Embedded Navigation Interface
A navigation interface is embedded in imagery and includes various controls for manipulating the imagery. The controls provide various navigation operations, including but not limited to: rotation, tilt, zoom and 360 degree. In some implementations, one or more controls can be operated to restore the imagery to a predetermined state. Some implementations include a control for providing 360 degree movement of imagery. One or more controls can provide incremental and continuous motion of imagery.
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This application is a continuation application of and claims priority to U.S. application Ser. No. 11/442,227, filed on May 26, 2006, the entire contents of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
TECHNICAL FIELDThe disclosed implementations are generally related to user interfaces for computer graphics systems.
BACKGROUNDDramatic improvements in computer processing power and broadband streaming technology have lead to the development of interactive three-dimensional (3D) computer graphics for navigating imagery (e.g., 3D map imagery). Interactive 3D computer graphics typically provide a user interface (UI) with navigation controls for dynamically navigating imagery. The navigation controls enable the user to tilt, pan, rotate and zoom the imagery at a point of interest.
Conventional navigation controls are often located on a tool bar in the UI which is separate from the image display area. Having the navigation controls located at a different location in the UI than the imagery can consume screen space which could be otherwise used for providing additional UI functionality, advertising and the like. Moreover, having the navigation controls separate from the imagery can force the user to take their eyes off the imagery while navigating.
Conventional navigation controls may only allow the user to make incremental movements through the imagery by continuously clicking a navigation control. While such navigation controls are adequate for navigating small areas within the navigation environment, when used to navigate larger areas these tools can be tedious to use. Moreover, when the user has navigated to a new state, conventional navigation controls fail to provide a way to restore the imagery to its initial state. This deficiency forces the user to restore the initial state by re-entering the location or coordinates of the point of interest.
SUMMARYThe deficiencies described above are overcome by the disclosed implementations of an embedded navigation interface.
In some implementations, a method of navigating imagery includes: providing a user interface for presentation on a display device, the user interface including a display area for presenting imagery; and providing a navigation interface overlying the imagery, the navigation interface including a rotation control for continuously rotating the imagery in the display area in response to a user interaction with the control.
In some implementations, a method of navigating imagery includes: providing a user interface for presentation on a display device, the user interface including a display area for presenting imagery; and providing a navigation interface overlying the imagery, the navigation interface including a rotation control in the shape of a wheel, the wheel including a restore mechanism for restoring the imagery to a predetermined state in response to a user interaction with the restore mechanism.
Other implementations of an embedded navigation interface are disclosed that are directed to methods, systems, apparatuses, computer-readable mediums, devices and user interfaces.
When the map tool is launched on the user system, the navigation interface 104 is displayed overlying the imagery 102. The navigation interface 104 can be initially located anywhere in the imagery 102 based on a preset location, which can be changed by the user through a user interface element (e.g., preference pane, menu, etc.). In some implementations, the user can click and drag the navigation interface 104 to any location in the imagery 102. The navigation interface 104 can be made semi-translucent to allow the imagery 102 to be viewed by the user through the navigation interface 104. In some implementations, the navigation interface can be resized by clicking on a portion (e.g., a handle) of the navigation interface 104 with, for example, a mouse cursor 106 and dragging the handle across the imagery 102 using known techniques for resizing graphical objects in a UI.
The navigation interface 104 includes a rotation control 108 for rotating the imagery 102 about an axis that is perpendicular to the imagery 102. The axis can be located at the location of interest, which in this example is the center of the imagery 102. A bounding box 110 or other visual cue can be displayed around the location of interest to orientate the user. In the example shown, the user clicked and dragged the rotation control 108 counterclockwise by about 45 degrees from its initial orientation, as indicated by the position of thumb 112. The thumb 112 acts as a North direction indicator and provides North restore functionality, as described in reference to
In some implementations, when the user moves over the hotspot, the compass 114 (or other computer graphic) can be animated to transition to the navigation interface 104. For example, the ring of the compass 114 can be animated to grow into the rotation control 108 of the navigation interface 104, and the other controls (e.g., the tilt and zoom controls) can fade-in to the navigation interface 104. Other types of animation transitions are possible.
Other graphical objects can be used in place of the compass 114 or in combination with the compass 114 for providing directional information to the user when the navigation interface 104 is not active.
Navigation ControlsIn the example shown, the rotation control 302 is in the shape of a wheel. The rotation control 302 can be used to rotate imagery either clockwise or counterclockwise about an axis perpendicular to the imagery and centered at the location of interest. The user rotates imagery by clicking on any portion of the rotation control 302 and dragging the cursor to affect the rotation. The rotation control 302 allows the user to rotate smoothly in all directions without incremental stops. In some implementations, the rotation control 302 includes “sticky” points at North, South, East and West to help the user hit an exact target orientation. For example, if the user cannot accurately target quarter angle positions (90°, 180°, 270°, 360°, dragging the rotation control 302 to a position close to the target quarter angle position causes the rotation control 302 to jump or “stick” to the target quarter angle position. The user experiences a “bump” in the ring movement at these points and can elect to “drop” the ring position within the bump, i.e., dropping the ring position into the target quarter angle position. The “sticky” point feature can also be applied to other controls in the navigation interface 104, as desired. The rotation control 302 includes a thumb 310, which provides a North direction reference and North restore functionality, as described in reference to
The tilt control 304 is used to tilt the imagery up or down. In some implementations, the tilt control 304 includes a slider 304b and slider ends 304a and 304c. The user can tilt the imagery up or down by clicking and dragging the slider 304b between slider ends 304a and 304c. For example, moving the slider 304b towards slider end 304c tilts the imagery down and moving the slider 304b towards slider end 304a tilts the imagery up. In some implementations, single clicking the slider ends 304a, 304c, causes the imagery to be incrementally tilted up or down through a predetermined tilt range (e.g., 0-90 degrees), until the user ceases clicking or a predetermined tilt limit is reached. If the user clicks (e.g., double clicks) or clicks and holds the slider ends 304a, 304c, the imagery is continuously and smoothly tilted through the tilt range without further user interaction until the predetermined tilt limit is reached or until the continuous tilting motion is terminated by the user. The user can terminate the continuous tilting motion by clicking (e.g., single clicking) anywhere in the imagery or the navigation interface 104. For example, a continuous tilting operation can be cancelled with a single click on the tilt control 304 or other control (e.g., rotation control 302, zoom control 306, etc.) in the navigation interface 104. Other forms of tilt controls can be provided with incremental and continuous tilting capability, as desired (e.g., dials, knobs, etc.).
Referring again to
Referring again to
The navigation interface 104 can include a joystick 312 to allow 360 degree movement of imagery using an input device. The user can click and hold the joystick control 312, then move the joystick 312 to affect 360 degree movement of the imagery. In some implementations, the speed of the moving imagery is a function of the amount of deflection of the joystick control 312 from its rest position. The smaller the deflection the slower the speed of movement. In some implementations, the motion of the joystick control 312 is married to the button controls 308a-308d, so that the joystick control 312 moves in tandem with the button controls 308a-308d. Thus, if a user interacts with the button controls 308a-308d, the user will “discover” the joystick control 312 by observing its motion in response to interaction with the button controls 308a-308d.
Restore FunctionalityIf the input is a restore request (504), the imagery is restored to a predetermined state (506) and the workflow returns to step (502). Otherwise, the workflow continues to step (508). If a request to move the imagery continuously is received (508), then the imagery is moved continuously (512) until the continuous motion is terminated by the user or a predetermined limit is reached (514). For example, if the user 2-clicks the side buttons 304a or 304b of the tilt control 304, the imagery will be tilted in a continuous motion, until a predetermined limit is reached or the user 1-clicks anywhere in the imagery. If a request to move the imagery continuously is not received (508), then the imagery is incremented by a predetermined amount (510). For example, each time the user 1-clicks a side button 304a, 304b, of the tilt control 304 the imagery is incremented by a predetermined amount.
Image processing and Delivery System
In some implementations, the system 600 includes a preproduction phase and a production phase. The preproduction phase includes an ingestion process 602 and a blending process 604. The ingestion process 602 performs various image processing on raw imagery, including but not limited: to re-projection, tile generation, coverage and blend mask generation and multi-resolution image and mask pyramid generation, etc.
In some implementations, the blending process 604 orders and blends together processed images generated by the ingestion process 602. The blended image products are made available to datacenters 610 through a file system 606 and a delivery channel 608. The preproduction phase can be implemented using mass parallelization techniques.
In a production phase, one or more datacenters 610 retrieve the image products from the file system 606 and deliver the image products to user devices 612 through a network 614 (e.g., Internet, intranet, Ethernet, wireless network, etc.). The image products can include imagery and associated meta-data for one or more locations on the Earth. An exemplary file system 606 can be Google Inc.'s Global File System (GFS), as described in Ghemawat, Sanjay et al., “The Google File System,” Association For Computing Machinery (ACM), 19th Symposium On Operating System Principles (SOSP), Oct. 19-22, 2003, Lake George, N.Y., which article is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
User devices 612 can be any electronic device capable of displaying a map, including but not limited to: personal computers (portable or desktop), mobile phones, smart phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), game consoles, high definition televisions, set-top boxes, navigation systems (e.g., global positioning system (GPS)), avionics displays, etc. The system 600 is exemplary and other configurations and arrangements for image processing and delivery are possible. For example, the ingestion and blending processes could be performed in the datacenters. Also, imagery and meta-data could be provided to the datacenters 610 by different sources.
User System ArchitectureThe term “computer-readable medium” refers to any medium that participates in providing instructions to a processor 702 for execution, including without limitation, non-volatile media (e.g., optical or magnetic disks), volatile media (e.g., memory) and transmission media. Transmission media includes, without limitation, coaxial cables, copper wire and fiber optics. Transmission media can also take the form of acoustic, light or radio frequency waves.
The computer-readable medium 712 further includes an operating system 716 (e.g., Mac OS®, Windows®, Linux, etc.), a network communication module 618 and a 3D mapping client 720. The 3D mapping client 720 further includes a system manager 722 and a display engine 724. The system manager 722 communicates with the display engine 724 and the operating system 716 to present the UI 100 and navigation interface 104 on the one or more display devices 704 (
The embedded navigation interface, including the various controls, can be implemented using commercial software development tools, such as QT v3.35, developed by TrollTech® (Palo Alto, Calif.).
The operating system 716 can be multi-user, multiprocessing, multitasking, multithreading, real-time and the like. The operating system 716 performs basic tasks, including but not limited to: recognizing input from input devices 710; sending output to display devices 704; keeping track of files and directories on computer-readable mediums 712 (e.g., memory or a storage device); controlling peripheral devices (e.g., disk drives, printers, GPUs 706, etc.); and managing traffic on the one or more buses 714. The network communications module 718 includes various components for establishing and maintaining network connections (e.g., software for implementing communication protocols, such as TCP/IP, HTTP, Ethernet, etc.).
Various modifications may be made to the disclosed implementations and still be within the scope of the following claims.
Claims
1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:
- presenting a user interface on a display device, the user interface including a display area for presenting imagery, the imagery showing a first map view of a geographic area;
- providing a navigation control overlaying the imagery;
- receiving a user input directed to a pre-determined portion of the navigation control; and
- in response to the user input, continuously reorienting the imagery in the display area such that the imagery shows a second, different map view of the geographic area.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the navigation control includes a rotation control and the predetermined portion of the navigation control is a direction indicating portion on the rotation control.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein continuously reorienting the imagery comprises:
- continuously rotating the imagery and the direction indicator synchronously in the display area such that the imagery shows the second map view of the geographic area and that the direction indicator indicates the predetermined compass direction associated with the imagery.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the navigation control includes a tilt control and the predetermined portion of the navigation control is a portion of the tilt control.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein the tilt control includes a slider and the predetermined portion of the navigation control is an end portion of the slider.
6. The method of claim 5, wherein continuously reorienting the imagery comprises:
- continuously tilting the imagery in response to the user input directed to the end portion of the tilt control.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the navigation control includes button controls for moving the imagery up, down, left, and right in the display area, and the predetermined portion of the navigation control is one of the button controls.
8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:
- continuously moving the imagery in response to the user input directed to the one of the button controls.
9. A computer-implemented method, comprising:
- presenting a user interface on a display device, the user interface including a display area for presenting imagery, the imagery showing a first map view of a geographic area;
- providing a direction indicator overlaying the imagery, the direction indicator indicates a predetermined compass direction associated with the imagery;
- receiving a user input directed to the direction indicator; and
- in response to the user input, reoriented the imagery and the direction indicator synchronously in the display area such that the imagery shows a second map view of the geographic area and that the direction indicator indicates the predetermined compass direction associated with the imagery.
10. The method of claim 9, wherein the direction indicator indicates the North direction associated with the imagery.
11. The method of claim 9, wherein the first map view of the geographic area is a view toward the horizon.
12. The method of claim 9, wherein the first map view of the geographic area is a bird's eye view.
13. The method of claim 9, wherein the display device is coupled to a navigation system and the user interface provides a visual cue around a location of interest on the imagery.
14. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions, which, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to perform the operations of:
- presenting a user interface on a display device, the user interface including a display area for presenting imagery, the imagery showing a first map view of a geographic area;
- providing a navigation control overlaying the imagery;
- receiving a user input directed to a pre-determined portion of the navigation control; and
- in response to the user input, continuously reorienting the imagery in the display area such that the imagery shows a second, different map view of the geographic area.
15. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions, which, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to perform the operations of:
- presenting a user interface on a display device, the user interface including a display area for presenting imagery, the imagery showing a first map view of a geographic area;
- providing a direction indicator overlaying the imagery, the direction indicator indicates a predetermined compass direction associated with the imagery;
- receiving a user input directed to the direction indicator; and
- in response to the user input, reoriented the imagery and the direction indicator synchronously in the display area such that the imagery shows a second map view of the geographic area and that the direction indicator indicates the predetermined compass direction associated with the imagery.
16. A system comprising:
- one or more processors;
- memory coupled to the one or more processors and operable for storing instructions, which, when executed by the one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform operations, comprising:
- presenting a user interface on a display device, the user interface including a display area for presenting imagery, the imagery showing a first map view of a geographic area;
- providing a navigation control overlaying the imagery;
- receiving a user input directed to a pre-determined portion of the navigation control; and
- in response to the user input, continuously reorienting the imagery in the display area such that the imagery shows a second, different map view of the geographic area.
17. A system comprising:
- one or more processors;
- memory coupled to the one or more processors and operable for storing instructions, which, when executed by the one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform operations, comprising: presenting a user interface on a display device, the user interface including a display area for presenting imagery, the imagery showing a first map view of a geographic area; providing a direction indicator overlaying the imagery, the direction indicator indicates a predetermined compass direction associated with the imagery; receiving a user input directed to the direction indicator; and in response to the user input, reoriented the imagery and the direction indicator synchronously in the display area such that the imagery shows a second map view of the geographic area and that the direction indicator indicates the predetermined compass direction associated with the imagery.
Type: Application
Filed: Mar 4, 2010
Publication Date: Jun 24, 2010
Applicant: GOOGLE INC. (Mountain View, CA)
Inventors: Beth Ellyn O'Mullan (Danville, CA), John Rohlf (Truckee, CA), Audrey Kaplan (Redwood City, CA)
Application Number: 12/717,890
International Classification: G06F 3/048 (20060101);