METHODS FOR DEFORMING MAP WIDGETS ON THE BROWSER

• US 20090150757A1
• Filed: 12/06/2007
• Published: 06/11/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 12/06/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Inoue, Motoharu, Hara, Masao
• Granted Patent: US 8,438,477 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/200
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 3/04 Context-preserving transformations, e.g. by using an importance map panospheric to cylindrical image transformations G06T3/12
• 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

Abstract

A method for displaying an image of a map using a processing system, the method including: dividing a first map image obtained from a map widget into sections wherein the first map image is displayed by the processing system; recording the location of each marker to be represented in a second map image; calculating a weight factor for each section; moving and deforming each section according to the weight factor of each section to form the second map image; placing a new marker on the second map image wherein the new marker represents at least one marker with a recorded location; and displaying the second map image in place of the first map image.

Claims

1. A method for displaying an image of a map using a processing system, the method comprising:

dividing a first map image obtained from a map widget into sections wherein the first map image is displayed by the processing system;

recording the location of each marker to be represented in a second map image;

calculating a weight factor for each section;

moving and deforming each section according to the weight factor of each section to form the second map image;

placing a new marker on the second map image wherein the new marker represents at least one marker with a recorded location; and

displaying the second map image in place of the first map image.

2. The method as in claim 1, wherein a size of the new marker is proportional to the number of markers the new marker represents.

3. The method as in claim 1, wherein the weight factor for each section is proportional to the number of markers displayed in each section.

4. The method as in claim 1, wherein moving and deforming comprises expanding the sections that comprise at least one marker.

5. The method as in claim 4, wherein an amount of expansion for each section is related to the number of markers displayed in each section.

6. The method as in claim 1, wherein moving and deforming comprises contracting at least one section that does not comprise at least one marker.

7. A computer program product stored on machine readable media and comprising machine executable instructions for displaying an image of a map using a processing system, the product comprising instructions for:

dividing a first map image obtained from a map widget into sections wherein the first map image is displayed by the processing system;

recording the location each marker to be represented in a second map image;

calculating a weight factor for each section wherein the weight factor is proportional to the number of markers to be represented in each section;

moving and deforming each section according to the weight factor of each section to form the second map image wherein at least one section that comprises the location of at least one marker is expanded and at least one section that does not comprise the location of at least one marker is contracted;

placing a new marker on the second map image wherein a size of the new marker is proportional to the number of markers the new marker represents; and

displaying the second map image in place of the first map image.