VISIBILITY OF A POINT OF INTEREST BASED ON ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS

• US 20150347458A1
• Filed: 06/01/2014
• Published: 12/03/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 06/01/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Hong, Zhiqing, Arora, Siddhartha, Kiritsev, Vasily
• Granted Patent: US 9,805,058 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3679 Retrieval, searching and output of POI information, e.g. hotels, restaurants, shops, filling stations, parking facilities G01C21/3611 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3811 Point data, e.g. Point of Interest [POI]
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3867 Geometry of map features, e.g. shape points, polygons or for simplified maps
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3881 Tile-based structures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/245 Query processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/248 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/29 Geographical information databases

Abstract

Architecture having an algorithm that computes visible structures for a user within a distance defined by one or more environmental conditions. An environmental condition such as reduced visibility due to a weather condition such as rain, fog, etc., can be used to define a radius about the user in which possible points of interest (POIs) can be identified as viewable based on current weather visibility data. The altitude of the user is considered when identifying the possible POIs. The user is more likely capable of viewing other structures as POIs when the user is at a higher altitude. If the user is known to be standing on a ridge overlooking a city, this information can be processed by the algorithm to then show more POIs relative to this elevated user location than if the user was at approximately zero altitude. A sight map is generated based on these considerations.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

a view analysis component configured to assess visibility of a point of interest (POI) relative to an observation point, the view analysis component computes a visibility distance from the observation point based on environmental visibility data and geographical location data of the observation point; and

at least one microprocessor configured to execute computer-executable instructions in a memory associated with the view analysis component.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the view analysis component generates a visibility perimeter relative to the observation point and based on the environmental visibility data.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the view analysis component generates tiles throughout an area defined by the visibility perimeter and processes contributions of structures associated with the tiles in the area.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the view analysis component configures tile footprint dimensions based on accuracy and performance.

5. The system of claim 3, wherein the view analysis component processes tiles that intersect a target line for visibility, the target line drawn in association with the observation point and a target tile.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the view analysis component computes tile heights of corresponding structures associated with the tiles along the target line.

7. The system of claim 1, further comprising a presentation component configured to generate a sight map that presents the POI relative to the observation point.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the environmental visibility data is weather visibility data derived from weather conditions information.

9. A method, comprising acts of:

receiving geolocation information and environmental conditions information of a geographical observation point of a user;

obtaining altitude information of the observation point;

defining a visibility limit perimeter about the observation point based on the environmental conditions information;

generating geometric tiles about the observation point relative to the visibility limit perimeter; and

identifying a visible object within the visibility limit perimeter based on tile dimensions.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising presenting the visible object on a geographical map to the user for viewing.

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising identifying whether a specific point-of-interest queried by the user is visible from the observation point based on the environmental conditions information, which is weather visibly information.

12. The method of claim 9, further comprising identifying all visible objects within the visibility perimeter and presenting the visible objects to a user via a multi-dimensional sight map.

13. The method of claim 9, further comprising configuring dimensions of the tiles according to footprint area.

14. The method of claim 9, further comprising configuring dimensions of the tile based on accuracy for a geographical area associated with the observation point.

15. The method of claim 9, further comprising computing the altitude information to include elevation of the observation point relative to sea level and height of a structure from which the user views the visible object.

16. A computer-readable storage medium comprising computer-executable instructions that when executed by a microprocessor, cause the microprocessor to perform acts of:

receiving geolocation, altitude information, and weather visibility information of a geographical observation point of a user;

defining a visibility limit perimeter about the observation point based on the weather visibility information;

generating tiles associated with the observation point relative to the visibility limit perimeter; and

identifying visible objects within the visibility limit perimeter based on tile dimensions.

17. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, further comprising presenting a multi-dimensional sight map that shows the user and the visible objects as commonly-known structures in the visibility limit perimeter.

18. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, further comprising processing the tiles to compute visibly connected tiles of a target tile currently being processed relative to the observation point.

19. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, further comprising marking processed tiles to eliminate the processed tiles from further processing.

20. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, further comprising computing the altitude information to include elevation of the observation point relative to sea level and height of a structure from which the user views the visible object.