System and method for stitching of video for routes

• US 7,688,229 B2
• Filed: 04/30/2007
• Issued: 03/30/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 04/30/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: HERE Global B.V. (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Navteq North America LLC (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Lynch, James, Sula, Nicholas, Kohlmeyer, Bradley, Seegers, Peter, Gale, William
• Primary Examiner(s): La; Anh V
• Application Number:
  US11/796,789
• Publication Number:
  US 20080266142A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,065 Days
• Field of Search: 340/995.13, 340/995.17, 340/995.1, 340/995.14, 340/995.15, 340/995.18, 340/995.19, 340/995.2, 701/211, 701/200, 701/208, 701/207, 715/726, 715/716, 382/104, 382/156, 348/143, 348/113
• US Class Current: 340/995.17
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3647 Guidance involving output of stored or live camera images or video streams

Abstract

A system and method are disclosed for displaying video on a computing device for navigation and other purposes. A map database developer collects video data. The video data is collected by traveling along roads in a geographic area and storing the video data along with data indicating the positions at which the video data had been captured. This captured video data is then used in navigation systems and other devices that provide navigation, routing, video games, or other features. An application forms a video that shows a turn at an intersection from a first road onto a second road. The application adds video that depicts travel away from the intersection along the second road to video that depicts travel into the intersection along the first road to form a composite video that shows a turn at the intersection from the first road onto the second road. The composite video is then presented to a user on a display.

Claims

1. A method for forming a video that shows a turn at an intersection from a first road onto a second road, the method comprising the steps of:

selecting video that depicts travel into the intersection along the first road;

selecting video that depicts travel away from the intersection along the second road;

adding the video that depicts travel away from the intersection along the second road to the video that depicts travel into the intersection along the first road to form the video that shows the turn at the intersection from the first road onto the second road; and

performing a video wiping step when presenting a transition between the video that depicts travel into the intersection along the first road and the video that depicts travel away from the intersection along the second road, wherein the video wiping step includes gradually replacing, alone a moving spatial boundary, a video frame of the video that depicts travel into the intersection with a video frame of the video that depicts travel away from the intersection.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

rotating an orientation of at least a portion of one said videos into the turn.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the video that depicts travel into the intersection along the first road had been collected while traveling straight though the intersection.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the video that depicts travel away from the intersection along the second road had been collected while traveling straight through the intersection.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the video that depicts travel away from the intersection along the second road had been collected while traveling straight through the intersection.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

displaying the video that shows the turn at the intersection from the first road onto the second road.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the video is displayed on a computing platform.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the computing platform is carried by a pedestrian.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein step of adding is performed by a stitching application.

10. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

performing a video fading step when presenting a transition between the video that depicts travel into the intersection along the first road and the video that depicts travel away from the intersection along the second road.

11. A method for displaying video that shows a turn at an intersection from a first road onto a second road, wherein the first road extends through the intersection in a first direction and the second road extends through the intersection in a second direction different from the first direction, the method comprising the steps of:

selecting a first set of one or more video frames that had been captured while traveling straight through the intersection along the first road;

selecting a second set of one or more video frames that had been captured while traveling straight through the intersection along the second road;

adding the second set to the first set to form the video; and

displaying the video including zooming in on a first video frame of the video until it matches a vantage point of a second video frame of the video.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the first set of one or more video frames correspond to positions leading up to the intersection and the second set of one or more video frames correspond to positions leading away from the intersection.

13. The method of claim 11 further comprising:

rotating an orientation of one or more of said video frames.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein said rotating is in a direction of the turn.

15. The method of claim 13 wherein said rotating is applied to at least that video frame of the first set that had been captured at a position closest to the intersection.

16. The method of claim 13 wherein said rotating is applied to at least that video frame of the second set that had been captured at a position closest to the intersection.

17. A method for forming a pedestrian video that shows a turn from a first road onto a second road, wherein the first road and the second road meet at an intersection, the method comprising the steps of:

adding video that shows travel away from the intersection along the second road to video that shows travel along the first road up to the intersection to form the pedestrian video, the video that shows travel away from the intersection and the video that shows travel along the first road stored on a computer-readable storage medium,

wherein the video that shows travel along the first road was captured at a different time than the video that shows travel along the second road, and wherein the video that shows travel along the first road and the video that shows travel along the second road were captured by a pedestrian.

18. A method for forming a video that shows a turn from a first road onto a second road, wherein the first road and the second road meet at an intersection, the method comprising the steps of:

adding video that shows travel away from the intersection along the second road to video that shows travel along the first road up to the intersection to form the video that shows the turn; and

performing a video fading step when presenting a transition between the video that shows travel along the first road up to the intersection and the video that shows travel away from the intersection along the second road, the video fading step including gradually making a video frame of the video that shows travel away from the intersection become less translucent over a video frame of the video that shows travel along the first road up to the intersection,

wherein the video that shows travel along the first road was captured while traveling straight through the intersection and the video that shows travel along the second road was captured while traveling straight through the intersection.

19. A method of collecting and modifying video data that shows travel along roads, the method comprising:

capturing a first video while traveling along a first road straight through an intersection;

capturing a second video while traveling away from the intersection along a second road;

determining positions at which the first video and the second video were captured; and

storing the first video and the second video along with respective data indicating the positions at which the first video and the second video were captured on a computer-readable storage medium,

wherein the first video is 360°

panoramic video and the second video is 360°

panoramic video, and wherein an image in the first video is modified using the second video.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein the video is associated with data entities that represent the roads.

21. A system for displaying video that depicts maneuvers at intersections comprising:

a database containing data that represents roads;

video data that depicts travel along the roads straight through intersections along the roads;

a stitching application that adds a portion of the video data that depicts travel leading away from an intersection to another portion of the video data that depicts travel up to an intersection to depict a turn at the intersection, wherein the stitching application removes an image object in the portion of the video data that depicts travel leading away from the intersection using the portion of the video data that depicts travel up to the intersection.

22. The system of claim 21 wherein the video data had been previously obtained from a video camera mounted to a data collection vehicle being driven along roads.