TWI426239B - Method of displaying multiple points of interest on a personal navigation device and device thereof - Google Patents

Description

Method and related device for displaying a plurality of points of interest on a personal navigation device

The present invention relates to a method for displaying a plurality of points of interest (POI) in a personal navigation device, and more particularly to a method for displaying a plurality of adjacent points of interest in a distributed manner to form a flower. A method of revolving around a selected location.

The Global Positioning System (GPS)-based navigation device is a well-known device and is widely used in the field of vehicles to provide driver navigation information. A general navigation device has functionality for providing a map repository for displaying navigational indications on a display of the navigation device. The navigation device is usually placed on the dashboard or dashboard of the vehicle in an adsorption mode or other manner.

The term "navigation device" means that a device can provide user navigation information to enable a user to reach a predetermined location. The navigation device can include an internal system (such as a GPS receiver) for receiving location data, or simply a device that can connect to a receiver that can receive location data. The navigation device itself can calculate the route or communicate with a remote server to cause the remote server to calculate the route and provide navigation information to the navigation device. Alternatively, the navigation device may be a mixture of the above two modes, that is, both the navigation device itself and the remote server participate in the process of route calculation. The personal GPS navigation device does not have to be integrated into the vehicle, but can be placed in the vehicle or used in the vehicle. In general (non-essential), a personal GPS navigation device is a fully equipped device, such as an internal GPS antenna, navigation software, and a map to depict and display the desired route of travel.

One of the features of the personal navigation device is the ability to list points of interest in the vicinity. In the suburbs, the points of interest may be scattered far apart and can be easily displayed on the display of the personal navigation device. However, when a personal navigation device travels through an urban area or other area with many nearby points of interest, the points of interest to be displayed may be too close or overlapping due to the large number.

Please refer to Figure 11. Figure 11 is a schematic diagram illustrating the map 400. Map 400 is in a small area containing a number of icons representing points of interest 402. If the user wants to select a point of interest to find more relevant information or receive a navigation instruction to the point of interest, it is quite difficult for the user because there are many icons representing the point of interest clustered together. For example, region 404 on map 400 contains a plurality of points of interest 402 gathered together, making it difficult for a user to resolve points of interest in region 404.

From the above, we can understand that it is very difficult to clearly display on the display of the personal navigation device when a plurality of points of interest are relatively close. In order to solve the above problems, the prior art uses several different means to clearly present information about points of interest to a user of a personal navigation device.

In the prior art, one of the methods of displaying points of interest close to a plurality of locations is to give different types of points of interest to different degrees of priority. For example, office buildings have lower priority and hospitals or sightseeing spots have higher priority. After the priority level is established, the personal navigation device can set to display only points of interest having a priority greater than or equal to a minimum priority. In addition, if there are still many eligible points of interest after setting such display conditions, the personal navigation device can display only the points of interest having the highest priority.

However, the problem of displaying a point of interest in the above manner is that if a plurality of points of interest exist at the same position or in a neighboring position at the same time, displaying a plurality of types of points of interest is still too crowded, in which case only one type can be drawn. The point of interest, that is, the icon representing the point of interest with the highest priority, can be depicted. Another related problem is that if a point of interest is selected as the destination of the user's journey, and the type of the point of interest is not enabled or given a high enough priority, the icon represented by the point of interest remains Cannot be displayed on the map.

In addition, on a general personal navigation device, the user usually cannot narrow down the type of the point of interest to a more suitable range. For example, suppose the user wants to go to the curry house to dine, but the personal navigation device can only provide the "restaurant" classification of interest points, or if the user wants to select a specific brand such as Starbucks, etc., but the personal navigation device However, only the points of interest in the "Coffee Shop" category can be provided.

Other problems arise when the user continues to drive and the area displayed on the map changes. When the viewpoint of the map changes, the relative position and priority of the point of interest also change with time, causing the icons of some points of interest to be displayed, and the icons of some points of interest disappear. This persistent point of interest icon display and disappear will cause user confusion.

Most personal navigation device manufacturers are often designed to display too many points of interest (ie, exceed the user's general needs) to highlight the richness of their content. However, most of the time, users do not need information on many of these points of interest. For example, when a user has a specific need (such as a meal or a withdrawal), a point of interest such as a restaurant or an ATM is required; during normal driving, the user does not need information about the points of interest.

In addition, the user can select one of the specific points of interest displayed on the map to obtain more information about the point of interest. However, if the user's point of interest is not displayed on the map, the user cannot select the point of interest to obtain relevant information. The user may need to zoom in on the map or move around in order to display the point of interest to be displayed on the personal navigation device. This is very troublesome for the user, especially when the user knows the existence of a particular point of interest, but cannot find the particular point of interest on the map of the personal navigation device.

Since the personal navigation device is mostly a touch display screen, it may cause a problem when the user touches a specific location of the plurality of points of interest on the map; in this case, the personal navigation device cannot determine that the user wants to Which point of interest is selected, and thus the detailed information of its location cannot be displayed correctly, causing inconvenience to the user.

The present invention provides a method of displaying a plurality of points of interest on a person navigation device. The method includes displaying, on a display of one of the personal navigation devices, a map; receiving a touch input at an initial position of the display; searching for the plurality of points of interest in an area within a search radius of the initial position; the display is located at the Searching for the plurality of points of interest in the area of the radius, wherein the plurality of points of interest searched are represented by a plurality of corresponding icons, and the plurality of icons and the plurality of points of interest corresponding thereto are on the map Corresponding locations are each connected by a line extending outwardly from the initial position; the plurality of icons surrounding the initial position are dispersed to separate the plurality of icons from each other; The search radius is increased to increase the area within the search radius to an enlarged area and to display additional points of interest in the enlarged area.

The invention further provides a personal navigation device for displaying a plurality of points of interest, the plurality of points of interest being close to each other, comprising a memory, a touch display and a processor. The memory is used to store a map database and the plurality of points of interest. The touch display is used to display a map and to receive a touch input at an initial position of the touch display. The processor is configured to search for the plurality of points of interest in one of the search radii around the initial position, and display the plurality of points of interest in the area within the search radius, wherein the processor searches for the plurality of points of interest The point of interest is represented by a corresponding plurality of icons, and the plurality of icons and corresponding points of the plurality of points of interest on the map are respectively connected by a line, the line being in the initial position Extending outwardly from the center, the plurality of icons are dispersed around the initial position to separate the plurality of icons from each other, and the search radius is gradually increased to increase the area within the search radius to an enlarged area, and Shows additional points of interest in this enlarged area.

Please refer to Figure 1. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a personal navigation device 10 of the present invention. The personal navigation device 10 includes a display 12, a GPS receiver 14, a processor 16, a user interface 18, a speaker 20, and a memory 30. The display 12 can be a touch screen. The GPS receiver 14 is used to receive the current coordinates of the personal navigation device 10. The processor 16 is used to control the operation of the personal navigation device 10. The memory 30 is used to store a map database 32, and the map database 32 contains map data and point of interest data. In addition, the memory 30 also stores the route selection software 34 and the point of interest data 36.

The point of interest data 36 stores a plurality of points of interest, and each point of interest has at least one corresponding point of interest category label. For example, the common types of points of interest are "gas stations", "restaurants", "hotels", etc. In order to easily identify the types of different points of interest, each type of point of interest may also have an icon representing the respective category, such as a bank with a money symbol "$".

Please refer to Figure 2. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a map 110 containing points of interest 116 and 118 and roads 112 and 114. Point of interest 116 corresponds to a landmark, The point of interest 118 corresponds to a sightseeing spot. If the user wants to know more information about the points of interest 116 or 118, the user can touch or select one of the points of interest 116 or 118 on the display to get more relevant information. If the user touches a place on the map that does not contain any points of interest, the personal navigation device 10 automatically searches for nearby points of interest. The present invention only requires the user to make a touch action on the map 110 displayed on the display 12 for operation or selection; the user does not need to use a mouse or other pointing device to operate an indicator to move on the map 110.

Please refer to Figure 3. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating the search for a point of interest within the radius R1 around the initial position 115 in another map 120. Taking the initial position 115 as an example, when the user has not touched the map 120, some or all of the points of interest are hidden and not displayed on the map 120. Presetting the display of points of interest to be hidden can prevent the map 120 from being too messy and improving the clarity of its browsing. Displaying too many points of interest on the map 120 may result in unnecessary distraction of the user while driving. When the user wants to know the point of interest adjacent to an area, the user only needs to touch any position on the display 12; in this embodiment, the position touched by the user on the display 12 is the initial position 115.

When the user touches the initial position 115, the personal navigation device will search for the point of interest in the area 122 within its radius R1 centered around the initial position 115. If a plurality of points of interest are found in the area 122, each point of interest will be represented by a corresponding icon, and each icon is further connected by a line to its corresponding point on the map 120. The icon 130 corresponds to a parking lot located at one of the location points 131. The icon 130 is connected to the location point 131 by a line 132. Other types of icons are additionally included in FIG. 3, for example, icon 133 corresponds to a restaurant, icon 134 corresponds to a golf course, icon 136 corresponds to a museum, icon 138 corresponds to a hospital, and icon 140 corresponds to a visitor consultation center. As shown, the icons 130, 133, 134, 136, 138, 140 each have a corresponding location point and a line connecting the location point to the icon, but in FIG. 3 only the location point 131 corresponding to the icon 130 will be shown. And the line 132 is marked to make the layout neat and convenient to browse.

Please refer to Figure 4. Figure 4 is a schematic diagram showing the map 200 when the user touches the initial position 115. Before the user touches the map 200, the map 200 displays a plurality of roads and road markings. For example, road 204 has its corresponding road marking 202 to indicate that the name of road 204 is "Keda Grand Avenue." Similarly, road 208 also has its corresponding road marking 206 to indicate that the name of road 208 is "Zhongshan South Road". There are also other markers on the map 200, such as one-way street markers, which help the user to distinguish which roads are one-way streets. After the user touches the initial position 115 on the map 200 displayed by the display 12, the display 12 displays the corresponding indicia 117 and line 119, wherein the line 119 is coupled between the indicia 117 and the initial position 115. A cursor will be displayed at the initial position 115 to indicate the location of the corresponding map 220 when the user touches the display 12. In this embodiment, the cursor is a small circle, and may be replaced by other shapes. The indicia 117 is the name that is closest to the initial position 115 in the vicinity of the initial position 115 and the personal navigation device 10 can provide a location for the navigation indication. When the user touches the initial position 115 in the display 12, the personal navigation device 10 searches for a point of interest located within a range of its proximity based on the initial position 115.

Please refer to pictures 5~10. Figure 5 is a schematic diagram showing the search for points of interest in an area 220 within a search radius around the initial position 115 in the map 250. Once found, eligible points of interest will gradually appear on map 250. Figure 6 is a diagram illustrating icons 300, 310, 320, and 330 representing points of interest in map 252. Over time, icons 300, 310, 320, and 330 are also faded out (i.e., the icons gradually become more pronounced) and their positions are adjusted to maintain a predetermined distance between the icons. At the same time, the search radius will gradually increase until it reaches a preset maximum search radius. In a particular embodiment, when the user touches an icon corresponding to a point of interest on the display 12, the action terminates the increase in the search radius and prevents more icons from being displayed on the display 12. The personal navigation device 10 then provides information about the points of interest selected by the user.

In a particular embodiment, the user may also choose to ignore the preset maximum search radius and set the entire map 250 as the search radius region 220. In another embodiment, the preset maximum search radius may vary depending on whether the location of the user is located in an urban area. For example, when the user is located in a country or suburb, the personal navigation device 10 increases the preset maximum search radius to make the search range more extensive. Relatively speaking, when the user is located in the urban area, the smaller preset maximum search radius can be utilized to narrow the search range. In other words, the user can set the preset maximum search radius according to different situations.

Please refer to Figure 7. Figure 7 is a diagram illustrating that the icons 300, 310, 320, and 330 in the map 254 continue to fade out and begin to change their display positions to avoid overlapping each other. As can be seen from the map 252 of Figure 6, the maps 254 of Figure 7 can be seen that the icons 310, 320, and 330 have begun to separate from one another. Please refer to Figure 8. Figure 8 is a schematic diagram showing that the icons 300, 310, 320, and 330 in the map 256 have been fully displayed and correspondingly connected by lines 302, 312, 322, and 332 to the locations 304, 314, 324, and 334 where the icons actually correspond. . As shown, icon 310 is very close to line 322. Therefore, the icons 300, 310, 320, and 330 change their respective positions so that the icons 300, 310, 320, and 330 and the lines 302, 312, 322, and 332 do not intersect, overlap, or are separated by a predetermined distance. Inside. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 8, one or both of the icons 310, 320 may change position to maintain a predetermined distance between the icon 310 and the line 322. The icon can be moved in any direction, but in general, the icon will move radially outward or/and tangentially or laterally with the initial position 115 as the center.

Please refer to Figure 9 and Figure 10. Figure 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating the continued movement of the icon 310 to maintain a distance from the line 322. Figure 10 is a diagram illustrating the final position in which the icons 300, 310, 320, and 330 are changed in the map 260 to maintain a predetermined distance from each other. In general, when the icon is displayed on the map, the distance between the icon and the icon, or the distance between the icon and the line connecting each icon to its corresponding location, or the line connecting each icon to its corresponding location The distance between them is less than a threshold and the icons change position. Collisions or intersections between lines must also be avoided. Therefore, when there is an intersection between the lines connecting the icons to their corresponding places, the positions of the icons corresponding to the intersecting lines can be exchanged by moving the corresponding icons or the icons of the interchanged icons. Reconnect with the line corresponding to the map.

After a predetermined time elapses after the user touches the initial position 115, the icon will disappear from the map; the icon can be set to fade out or disappear directly. If the user is in the icon When an icon is selected in advance, the personal navigation device provides relevant information corresponding to the point of interest of the icon. In a particular embodiment, if the user selects an area without any icon in the display, all icons will disappear to allow the user to clearly view the display.

In summary, the present invention provides a method for clearly displaying a plurality of points of interest even if the distance between points of interest is very close. The icon corresponding to the point of interest is gradually displayed on the display and automatically changed position so that the icons are kept at a certain distance from each other. Therefore, the user can easily browse the points of interest within the set search radius.

The above are only the preferred embodiments of the present invention, and all changes and modifications made to the scope of the present invention should be within the scope of the present invention.

10‧‧‧Personal navigation device

12‧‧‧ display

14‧‧‧GPS Receiver

16‧‧‧ Processor

18‧‧‧User interface

20‧‧‧Speakers

30‧‧‧ memory

32‧‧‧Map Database

34‧‧‧ route selection software

36‧‧‧Points of Interest Information

116, 118‧‧‧ points of interest

112, 114, 204, 208‧‧ ‧ roads

110, 120, 200, 220, 250, 252, 254, 256, 260‧ ‧ map

122, 220‧‧‧ Area

130, 133, 134, 136, 138, 140, 300, 310, 320, 330‧‧‧ icons

131‧‧‧Location

132, 302, 312, 322, 332‧‧‧ lines

115‧‧‧ initial position

117‧‧‧ mark

R1‧‧‧ radius around the initial position

202, 206‧‧‧ road markings

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a schematic diagram showing the personal navigation device of the present invention.

Figure 2 is a schematic diagram showing a map containing points of interest and roads.

Figure 3 is a schematic diagram showing the search for points of interest within the initial location radius in another map.

Figure 4 is a schematic diagram showing the map when the user touches the initial position.

Figure 5 is a schematic diagram showing the search for points of interest in an area within a search radius around the initial position in the map.

Figure 6 is an illustration of an icon representing a point of interest in a map.

Figure 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating that the icons in the map continue to fade out and begin to change their display positions to avoid overlapping each other.

Figure 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating that the icons in the map have been fully displayed and correspondingly connected by lines to the locations where the icons actually correspond.

Figure 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating the continued movement of the icon to maintain a distance from the line.

Figure 10 is a diagram showing the final position where the icons are changed in position in the map so as to maintain a predetermined distance from each other.

Figure 11 is a schematic diagram showing a map containing a number of points of interest in a small area.

120‧‧‧Map

122‧‧‧Area

130, 133, 134, 136, 138, 140‧‧‧ icons

131‧‧‧Location

132‧‧‧ lines

115‧‧‧ initial position

R1‧‧‧ radius around the initial position

Claims (20)

A method for displaying a plurality of points of interest (POI) on a personal navigation device, comprising: displaying a map on a display of one of the personal navigation devices; receiving a touch input at an initial position of the display; Searching for the plurality of points of interest in one of the search locations of the initial position; displaying the plurality of points of interest in the area of the search radius, wherein the plurality of points of interest are searched by the corresponding plurality of icons Representing that the plurality of icons and the corresponding plurality of points of interest on the map are respectively connected by a line extending outward from the initial position; dispersing the initial position The plurality of icons surrounding the plurality of icons to separate the plurality of icons from each other; and gradually increasing the search radius to increase the area within the search radius to an enlarged area, and displaying the additional area in the enlarged area Points of interest. The method of claim 1, further comprising stopping displaying the additional points of interest when the search radius is greater than an upper limit threshold. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying the plurality of icons for a preset time after receiving the touch input at the initial position. The method of claim 1, further comprising stopping displaying the plurality of icons when the touch input is received at another location of the display. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of icons change a position on the map such that the plurality of icons, or the plurality of icons, and lines connecting the icons to corresponding places on the map A minimum separation distance is maintained between the lines connecting the icons to their corresponding locations. The method of claim 5, wherein the plurality of icons move radially outward from the initial position to change the position on the map, and the length of the line connecting the icons to the corresponding place on the map is correspondingly increased. . The method of claim 5, wherein the plurality of icons are moved tangentially to change the position on the map, and the length of the lines connecting the icons to corresponding locations on the map remains unchanged. The method of claim 1 further comprising displaying a flag to indicate a location at the initial location. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving a touch input to select an icon displayed on the map; and displaying information related to the point of interest corresponding to the displayed icon selected by the touch input . The method of claim 1, wherein the different points of interest are represented by different icons. a person navigation device for displaying a plurality of points of interest, the plurality of points of interest being close to each other, comprising: a memory for storing a map database and the plurality of points of interest; and a touch display for displaying one a map and a touch input for receiving an initial position of the touch display; and a processor for searching the plurality of points of interest within one of the search radii around the initial position, the display is located at the Searching for the plurality of points of interest in the area within the radius, wherein the plurality of points of interest searched by the processor are represented by a plurality of corresponding icons, and the plurality of icons and the plurality of points of interest corresponding thereto are Corresponding locations on the map are each connected by a line extending outwardly from the initial position, the plurality of icons being dispersed around the initial position to separate the plurality of icons from each other, and The search radius is gradually increased to increase the area within the search radius to an enlarged area, and to display additional points of interest in the enlarged area The personal navigation device of claim 11, wherein the processor stops displaying additional points of interest when the search radius is greater than an upper threshold. The personal navigation device of claim 11, wherein after the touch display receives the touch input at the initial position, the processor displays only the plurality of icons for a preset time. The personal navigation device of claim 11, further comprising the processor stopping displaying the plurality of icons when the touch input is received at another location of the touch display. The personal navigation device of claim 11, wherein the processor changes the position of the plurality of icons such that the plurality of icons, or the plurality of icons, and the lines connecting the icons to corresponding locations on the map A minimum separation distance is maintained between the lines connecting the icons to their corresponding locations. The personal navigation device of claim 15, wherein the plurality of icons move radially outward from the initial position to change a position on the map, and the length of the line connecting the icons to corresponding places on the map is also The corresponding increase. The personal navigation device of claim 15, wherein the plurality of icons are moved tangentially to change the position on the map, and the length of the line connecting the icons to the corresponding places on the map remains unchanged. The personal navigation device of claim 11, wherein the processor controls the touch display to display a mark to indicate a location at the initial location. The personal navigation device of claim 11, wherein when the touch display receives a touch input to select an icon displayed on the map, the processor provides the touch display to correspond to the touch Touch to enter information about the point of interest of the selected icon of the display. The personal navigation device of claim 11, wherein the different points of interest are represented by different icons.