Abstract: Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for identifying an image for an entity. In one aspect, a method includes identifying a set of resources. Each resource can include at least one image and reference at least one entity. Each image is assigned to a particular entity based on an overall entity scores for the image relative to the entities. The overall entity score for an image and an entity can specify a measure of topical relatedness between the image and the entity. For each individual entity referenced by at least one of the resources, a group of images that have been assigned to the individual entity is identified. An image evocative of each individual entity is selected from the group based on image rank scores. The image rank score for an image can be determined based on visual characteristics of the image.

Abstract: A computer-implemented technique includes obtaining training electronic messages, identifying name context in the training electronic messages, and determining patterns from the name context. The technique can include applying the patterns to the training electronic messages to extract candidate names and selecting a set of the patterns based on the extracted candidate names to obtain a set of patterns. In some implementations, the technique can further include applying the set of patterns to electronic messages associated with a first user having a registered profile, extracting candidate names, and selecting a set of alternate names for the first user from the candidate names. The technique can also include detecting a use of one alternate name from the set of alternate names by a second user, and outputting a suggestion to the second user in response to the detecting, the suggestion being based on the registered profile of the first user.

Abstract: A system may provide, via a user interface, information identifying two or more of trending search-related information, trending video-related information, trending image-related information, or trending news-related information. The two or more of the trending search-related information, the trending video-related information, the trending image-related information, or the trending news-related information are visually presented as graphical items. Each graphical item, of the graphical items, is visually identified as corresponding to the trending search-related information, the trending video-related information, the trending image-related information, or the trending news-related information. The user interface presents multiple graphical items simultaneously. The system may further receive information identifying a topic, and provide, based on receiving the information identifying the topic, a subsequent group of graphical items, on the user interface.

Abstract: Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for receiving user input specifying a location and a threshold time; determining, based on the specified location and the threshold time, a first reachable area, first transport hubs located within the first reachable area, and respective first shortest times for reaching the first transport hubs from the specified location; determining, for each of the first transport hubs, and based on the threshold time and the respective first shortest times, second transport hubs that are reachable from the specified location, and respective second shortest times for reaching the second transport hubs from the specified location; determining, for each of the second transport hubs, and based on the threshold time and the respective second shortest times, respective second reachable areas; determining a combined reachable area; and providing data describing the combined reachable area for display.

Abstract: Systems, methods, and computer storage mediums are provided for creating a scene scan from a group of photographic images. An exemplary method includes determining a set of common features for at least one pair of photographic images. The features include a portion of an object captured in each of a first and a second photographic image included in the pair. The first and second photographic images may be captured from different optical centers. A similarity transform for the at least one pair of photographic images is the determined. The similarity transform is provided in order to render the scene scan from each pair of photographic images. At least one of the rotation factor, the scaling factor, or the translation factor associated with the similarity transform is used to position each pair of photographic images such that the set of common features between a pair of, at least in part, align.

Abstract: A system and computer-implemented method for associating images with semantic entities and providing search results using the semantic entities. An image database contains one or more source images associated with one or more images labels. A computer may generate one or more documents containing the labels associated with each image. Analysis may be performed on the one or more documents to associate the source images with semantic entities. The semantic entities may be used to provide search results. In response to receiving a target image as a search query, the target image may be compared with the source images to identify similar images. The semantic entities associated with the similar images may be used to determine a semantic entity for the target image. The semantic entity for the target image may be used to provide search results in response to the search initiated by the target image.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus for providing leaf pages as sublinks for a webpage in response to a search query. A search query may be received from a user and search results obtained based on the search query. A plurality of leaf pages associated with a webpage of the search results may be identified. The webpage may be provided as a main search result to the search query and sublinks to the leaf pages may be provided as sublinks of the main search result. At least one category of the leaf pages may be identified and the sublinks to the leaf pages may be sorted according to a sorting scheme of the category.

Abstract: Aspects of the present disclosure relate to controlling the functions of various devices based on spatial relationships. In one example, a system may include a depth and visual camera and a computer (networked or local) for processing data from the camera. The computer may be connected (wired or wirelessly) to any number of devices that can be controlled by the system. A user may use a mobile device to define a location in space relative to the camera. The location in space may then be associated with a controlled device as well as one or more control commands. When the location in space is subsequently occupied, the one or more control commands may be used to control the controlled device. In this regard, a user may switch a device on or off, increase volume or speed, etc. simply by occupying the location in space.

Abstract: Disclosed here are methods and systems that relate to determining an orientation of an object. The orientation of the object may be represented by an Euler angle which identifies a rotation of the object from a reference frame. The methods and systems may rely on readings collected from two or more barometric pressure sensors to estimate an altitude difference between the pressure sensors. The methods and systems may calculate the Euler angle based on the altitude difference.

Abstract: Systems and methods are disclosed for using geographic coordinates on a physical map. The system may include a mobile device having a processor and a display, where the processor receives a first input that instructs a camera to capture a digital image of a physical map. The mobile device may then display the digital image of the physical map. The mobile device may further receive a second input from a user interface, where the second input identifies a first location on the digital image of the physical map. The first location may be associated with an image pixel coordinate, and the mobile device may obtain a geographic coordinate based on this image pixel coordinate. The mobile device may then determine a transformation matrix based on the image pixel and geographic coordinates. Using the determined transformation matrix, the mobile device may determine further image pixel coordinates based on received geographic coordinates.

Abstract: A computer-implemented method of organizes photographs for display on an on-line map by selecting from a plurality of photographs a candidate set of photographs based on scores of the photographs, determining clusters from the selected photographs for display on the on-line map.

Abstract: A system and a computer implemented method for providing a business with reputation data, the method including receiving a request to provide a business with competitor analytics regarding the business, identifying one or more competitors of the business, where each of the one or more competitors of the business include a business, collecting from one or more reputation data sources reputation data corresponding to the business, generating review metrics regarding the business based on the reputation data corresponding to the business, collecting from the one or more reputation data sources reputation data corresponding to the one or more competitors, generating review metrics regarding the one or more competitors based on the reputation data corresponding to the business and providing the review metrics regarding the business and the review metrics regarding the one or more competitors for display in response to the request.

Abstract: Systems and methods for calibrating a navigation heading are provided. A client device may display navigation information to a user. The client device may display a floor plan of a building with a navigation route superimposed on the floor plan. The client device may also display a video as received from a camera with the navigation route superimposed on the video. By displaying the route on the captured imagery, the client device may direct the user along the route without the user having knowledge of the direction in which they are facing when beginning the route. As the user travels along the route, the heading by which the client device directs the user may grow increasingly inaccurate. Therefore, the client device may include an interface to allow the user to recalibrate the heading (e.g., by straightening a displayed path) to ensure that an accurate navigation path is displayed.

Abstract: Embodiments include a computer-implemented method that includes receiving, from a mobile user device configured to acquire images, a request to update a panoramic image, identifying a location associated with a panoramic image, guiding a user to the location associated with the panoramic image, receiving, from the mobile user device, an image acquired at or near the location associated with the panoramic image, updating the panoramic image to include the image acquired at or near the location associated with the panoramic image to generate an updated panoramic image, and storing the updated panoramic image in association with the location.

Abstract: Systems, methods, and computer storage mediums are provided for linking scene scans. A method includes creating a first scene scan from a first group of photographic images. The first scene scan is created by aligning a set of common features captured between at least two photographic images in the first group, where the at least two photographic images in the first group may each be captured from a different optical center. The set of common features is aligned based on a similarity transform determined between the at least two photographic images. An area of at least one photographic image in the first group is then defined, at least in part, based on a user selection. A second scene scan is linked with the area defined in the at least one photographic image in the first group, where the second scene scan is created from a second group of photographic images.

Abstract: Embodiments disclosed herein relate to synthesis of road elevation values. An embodiment includes traversing one or more road paths from a point in a road network model to identify intersections of the traversed road paths with terrain elevation values in an elevation model corresponding to the road network model, and interpolating an elevation value for the point using elevation values associated with the identified intersections, where the traversing and the interpolating are performed for each point on the road network model. In an embodiment, the interpolating can be performed when the point's elevation value is unavailable in the elevation model due to one or more non-terrain features overlapping the point and preventing measurement of the point's elevation value.

Abstract: Client-side and server-side methods and apparatuses for displaying, proximate a map viewport, a sidebar having information corresponding to features depicted within the map viewport. In an example, a method includes receiving into a processor one or more map tiles for use in displaying a geographic region in a map viewport of the map display interface, where at least one map tile includes one or more depicted map features of the geographic region. The method further includes receiving, for each of the one or more received map tiles, a corresponding map data tile including associated data for each depicted map feature. The method also includes causing the one or more map tiles to be displayed in the map viewport and causing at least a portion of the associated data for each of the depicted map features determined to be within the map viewport to be displayed in a sidebar associated with the map viewport.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus related to obtaining search related structured data from a user. A user submitted update instruction may identify at least one URL and provide access to associated user supplied search related structured data. An associated record in a database may be modified by including the user supplied search related structured data in the record. The record is related to the URL and the database may be a structured data database associated with a search engine.

Abstract: Provided is a process of updating a listing of businesses by detecting that a business has closed, the process including: obtaining interaction time-series data identifying when users interacted with data about a business; calculating a baseline rate of user interactions with the data about the businesses based on the interaction time-series data; detecting a decrease in the rate of user interactions with the data about the business based on baseline rate and the interaction time series data in response to the detected decrease, transmitting a message to the business requesting confirmation that the business is still open; and detecting that a time has passed without the requested confirmation and, in response, removing the business from a business listing or otherwise indicating in the listing that the business is dosed.

Abstract: At least one embodiment takes the form of a computing device comprising a processor and a data storage comprising instructions that, if executed by the processor, cause the computing device to present a transition region and one or more input regions. Each input region comprises a respective symbol. The computing device further detects a movement through the transition region (i) originating from a first input region and (ii) exceeding a threshold movement. The computing device then receives an indication comprising the first-input-region symbol.