Providing Maneuver Indicators on a Map

• US 20140365114A1
• Filed: 11/15/2013
• Published: 12/11/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 06/09/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: van Os, Marcel, Bray, Cdric, Hu, Yaohua, Lindkvist, Elisabeth, Lindberg, Adrian, McGavran, Christine B., Chen, Billy P.
• Granted Patent: US 9,500,494 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/428
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3632 Guidance using simplified or iconic instructions, e.g. using arrows G01C21/365 takes precedence
• 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 21/3676 Overview of the route on the road map

Abstract

For a device that runs a mapping application, a method for providing maneuver indicators along a route of a map. The maneuver indicators are arrows that identify the direction and orientation of a maneuver. A maneuver arrow may be selected and displayed differently from unselected maneuver arrows. Maneuver arrows may be selected automatically based on a user'"'"'s current location. The mapping application transitions between maneuver arrows and provides an animation for the transition. Complex maneuvers may be indicated by multiple arrows, providing a more detailed guidance for a user of the mapping application.

Claims

1. A non-transitory machine readable medium storing a mapping program, the program for execution by at least one processing unit, the program having a graphical user interface (“

GUI”

), the GUI comprising;

a display area for displaying a route on a map; and

a plurality of maneuver indicators associated with a plurality of maneuvers, each maneuver indicator placed along the route at a location of the maneuver associated with the indicator.

2. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 1, wherein each maneuver indicator in the plurality of maneuver indicators begins before a maneuver and ends after the maneuver.

3. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 1, wherein each maneuver indicator provides a visual indication of a direction for its associated maneuver along the route.

4. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 3, wherein the visual indication of the direction for the associated maneuver is an arrow.

5. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 1, wherein the maneuver indicators are positioned above the route.

6. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 1, wherein each maneuver indicator of the plurality of maneuver indicators is a selectable user interface (UI) item.

7. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 6, wherein selection of a maneuver indicator causes it to be displayed differently from the rest of the plurality of maneuver indicators.

8. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 6, wherein the GUI further comprises a location indicator for indicating a location of a user on the map.

9. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 8, wherein the location of a user on the map is used to automatically select a selectable maneuver indicator.

10. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 6, wherein selection of a maneuver indicator displays a maneuver UI item for displaying information regarding the associated maneuver of the selected maneuver indicator.

11. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 10, wherein the maneuver UI item is further for selecting a maneuver indicator associated with the maneuver UI item.

12. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 1, wherein at least two of the maneuver indicators overlap with each other, wherein when two maneuver indicators overlap with each other, the maneuver indicator associated with a maneuver that is nearer to the end of the route will be displayed under the other maneuver indicator.

13. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 1, wherein at least two of the maneuver indicators overlap with each other, wherein the maneuver indicators are selectable, and when one of the overlapping maneuver indicators is selected, the selected maneuver indicator will be displayed above the other maneuver indicator, regardless of where the maneuver associated with the other maneuver indicator is located along the route.

14. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 1, wherein the plurality of maneuver indicators is only shown when a zoom level for the map is within a certain range.

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

displaying a route on a map;

generating a set of maneuver indicators along the route on the map, each maneuver indicator representing a maneuver in a set of maneuvers; and

displaying the set of maneuver indicators along the route on the map.

16. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 15, wherein each maneuver in the set of maneuvers has a defined length along a segment of the route, and the set of instructions for displaying the set of maneuver indicators comprises a set of instructions for extending the maneuver indicators to be longer than the length of the maneuver.

17. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 16, wherein the segment is a first segment, and the set of instructions for displaying an extended maneuver indicator comprises a set of instructions for extending the maneuver indicator from the first segment to a second segment.

18. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 17, wherein the extended maneuver indicator does not end in the middle of an intersection.

19. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 16, wherein the displayed maneuver indicator is an arrow indicating the direction of the maneuver along the route.

20. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 15, wherein the set of instructions for generating the set of maneuver indicators comprises sets of instructions for:

displaying the map on a first mesh layer;

displaying the route on a second mesh layer; and

displaying the set of maneuver indicators on a third mesh layer.

21. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 20, wherein the first mesh layer is displayed below the second mesh layer, and the second mesh layer is displayed below the third mesh layer.

22. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 15, wherein the route comprises a first set of route segments, and the set of instructions for generating the set of maneuver indicators comprises sets of instructions for:

identifying a first maneuver along a first route segment of the first set of route segments;

simplifying the route to generate a simplified route comprising a new second set of route segments; and

based on the identified first maneuver, marking a second maneuver along a second route segment of the second set of route segments.

23. A device comprising:

a display screen;

at least one processing unit; and

a storage storing a mapping program, the program for execution by the processing unit, the program having a graphical user interface (“

GUI”

), the GUI comprising;

a display area for displaying a route on a map; and

a plurality of maneuver indicators associated with a plurality of maneuvers, each maneuver indicator placed along the route at a location of the maneuver associated with the indicator.

24. The device of claim 23, wherein the display screen is a touch screen with a touch input interface for receiving a touch input from the touch input interface.

25. The device of claim 23 further comprising a positioning module for determining a location for the device.

26. The device of claim 25, wherein the maneuver indicators are selectable user interface (UI) items, and the location of the device is used to select a maneuver indicator associated with a next maneuver from the plurality of maneuvers.