node to the second other node in response to identifying the second relationship.

12. The computing system in accordance with claim 11, the method comprising:

detecting that at a user has navigated to the first other node; and

in response to detecting that the user has navigated to the first other node, causing a visualization of the second relationship to be rendered to the user.

13. The computing system in accordance with claim 12, the method further comprising:

detecting that the user has selected the visualization of the second relationship; and

in response to detecting that the user has selected the visualization of the second relationship, causing the user to navigate to the second other node.

14. The computing system in accordance with claim 10, the identified relationship being a time-based relationship.

15. The computing system in accordance with claim 14, the time-based relationship being a duration relationship.

16. The computing system in accordance with claim 14, the time-based relationship being a pace relationship.

17. The computing system in accordance with claim 14, the time-based relationship being an absolute time relationship.

18. The computing system in accordance with claim 10, the detected user selection of the identified time-based relationship being a detected gesture.

19. A method for facilitating navigation of a computer-navigable graph of a physical space, the method comprising:

accessing at least a portion of a computer-navigable graph of a plurality of features of a plurality of sensed physical entities sensed by one or more sensors in a physical space over a plurality of times, the computer-navigable graph comprising a plurality of nodes including a plurality of signal segment nodes and a plurality of feature nodes, each of at least some of the plurality of signal segment nodes evidencing a feature represented in one or more of the plurality of feature nodes;

for a particular signal segment node included within the accessed portion of the computer-navigable graph, identifying a relationship between the particular signal segment node and another node in of the plurality of nodes of the computer-navigable signal segment graph; and

enabling navigation of from the particular signal segment node to the other node in response to identifying the relationship.

20. A computer program product comprising one or more computer-readable hardware storage devices having thereon computer-executable instructions that are structured such that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the computing system to perform a method for facilitating navigation of a computer-navigable graph of a physical space, the method comprising:

accessing at least a portion of a computer-navigable graph of a plurality of features of a plurality of sensed physical entities sensed by one or more sensors in a physical space over a plurality of times, the computer-navigable graph comprising a plurality of nodes including a plurality of signal segment nodes and a plurality of feature nodes, each of at least some of the plurality of signal segment nodes evidencing a feature represented in one or more of the plurality of feature nodes;

for a particular signal segment node included within the accessed portion of the computer-navigable graph, identifying a relationship between the particular signal segment node and another node in of the plurality of nodes of the computer-navigable signal segment graph; and

enabling navigation of from the particular signal segment node to the other node in response to identifying the relationship.