WO2010064221A2

WO2010064221A2 - User interface to provide easy generation of neighborhood in a map

Info

Publication number: WO2010064221A2
Application number: PCT/IB2009/056025
Authority: WO
Inventors: Srinivas Chervirala
Original assignee: France Telecom
Priority date: 2008-12-06
Filing date: 2009-12-04
Publication date: 2010-06-10
Also published as: WO2010064221A3

Abstract

A method for generating a neighborhood on a map rendered on a Graphical User Interface (GUI), said neighborhood being of a predefined shape, said method comprising the acts of capturing on a sensor panel a first selection of a position of the map, said position defining the neighborhood center, capturing on the sensor panel a second selection of positions of the maps, the second selection comprising a first entry and a last entry of positions, providing neighborhood mapping information, said neighborhood mapping information taking into account the neighborhood center, the last entry of positions, and the predefined shape, and; rendering an update of the GUI comprising a neighborhood overlaid on the map and centered on the neighborhood center, said GUI being based on the neighborhood characteristics.

Description

USERINTERFACETO PROVIDE EASY GENERATION OFNnGHBOREK)OD IN A MAP

EMD OFTHEPRESENTSYSIEM:

The present invention relates to map applications, and more specifically to mapsrendered in giaphicaluserinterfaces.

BACKGROUND OFTHE PRESENTSYSIEVt

Different map (or mapping) applications are available today to bring geographic al information to users. Among these applications, one can find the car navigation applications to guide a vehicle using GPS satellites. Other examples are electronic map information applications such as Google Maps®, Yahoo Maps®, Mapquest®⁾ and the likes. Some of these applications may be coupled to search engines to access local information through queries. For instance, such queries may be provided with keywords for the search and one or more location information, such as e.g. a zip code ora neighborhood, to limit the geographic al extent of the search. The map application will then provide search results (or hits) in the form of a map with indications wherein these search results, such as e.g. business locations provided in response to the query, are available within the give n Io c atio n(s). One way to seek local information is to define a neighborhood on a map, the neighborhood being used for the geographical extent of any subsequent queries for information. Any result that may correspond to the query but outside the neighborhood willnotbe considered as relevant by the map application.

A number of techniques are available to a userto define a neighborhood. A neighborhood may for instance be entered through the simple input of an area name, such as a city, a zip code, a county ... Such a technique is limiting as the user must have an explicitly knowledge of the neighborhood limits and cannot alter these limits.

Another example of neighborhood d e finitio n c o nsists fo r a use r in e nte ring a neighborhood center, like a subway station, monument, zip code, city, street crossing ... and a radius for the neighborhood. The map application will then define the neighborhood as a circle around the entered center. The defined neighborhood may be then displayed on a display device through a graphical user interfac e (GUI). One major problem with such a technique is the lack of interactivity with the user. Indeed the user may not be a ware of the scale of the map displayed on screen and will have to change the neighborhood radius before being satisfied with the neighborhood size. Furthermore with the am^'valof smart phones equipped with touch screens or panels, such a technique does not b e ne fit fro m the flexibility brought in by such touch interfaces.

None of these prior techniques provides a system, method, use r inte rfa c e and device to provide a flexible and interactive neighborhood generation.

StMMAEy OFTHEFRESENTSYSTBVI: It is an object of the present system to overcome disadvantages and/or make improvements in the prior a it.

The present system includes a system, method, device and interface for generating a neighborhood on a map based Graphical User Interface (GJJi) rendering a map, said neighborhood being of a predefined shape, said method comprising the acts of capturing a first selection of a position of the map, said position defining the neighborhood center, capturing a second selection of p o sitio ns o f the maps, the second selection comprising a first entry and a lastentry of positions, requesting neighborhood characteristics, said neighborhood characteristics being based on the neighborhood center, the last entry of positions, and the predefined shape, and rendering an update of the map based

GUI comprising a neighborhood overlaid on the map and centered on the neighborhood center, said GUIb e ing based onthe neighborhood characteristics.

Thanks to the present method, an easy and straightforward neighborhood generation is allowed through a GUI that may be displayed on a devic e like a thin device (mobile devices for instance). The usercanhave a direct visual feedback of the neighborhood he is currently creating. In an additional embodiment of the present method, the selection is captured on the touch sensitive panel (touch panel in short). The present method is particularly we 11 suited forsmart phones and the likes, with no need fora heavy c lie nt running on the userdevice. Through the neighborhood generation that is requested to a remote server, the userdevice is just handling the capturing ofthe selections of positions as wellas the rendering of a GUI showing the neighborhood overlaid onthe map. ban additional embodiment ofthe present method, the act of capturing a second selection of positions comprises foreach selected position a furtheractof rendering an update of the map based GUI comprising a neighborhood according to the predefined shape overlaid on the map, the contour of which includes said selected p o sitio n. As the use r p ro vid e s furthe r p o sitio ns o n the map, he can directly visualize the size of the resulting neighborhood, were he to stop his inputatthe c urre ntly se Ie c te d position.

The present system also includes a computer program stored on a computer readable memory medium, the computer program configured for generating a neighborhood on a map based Graphical User Interface (GUI) rendering a map, said neighborhood being of a predefined shape, the computer program c omprising: a program portion configured to capture on a sensor pane Ia first selection of a p o sitio n o f the map, said p o sitio n d e fining the neighborhood center, a program portion configured to capture on the sensorpanela second selection of positions of the maps, the second selection comprising a first entry and a last e ntry o f p o sitio ns, a program portion configured to request neighborhood characteristics, said neighborhood characteristics being based on the neighborhood center, the last entry of positions, and the predefined shape, and; a program portion configured to render an update of the map based GUI comprising a neighborhood overlaid on the map and centered on the neighborhood center, said GUIb e ing based onthe neighborhood characteristics. In another embodiment of the present system, a userdevice forgenerating a neighborhood within a map based Graphical User Site rface (GUD is disclosed. The ne ighb o rho od isofa prede fine d shap e , the use r d e vie e be ing c o nfigure d to : - capture a first se Ie c tio n of a position of the map, said position defining the ne ighb o rho o d c e nte r,

- capture a second selection of positions of the maps, the second selection comprising a first e ntry a nd a Ia st e ntry o f p o sitio ns,

- request neighborhood characteristics, said neighborhood characteristics taking into account the neighborhood center, the last entry of positions, and the predefined shape, and;

- render an update of the map based GUI comprising a neighborhood overlaid on the map and centered on the neighborhood center, said GUIbeing based onthe neighborhood characteristics. In another embodiment of the present system, a map application for generating a neighborhood within a map based Graphical User Interface (GUO rendering a map is disclosed. The neighborhood is of a predefined shape, the map application comprising: a portion forreceiving a first se Ie c tio n o f a p o sitio n o f the map, said position defining the neighborhood center, a portion for receiving a second selection of positions of the maps, the second selection comprising a first e ntry a nd a Ia st e ntry o f p o sitio ns, a portion for providing neighborhood characteristics, said neighborhood characteristics taking into account the neighborhood center, the last entry of positions, and the predefined shape, and; a portion forupdating the map based GUI with a neighborhood indication overlaid on the map and centered on the neighborhood center, said map based GUIb e ing based on the neighborhood characteristics.

EREFDESCRIPπON OFTHEDRVWINGSC

The invention is explained in further detail, and by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:

FTG. 1 shows a user device in accordance with an embodiment of the present system;

FlG. 2 shows a system in accordance with an embodiment of the present system;

FlG. 3 shows illustrative process flow diagrams in accordance with an embodiment of the present system; FKs. 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D and 4E show a graphical user interface (GUI) in accordance with an embodiment of the present system,

FlGs.5.1 and 5.2 show illustrative process flow diagrams in accordance with anotherembodiment of the present system;

FlGr. 6 show a system in accordance with another embodiment of the present system; and,

FIG.7 shows a GUIin accordance with another embodiment of the present inve ntio n.

DEEULED DESCKPπON OFTHE FBESENTSYSIEM: The following are descriptions of illustrative embodiments that when taken in conjunction with the following drawings will demonstrate the above noted featuresand advantages, as well as further ones. In the following description, for purposes of explanation ratherthan limitation, illustrative details are set forth such as architecture, interfaces, techniques, element attributes, etc . However, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that other embodiments that depart from these details would still be understood to be within the scope of the appended claims. Moreover, for the purpose of clarity, detailed descriptions of we 11 known devices, circuits, tools, techniques and methods are omitted so as not to obscure the description of the present system. It should be expressly understood that the drawings are included for illustrative purposes and do not represent the scope of the present system. In the accompanying drawings, like reference numbers in different drawings may designate similar elements.

For purposes of simplifying a description of the present system, the terms "operatively coupled", "coupled" and formatives thereof as utilized herein referto a connection between devices and/or portions thereof that enables operation in accordance with the present system. For example, an operative coupling may inc lud e o ne or mo re o f a wire d c o nne c tio n a nd/ o r a wire Ie ss c o nne c tio n b e twe e n two ormore devices that enables a one and/or two-way communication path between the devices and/orportions thereof. Forexample, an operative coupling mayinclude a wired and/ or wire less c o up ling to enable c ommunication between a content server and one ormore user devices. A further operative coupling, in accordance with the present system may include one ormore c ouplingsbetween two ormore user devices, such as via a network source, such as the content server, in accordance with an embodiment of the present system. An operative coupling may also relate to an interaction between program portions and thereby may not describe a physical connection so much as an interaction based c o up ling .

The term rendering and formatives thereof as utilized herein refer to providing content, such as digital media ora graphical use r inte rfa c e (G IH), such that it may be perceived by at least one user sense, such as a sense of sight and/or a sense of hearing. Forexample, the present system may render a user interface on a touch display device so that it may be seen and interacted with by a user. The term rendering may also comprise all the actions required to generate a Gllpriorto the display, like e.g. a map image generated on a serverside fora browse rap plication on a userdevice.

The system, device(s), method, user interface, etc., described herein address problems in prior art systems. In ac c oidanc e with an embodiment of the present system, a system provides a GUI for rendering a map on a touch panel, the GUIallowing an easy generation of a map neighborhood through selections provided by the use rand captured on said touch pane L

A graphical user interface (GUI) may be provided in ace oidanc e with an embodiment of the present system by an applic ation running on a proc essor, sue h as part of a computer system of a user device and/or as provided by a network connected device, such as a web-based server hosting the application. The provided visual environment may be displayed by the processor on a display device of the user device, namely a touch sensitive panel (touch panel in short), which a user may use to provide a number of selections for generating the neighborhood.

A GUI is a type of user interface which allows a user to interact with electronic devices such as computers, hand-held devices, household appliances, office equipmentand the likes. GUIs are typically used to render visual and textual images which describe various visual metaphors of an operating system, an application, etc ., and implemented on a pro c essor/ computer including rendering on a display device. Furthermore, GUIs can represent programs, files and operational functions with graphical images, objects, or vector representations. The graphical images can include windows, fields, dialog boxes, menus, icons, buttons, cursors, scroll bars, maps, etc. Such images can be arranged in predefined layouts, or can be created dynamically (by the device itself or by a web-based server) to serve the specific actions being taken by a user. In general, the user can select and/or activate various graphical images in order to initiate functions and tasks associated therewith. By way of example, a user can select a button that opens, closes, minimizes, or maximizes a window, or an icon that launches a particularprogram. By way of another example, the GUImay present a typ ic a 1 use r inte rfa c e including a windowing environment and as such, may include menu items, pull-down menu items, pop-up windows, etc ., that are typical of those provided in a windowing environment, such as may be represented within a Windows™ Operating System GUI as provided by Microsoft Corporation and/or an OS X™ Operating System GlH, such as provided on an iPhone™, Ma c Bo ok™, Mac™, etc., as provided by Apple, he, and/or another operating system.

In the description hereafter, a Glldisplaying a map willbe referred to as a map based GUI or in short map based interface. As described hereafter, the present method may be implemented through a map application either web- based or resident on a user device. A web -based map application may be used to remotely contribute to the rendering of a map based GUI Furthermore, the rendering of the GUI may itself be web-based (the GUI being provided by the web-based application) orgenerated locally on the device (the GUI using map or mapping information provided by the web-based application). For resident map applic ation, allmapping information is generated locally with no use of a distance se rve r.

FIG.1 is an illustration of an exemplary userdevice 110 used in the present system. The userdevice 10 comprises a display device 111, a processor 112, a controller 113 of the display device and an input device 115.

In the present system, the user interaction with and manipulation of the map rendered on a GUI is achieved using the display device 111, which is presently a touch panel operationally coupled to the processor 112 controlling the displayed interface. Processor 112 may control the generation and the rendering of the GUI on the display device 111 or simply the rendering when the GUI is provided by a network connected device.

The touch panel 111 can be seen as an input device allowing interactions with a finger of a user or other devices such as a stylus. Such an input device can, for example, be used to make selections with respect to the GUI displayed on panel 111. This input device can also be used to issue commands in the computer system of the userdevice 110. The input received from a use r's to uc h is se nt to the processor 112. The touch panel is configured to detectand report the (location of the) touches to the processor 112 and the processor 112 can interpret the touches in accordance with its programming and the currently displayed GUI For example, the processor can initiate a task in accordance with a particular touch. The controller 113, ie. a dedicated processor, can be used to process touches locally and reduce demand forthe main processor 112 of the computer system. The touch panel 111 can be based on sensing technologies including but not limited to capacitive sensing, resistive sensing, surface acoustic wave sensing, pressure sensing, optical sensing, and/orthe like. Furthermore, the touch sensing means can be based on single point sensing or multipoint sensing. Single point sensing can be capable of only distinguishing a single touch, while multipoint sensing can be capable of distinguishing multiple touches that occur at the same time.

Forweb-based map applications, as illustrated here after, the selections of a user on touch panel 111 may be proc essed and interpreted by processor 112 and sentovera communication network to the se rve r (re fe rre d to asgeo-server here after) hosting the application. The user device is thus equipped to communicate with the remote geo-server over a wireline or wireless communication network. Fb r a resident map application, the selection of positions from the user, the neighborhood creation as well as the map based Gllmaybe handled locally on the userdevice. FlGr.2 shows an exemplary embodiment of a system 200 in accordance with the present system and implementing a web based map application. The system 200 includes a user device 280, a geo-server 220 that hosts a map application and receives queries from the userdevice 220 for local information, and p ro vid e s re suits fro m a plurality of content providers 210. The userdevice 280 includes a display device 282, ortouch panel, displaying the GUIs rendered by the llengine 232. The userdevice 280 may also include a use r inte rfa c e (IH) engine 283 for example ina form ofa localapplicationpresenton the userdevice. The UI engine 283 may include a local mapping application, such as Google Maps, Yahoo, tele map, etc . as well as a portion for interacting with the geo-server 220. Such a localmap application is compatible with the map application of the geo- server 220, ie. the localmap application is arranged to render a GUIb a sed on the map information provided by the geo -browser 220 to the userdevice 280. Touch panel 282 is also used forcapturing selections received from the user.

The geo-server 220 includes a service dispatcher 222, a content dispatcher 224, a neighborhood engine 226, a user interface (Ul) engine 232, a map engine 234, a map controller 236, and a device/userprofϊle 238.

The service dispatcher 222 is operably coupled to and provided for interfacing with the user device 280. The content dispatcher 224 is operably coupled to and provided fo r inte ra c ting with the plurality of content providers 220. The neighborhood engine 226 is operably coupled to and provided for filtering content provided by the content dispatcher 228 that is geographically relevant content fora Io c al information query provided by a user. The re levant/ available content may comprise geo data for Io cation on a map. Through the exemplary embodiment of the system 200, the web-based map application may allow:

-the easy creation of the neighborhood on a map displayed on the user device 280,

-the querying for local services and information from a user, using the created neighborhoods and retrieving, based on the query, available/relevant c o nte nt fro m the c o nte nt p ro vid e rs 220.

The map controller 236:

-receives the captured user inputs, notably the selections of positions, as provided from the use r inte ra c tio ns with the GUI displayed on touch panel 282 and,

- generates the neighborhood characteristic s (e.g. its geometry, position ...) based on the userinputs and a predefined neighborhood shape.

The map engine 234 provides the mapping of the available content and se rvic e s using forinstance its geo data, and creates the map information for this content. The map engine 234 also provides the map information related to the neighborhood using the neighborhood characteristics as defined by the map controller 236. In other wo ids, the map engine 234 determines marks, colors ... for indications of the generated neighborhood that will be overlaid on (ie. added to) the map based Gllrendered on the userdevice 280. Depending on the interface of the userdevice 280 selected by the user, either the UI engine 283 on the userdevice or a UI engine 232 of the geo -server provides for the rendering of GUIs (comprising the neighborhood overlay) of the present system provided to the userdevice 280. Either UI engine will use the map information, and consequently the neighborhood characteristics, to render an update of the GUIcomprJsing the neighborhood overlaid on map rendered as a portion of a GUI

The user interface (Ul) engine 232 may be utilized when the user is interacting with the Geo -server 220 via a web-interface and accordingly, a UI engine may not be present on the user device. In a case wherein the user is utilizing a web-interface, such as a web browser, the UI engine 232 of the geo- server220 provides for the rendering of the elements. G Ufc created/provided by the UI engine 232 of the geo -server 220 are sent over a communication network for sub sequent rendering on the display device 282. ha case wherein the use r is utilizing a local application dedicated to the current system and/or adaptable to the current system, such as a local mapping program, fo r inte ra c ting with the geo -server 220, the UI engine 283 of the user device 280 provides for the rendering of the neighborhood and any GUI update. Thus, the map information provided by map controller 234 is sent over the c o mmunic a tion network for sub sequent rendering using UI engine 283.

FTG. 3 is an illustrative process flow diagram of an embodiment of the present method. FlG. 3 will be described here after in conjunction with F¹IGs.4 showing different GUIs displayed on the display device 282 as a user provides furthe r se Ie c tio ns o f p o sitio ns using the use r d e vie e 280. In the he re a fte r d e sc rip tio n in relation to FlGs. 3 and 4, reference will be made to a web-based map application. The device only application willbe described lateron.

In a preliminary act 300, a GUI rendering a geographical map, ie. a map based GUI, is provided to the userdevic e 280 by the geo -server 232. The map may be forinstance a default map based on the user's current location or on a user preferred location, as provided by the device profile 238. In the illustration of FIG. 4A the displayed map is centered on the useroffice loc ation. The GUIis provided with buttons such as a "create neighborhood" button 410 to initiate the present method.

When the button 410 is selected by the user, either through a touch input using the touch panel 282 or using other known input devices such as a mouse, a trackball, a keyboard, a keypad, and the likes, in a further and optional act (not shown in FlG. 3), the user will enter a description for the neighborhood to be selected, so as to be able to save it with the already created neighborhoods once the neighborhood creation is completed. The existing neighborhoods may be accessible through an additional button 411 as illustrated in FlGr. 4A. This optional act may be carried out after the neighborhood has been completely created. As illustrated in the exemplary embodiment of the GUI on FIG. 4B, a popup window 415 may be displayed to enter the neighborhood name. The popup window 415 may be provided by the UI engine 232 once the map controller 236 has received the selection of the create button 410. In an alternative embodiment of the present method, the popup window may be generated locally through the UI engine 283 of the user device 280. Neighborhoods may be stored locally on the userdevice 280 and/or on the user account on the geo -server 220.

The usermayoptto entera new location like a town, a zip code ... so that the map controller 236 requests the map engine 234 to generate map information regarding the new location. Consequently, a new GUI will be provided with a map corresponding to the entered new location. The user may also choose to move the map using the touch panel 282 in different locations until finding the Io c a tio n he is Io o king fo r. The se fe a ture s are kno wn fe a ture s fro m map applications such as Google Maps™, Yahoo Maps™, Map quest™ and the likes.

In a further act 310, the user provides on the touch panel 282 a first selection of a position corresponding to the neighborhood center. The selection may b e a c hie ve d thro ugh a simp Ie o r a d o ub Ie to uc h fo r instanc e . The se Ie c tio n is illustrated using a flag 420 on FTG.4C. Touch panel will detect and capture the (location of) the selection and the processor of the userdevice will transfer the coordinates, e.g. the latitude and longitude, to the map controller 236. This c o ntro lie r 236 will in its turn re giste r the ne ighb o mo o d Io c atio n, and re que st fro m the map engine 234 an update of the GUIrendering the map so asto display the flag on the selection. Alternatively, the flab maybe generated locally by the user device processorand the transfer of the first selection differed to the transferof the sub se q ue nt use r se Ie c tio ns.

The neighborhood centermaybe chosen as corresponding exactly to the first selection from the user. Optionally a disambiguation may be provided to the user, when the selection is close to a landmark on the map, the landmark being defined as a major point of interest on a map, such as a city, a monument, a museum ... When the selection is provided by the userfinger, as a fingertouch on a touch panel is larger then the touch from a stylus device for instance, it may be interesting to provide to the user a confirmation of his chosen location when landmarks are in the vie inity o f his se Ie c tio n.

In an optional act 315 (represented in dotted line on FIG.3) of the present method, an update of the GUI comprising a default neighborhood 425 overlaid on the map maybe provided. The default neighborhood 425 is centered on the selected neighborhood centerand is of the predefined shape, h the illustration of FTG.4C, the predefined neighborhood shape is shown as a circle. The dimension of the default neighborhood may be chosen for instance through userbased preferences (as stored in storage 238 for instance) or based on the scale of the rendered map. Various forms of predefined shape maybe provided to the user. For instance the shape may be based on user preferences as well, such as a circle, an ellipse, a square, a cloud ... or provided to the user thro ugh a prompt on the GUL Tb update the GlH, the map controller 236, after receiving the first selection for the neighborhood center, will provide to the map engine 234 the neighborhood geometrical characteristics, including its center, and the shape and size of the default neighborhood. The map engine 234 will then generate the map information as seen for instance in FJG.4C (neighborhood center, default neighborhood shape, neighborhood highlighted in a different color ...) and used by the UI engine to compute the updated GUI In a further act 320, the user proceeds with a second selection of positions on the map captured through sensor panel 282. This series of selected positions is characterized by a first entry and a last entry. The last entry may e.g. correspond to the re Ie a se of the fing e r o r stylus fro m the sc re e n if the e ntry is c o ntinuo us o r through exceeding a time threshold with no input when the entry of positions is discontinuous. The selection of an end button may also terminate the selection of p o sitio ns.

The selection of positions may be transmitted to the map c o ntro lie r 236 gradually, ie. as they are entered by the user or alternatively once the second se Ie c tio n is over (fo r insta nc e once the fing e r o r stylus is re mo ve d fro m the to uc h panel).

In an additional embodiment of the present method, the second selection maybe a c o ntinuo us se Ie c tio n o f p o sitio ns, e xe c ute d forinstance through a finger ora stylus sliding overthe touch panel282 from the first to lastentry.

In another additional embodiment of the present method, when the selection of positions is sent gradually, further up da ting (optional act 325 in dotted line on FIG.3) of the GUIrendering the map maybe provided by the UIengine based on the map information provided by the map engine 234. The updating comprises on the map a neighborhood according to the predefined shape, the contour of which includes the currently selected position. In other words, as the user provides further positions on the touch panel, the GUI is updated with a neighborhood contour passing through the current position of the user input device or finger. Thus the user may see the neighborhood either growing or reducing in size, or even varying in size if he oscillates around the first entry. This additional embodiment gives the user a valuable feedback on the size of the currently created neighborhood. As can be seen from the illustration of FTG.4D, the useris allowed to drag the neighborhood contour 420 to setthe range, ie. the size of the neighborhood.

When the default neighborhood is provided, the user may for instance provide a first entry that coincides with a position on the contour of the default neighborhood. In an alternative embodiment of the present method, the default neighborhood may be replaced bya neighborhood displayed as the first entry of the second selection of positions is captured on the sensor panel 282. In other wo ids, once the first entry is captured, the map contro lie r 236, once provided with the first entry, determined a neighborhood the contour of which includes the first entry. The update of the GUI is based on the corresponding neighborhood characteristics.

In a further act 330 of the present method, the user device requests the neighborhood characteristics to the geo-server 220. Consequently, the map controller 236 defines the neighborhood characteristics using the provided neighborhood center, the last entry of positions and the predefined shape so that the contour of the defined neighborhood includes the last captured entry of positions. When optional acts 315 and 325 are not implemented, the predefined shape for the neighborhood may also be set according to user preferences or through a prompt to the user providing different available shapes. The map controller 236 may define the neighborhood as all the points of the map comprised in the neighborhood contour and stored them in a table, orstore the geometric characteristics of the neighborhood, ie. coordinates of the center, shape, and characteristic dimensions, such a radius (circle), side or diagonal (square, rectangle), radiuses (ellipse), ... Through act 330, the portion of the map rendered subsequently on the GUIand comprised in the defined neighborhood is associated with said defined neighborhood. The neighborhood may then be stored both on the userdevice and/orthe geo-browser. The usermayalso enter a description (name, ...) of the neighborhood at this point (as illustrated previously with FIG.4Band popup window 415).

The request for neighborhood characteristics may be a dedicated set of messages sent to the geo-server 220 over the communication network. Alternatively, the request may correspond to the simple providing of the first and se c o nd se Ie c tio ns o f p o sitio ns.

In an additional act 340 of the present method, an update of the GUI is provided by the UIengine and comprises the defined neighborhood overlaid on the map and centered on the neighborhood center. The neighborhood characteristics are indeed provided to the map engine 234 for creating corresponding map information that the UIengine usesforthe GUI update. In a further act 350, the updated GUI is displayed on the display device 282. A message 430 maybe displayed on the GUIas illustrated in EIG.4Eto confirm the successful neighborhood creation according to the present method. Whether with act 315, 325 or 340, the user will perceive that a neighborhood overlay is generated on the GUI currently displayed. In the present system, the map c o ntro lie r 236 use s the selections of positions as captured by the sensor panel 282 to determine the geometry of the neighborhood, and will request the map engine 234 to generate the map information comprising this neighborhood. The UI engine, whether engine 232 or 283, will provide the GUI comprising the neighborhood overlaid on the map, with the GUI based on the ne ighb o rho o d c harac te ristic s.

MGs.5.1 and 5.2 show illustrative flowcharts in accordance with another embodiment of the present method. Both these flowcharts correspond to a web- based map application as in ElG.2. h the illustration of MG.5.1, the UIengine is hosted by the geo-server 220, while in the illustration of ECr.5.2 the UIengine is hosted by the user device 280.

As can be seen on MG.5.1, the selections of positions, whether the first or second selections, are sentovera communication network to the map controller 246. The selections of positions may be forwarded as they are provided by the user on the touch panel 282 (as in ECr.5.1 and arrow 510) or alternative Iy they are sent once the userisdone with providing selections. The neighborhood generated by the map controlleris provided to the map engine to determine map information, including dimensions/ colors of the neighborhood overlay. The UIengine rendering the map and the neighborhood overlay will sent the Glloverthe communication network for further display on the display device 282.

In an additional embodiment of the present method illustrated in FIG.5.1, the UIengine 232 may use the canvas element that is part of HIML5 and allows for dynamic scriptable rendering of bitmap images. Canvas consists of a drawable region defined in HIML code with height and width attributes. JavaScript code may access the area through a full set of drawing functions, thus allowing for dynamically generated graphics.

In an alternative embodiment of the present method illustrated in FlG.5.2, the map information generated by the map engine 234 is sent over the communication network to the user device 280 in a form that may be rendered within the local map application comprised in the local UI engine 283. As mentioned before, such local map applications may be for instance Mobile Google Maps™, Yahoo !Go ™ and the likes. Regardless of which UIengine is utilized fo r initia ting rendering of the GUIon the userdevice 280, the neighborhood characteristics are provided to the map engine 234 to determine map information, including types/colors for the neighborhood overlay comprised in the map based GUI subsequently rendered on the userdevice 280 Once one or more neighborhood has been created using the present method, a user may query the geo -server 220 for local information within any selected neighborhood as illustrated in FlGr. 7. Relevant c o nte nt/ se rvic e s are provided to the userdevice in a form of a map -centric G UI that includes indications (e.g., icons and/or pic to rial/ textual indications) of available content/ services. The present system including the geo-server 220 may support all kind of mapping applications such as Google maps, Telemap, Yahoo, Mapquest, etc. Abstraction layering provided by the map engine 234 may be designed to enable population ofa rendered map with indications of content/ services provided by the geo-server regardless of the mapping solution utilized by the user. Fbr example, the present system may utilize an open-source so lutio n sue h a s a Factory based interface which may allow dynamic plugging of new mapping solutions. The geo-servermay select and configure the map interface and layering of content/ services based on the userdevice type as indicated in the device/user profile. A factory based design interface may provide a suitable implementation for all maps layering, navigation and content/ service distribution methodologies, h one embodiment of the present system, the look, feel and supported features and limitations may differbased on the mapping application utilized by the user including corresponding map interfaces, h ac cordanc e with an embodiment of the present system, the layering of indications of available content/ services within the map-based llis implemented to be readily portable to support different browsers and mobile device platforms (e.g., mobile phone platform). For example, the layering of indications of content/ service s may be provided in an XML-format that is received by a JAVA- applet within the llengine of the userdevice orthe geo-seiver. In an alternative embodiment of the present system corresponding to a resident map application, the map controller, the map engine and the UIengine are hosted locally on the userdevice. The provision of the selections of positions, the determination of the neighborhood characteristics as well as the rendering of the neighborhood overlay on a GUI are a 11 hosted on a userdevice. In the here above description, engines and controller parts are illustrated as d iffe re nt e ntitie s o n the same system. One may note this illustrations as comprising several parts is in no way limiting as these parts could be hosted by the same node orserver, orbeing op era tively linked to each other. The presentation using different parts helps to illustrate the different tasks performed by the geo seiverin the p re se nt syste m .

In the here-above description, referenc e was made to a touch panel for providing the se Ie c tio ns o f p o sitio ns. More generally other input devic es may be used to provide such selections, such as a mouse, a trackball, a keyboard, a keypad and the likes. FO. 6 shows a system 600 in accordance with an embodiment of the present system. The system 600 includes a device 690 (e.g., user device, geo- seiver, etc.) that has a processor 610 operationally coupled to a memory 620, a rendering device 630, such as one or mo re of a display, speaker, etc ., a user input device 670, such as a sensor panel, and a connection 680 operationally coupled to the user device 690. The connection 680 may be an operable connection between the device 690, as a userdevice, and another device that has similar elements as the device 690, such as a geo-seiver. The connection 680 may also be an operable connection between the device 690, as a geo-seiver, and one or more content providers. The userdevice maybe forinstance a mobile phone, a smart phone, a PDA (personal digital assistant) or any type of wireless device. The present method is well suited fora wireless device with a display panel that is also a sensor panel as the user has a direct visualization of the generated neighborhood as he drags his finger or a stylus over the touch panel while se Ie c ting the p lura lity o f p o sitio ns.

The memory 620 may be any type of device for storing application data as we 11 as other data, such as geo-data related to geographical maps, user historical data, such as a user profile, layering data, identifying one or more content/ service s, etc. The application data and otherdata are received by the processor 610 for configuring the processor 610 to perform operation acts in accordance with the present system. The operation acts include capturing the use r se Ie c tio ns o n the sensor panel, and rendering a map based GUI comprising the neighborhood overlay. The userinput 670 may include the sensorpanelas well as a keyboard, mouse, trackball or other devices, which may be stand alone or be a part of a system, such as part of a personal computer (e.g., desktop computer, laptop computer, etc.) personal digital assistant, mobile phone, converged device, or other rendering device for communicating with the processor 610 via any type of link, such as a wired or wireless link. The user input device 670 is operable fo r inte ra c ting with the processor 610 including interaction within a paradigm of a GUIand/or other elements of the present system, such as to enable web browsing, positions selection such as provided by a touch (for the sensor panel), and left and right clicking or touch on an indication of content/ service s, query submittal, a mouse-over, pop-up menu, etc., such as provided by user interaction with a computer mouse, etc., as may be readily appreciated by a person of ordinary skϋlin the art.

In accordance with an embodiment of the present system, the rendering device 630 may operate as a touch sensitive display for communicating with the processors 610 (e.g., providing selection of a web browser, of the selections of positions, etc.). In this way, a usermay interact with the processorβlO including interaction within a paradigm of a GlH, such as to operation of the present system, device and method. Clearly the userdevice 690, the processor 610, memory 620, re nd e ring d e vie e 630 and/or user input device 670 may all or partly be portions of a c o mp ute r syste m or other device, and/orbe embedded in a portable device, such as a mobile telephone, personal computer (PC), personal digital assistant (PDA), converged device such as a smart telephone, etc .

The system, device and method described herein address problems in prior art systems. In ace ordance with an embodiment of the present system, the device 690, corresponding user interfaces and other portions of the system 600 are provided for interacting between a user device and a geo-browser in accordance with the present system.

The methods of the p re se nt syste m are particularly suited to be carried out by a computer software program, such program containing modules corresponding to one or more of the individual steps or acts described and/or envisioned by the present system, such as a Ulengine, a map controller, a map engine, the capturing of positions and the rendering of GlH, etc. Such program may of course be embodied in a computer-readable medium, such as an integrated chip, a peripheral device or memory, such as the memory 620 or other memory coupled to the processorβlO.

The computer-readable medium and/or memory 620 may be any recordable medium (e.g., RAM, ROM, removable memory, CD-ROM, hard drives, DVD, floppy disks or memory c ards) or may be a transmission medium utilizing one or more of radio frequency (RF) coupling, Bluetooth coupling, infrared coupling, etc. Any medium known ordeveloped that can store and/ or transmit information suitable foruse with a c o mp ute r syste m may be used as the computer-readable medium and/or memory 620.

Additional memories may also be used. These memories configure processor 610 to implement the methods, operational acts, and functions disclosed herein. The operation acts may include controlling the rendering device 630 to render elements in a form of a GUI and/or controlling the rendering device 630 to render other information in accordance with the present system.

Moreover, the term "memory" should be construed broadly enough to encompass any information able to be read from or written to an address in the addressable space ace essed by a processor. With this definition, information on a network is still within memory 620, for instance, because the processor 610 may retrieve the information from the network for operation in accordance with the present system. Fb r example, a portion of the memory as understood herein may reside as a portion of the c o nte nt p ro vid e rs, geo-server, and/orthe userdevice. The processor 610 is capable of providing control signals and/or performing operations in response to input signals from the user input device 670 and executing instructions stored in the memory 620. The processor 610 may be an application-specific orgeneral-use integrated circuit(s). Further, the processorβlO may be a dedicated processor for performing in accordance with the present system or may be a general-purpose processor wherein only one of many functions operates for performing in accordance with the present system. The processor 610 may operate utilizing a program portion, multiple program segments, ormay be a hardware device utilizing a dedicated or multi-purpose integrated circuit.

Finally, the above discussion is intended to be merely illustrative of the present system and should not be construed as limiting the appended claims to any particular embodiment or group of embodiments. Thus, while the present system has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, including user interfac es, it should also be appreciated that numerous modifications and alternative embodiments may be devised by those having ordinary skill in the art without departing from the broaderand intended spirit and scope of the present system as set forth in the claims that follow. Farther, while exemplary user interfaces are provided to facilitate an understanding of the present system, other user interfaces may be provided and/or elements of one user interface may be combined with another of the user interfaces in accordance with further e mb o dime nts o f the p re se nt syste m.

The section headings included herein are intended to facilitate a review but are not intended to limit the scope of the present system. Accordingly, the specification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative mannerand are notintended to limit the scope ofthe appended claims.

In interpreting the appended claims, it should be understood that: a) the word "comprising" does not exclude the presence of other e Ie me nts o r ac ts than tho se liste d in a give n c laim; b) the word "a" or "an" preceding an element does not exclude the presence of a plurality of such elements ; c) anyreference signs in the claimsdo not limit their scope ; d) several "means" may be represented by the same item orhardware orsoftware implemented structure orfunction; e) any of the disclosed elements may be comprised of hardware portions (e.g., including discrete and integrated electronic circuitry), software portions (e .g., c omputer prog ramming), and any c ombination thereof; f) hardware portions may be comprised ofone orboth of analog and digital portions; g) any of the disclosed devic es or portions thereof may be combined together or separated into further portions unless specifically stated otherwise; h) no specific sequence of acts or steps is intended to be required unle ss sp e c ific ally indie ate d ; and i) the term "plurality of an element includes two or more of the claimed element, and doesnot imply any particularrange of numberof elements; that is, a plurality of elements may be as few as two elements, and may include an immeasurable numberof elements.

Claims

Claims What is claimed is:

1. A method for generating a neighborhood on a map based Graphical User Interface (GUI) rendering a map, said neighborhood being of a predefined shape, said method comprising the acts of: capturing a first se Ie c tio n of a position of the map, said position defining the ne ighb o rho o d c e nte r, capturing a second selection of positions of the maps, the second selection co mp rising a first e ntry and a Ia st e ntry o f p o sitio ns, requesting neighborhood characteristics, said neighborhood characteristics being based on the neighborhood center, the last entry of positions, and the predefined shape, and; rendering an update of the map based GUI comprising the neighborhood overlaid on the map and centered on the neighborhood center, said GUlbeing based on the neighborhood characteristics.

2. The method of claim 1, furthe r c o mp rising , afterthe act of capturing a first selection of position, an act of rendering an update of the map based GUI comprising a default neighborhood according to the predefined shape overlaid on the map and centered on the neighborhood center.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising, afterthe act of capturing the first entry of positions, an act of rendering an update of the map based GUIc omp rising a neighborhood according to the predefined shape overlaid on the map, the c o nto ur o f whic h inc lud e s said first e ntry.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the act of capturing a second selection of positions comprises for each selected position a further act of rendering an update of the map based GUI comprising a neighborhood according to the predefined shape overlaid on the map, the contourof which includes said selected position.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the second selection of positions is a c o ntinuo us se Ie c tio n o f p o sitio ns.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the capturing of the first and second se lectio nsare captured on a sensorpaneL

7. A computer pro gram stored on a computerreadable memory medium, the computer program configured for generating a neighborhood on a map based Graphical User Interface (GUI) rendering a map, said neighborhood being of a predefined shape, the computer pro gram comprising: a program portion configured to capture on a sensor panel a first selection of a position of the map, said p o sitio n d e fining the neighborhood center, a program portion configured to capture on the sensor panel a second selection of positions of the maps, the second se Ie c tio n c o mp rising a first entry and a Ia st e ntry o f p o sitio ns, a program portion configured to request neighborhood c ha ra c te ristic s, sa id neighborhood characteristics being based on the neighborhood center, the last entry of positions, and the predefined shape, and; a program portion configured to render an update of the map based GUI comprising the neighborhood overlaid on the map and centered on the neighborhood center, said GUIb e ing based on the neighborhood characteristics.

8. The computer program of claim 7, furthe r c o mp rising after the program portion configured to capture a first selection of position, a program portion configured to render an update of the map based GUI comprising a default neighborhood according to the predefined shape overlaid on the map and centered on the neighborhood center.

9. The computer program of claim 7, furthe r c o mp rising after the program portion configured to capture the first entry of positions, a program portion configured to renderan update of the map based GUIcomprising a neighborhood according to the predefined shape overlaid on the map, the contour of which inc lud e s sa id first e ntry.

10. The computer program of claim 7, the program portion configured to capture a second selection of positions comprising for each selected position a program portion configured to render an update of the map based GUIc omp rising a neighborhood according to the predefined shape overlaid on the map, the c o nto ur o f whic h inc lud e s said se Ie c te d p o sitio n.

11. The c omputerprogram of claim 7, wherein the second selection of positions is a c o ntinuo us se Ie c tio n o f p o sitio ns.

12. The computer program of claim 7, further comprising a program portion for capturing the first and second selections from a sensorpaneL

13. Auserdevice forgenerating a neighborhood within a map based Graphical User lnterfac e (GUI), said neighborhood being of a predefined shape, said user device being configured to:

- capture a first selection of a position of the map, said position defining the neighborhood center,

-capture a second selection of positions of the maps, the second selection c o mp rising a first e ntry and a Ia st e ntry o f p o sitio ns,

-render an update of the map based GUI comprising the neighborhood overlaid on the map and centered on the neighborhood center, said GUlbeing based on the neighborhood characteristics.

14. The userdevice of claim 13, said userdevice comprising a sensorpaneland being configured to capture the first and second selections of positions from said sensorpaneL

15. A map application for generating a neighborhood within a map based Graphical User Interface (GUI) rendering a map, said neighborhood being of a predefined shape, said map application comprising: a p o rtio n fo r re c e iving a first se Ie c tio n o f a p o sitio n o f the map , said p o sitio n defining the neighborhood center, a portion for receiving a second selection of positions of the maps, the second se Ie c tio n c o mp rising a first entry and a Ia st e ntry o f p o sitio ns, a portion for providing neighborhood characteristics, said neighborhood characteristics taking into account the neighborhood center, the last entry of positions, and the predefined shape, and; a portion for up dating the map based GUI with the neighborhood indication overlaid on the map and centered on the neighborhood center, said map based GUIb e ing based on the neighborhood characteristics.

16. The map application of claim 15, wherein the neighborhood characteristics comprise a neighborhood contour, said map application further comprising:

-a p o rtio n fo r d e fining the neighborhood as the part of the map comprise within the c o nto ur,

- a portion forsaving the part of the map.

17. A system forgene rating a neighborhood within a map based GraphicalUser Interface (GUI) to be rendered on a user device, said neighborhood being of a predefined shape, said user device being configured to:

- request neighborhood characteristics, said neighborhood characteristics taking into account the neighborhood center, the last entry of positions, and the predefined shape, the system furthe r c o mp rising a server for gene rating neighborhood characteristics, said serverbeing configured to:

-receive the request for neighborhood characteristics, said request comprising atleastthe neighborhood centerand the last entry of positions, -provide mapping information for rendering an update of the map based

GUI with the neighborhood overlaid on the map and centered on the neighborhood center, said map based GUI being based on the neighborhood characteristics the userdevice being further arrange to:

-renderthe update of the map based GUL