U.S. patent application number 11/276555 was filed with the patent office on 2006-08-31 for navigation device with touch screen : waypoints.
This patent application is currently assigned to TOMTOM B.V.. Invention is credited to Mark Gretton, Sven-Erik Jurgens, Edwin Neef, Ayal Pinkus.
Application Number | 20060195259 11/276555 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 32071255 |
Filed Date | 2006-08-31 |
United States Patent
Application |
20060195259 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Pinkus; Ayal ; et
al. |
August 31, 2006 |
Navigation Device with Touch Screen : Waypoints
Abstract
A navigation device programmed with a map database and software
that enables a route to be planned between two user-defined places.
The device may also be programmed to be able to display on a touch
sensitive display a main navigation mode screen showing a map and
to allow a user to set a desired location as a location to be
stored in device memory by touching the screen, for example at the
desired location shown on the map. The navigation device is
especially advantageous for an in-car navigation device since it
allows the user to easily and reliably input the current location
as a waypoint such as, a reference point for future navigation,
even while the device is mounted in a vehicle.
Inventors: |
Pinkus; Ayal; (Amsterdam,
NL) ; Neef; Edwin; (Amsterdam, NL) ; Jurgens;
Sven-Erik; (Amsterdam, NL) ; Gretton; Mark;
(London, GB) |
Correspondence
Address: |
SYNNESTVEDT LECHNER & WOODBRIDGE LLP
P O BOX 592
PRINCETON
NJ
08542-0592
US
|
Assignee: |
TOMTOM B.V.
Spuistraat 112-114
Amsterdam
NL
|
Family ID: |
32071255 |
Appl. No.: |
11/276555 |
Filed: |
March 6, 2006 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
10546741 |
|
|
|
|
11276555 |
Mar 6, 2006 |
|
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Current U.S.
Class: |
701/431 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G01C 21/362 20130101;
G06F 3/0482 20130101; G06F 1/1626 20130101; G06Q 10/02 20130101;
G06F 3/04886 20130101; G06F 3/04817 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
701/211 |
International
Class: |
G01C 21/32 20060101
G01C021/32 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Feb 26, 2003 |
GB |
03043485 |
Mar 7, 2003 |
GB |
03051752 |
Feb 26, 2004 |
GB |
PCTGB0400803 |
Claims
1. A navigation device programmed with a map database and software
that enables a route to be planned between two user-defined places,
wherein the device is further programmed to be able to display on a
touch sensitive display a main navigation mode screen showing a map
and to allow a user to set a desired location as a location to be
stored in device memory by touching the screen within a zone large
enough to be reliably selected by a single finger.
2. The device of claim 1 programmed to enable the user to set the
current location as the location to be stored in device memory by
touching the screen at the current location as shown on the
map.
3. The device of claim 1 programmed to enable the user to set the
current location as a waypoint by touching the screen at the
current location as shown on the map.
4. The device of claim 3 in which the device is programmed so that
touching the screen once or twice stores the desired location in
device memory.
5. The device of claim 4 programmed so that a location stored in
device memory by the user touching the screen is marked on the map
with an icon.
6. The device of claim 5 in which the icon is a Point of Interest
icon.
7. The device of claim 5 programmed so that the icon label can be
annotated.
8. The device of claim 1 wherein said zone large enough to be
reliably selected by a single finger is a square zone having an
area of at least 0.7 cm2.
9. A method of enabling a user to interact with a navigation device
programmed with a map database and software that enables a route to
be planned between two user-defined places, wherein the method
comprises the steps of: (a) displaying on a touch sensitive display
a main navigation mode screen showing a map; (b) allowing a user to
set a desired location as a location to be stored in device memory
by touching the screen within a zone large enough to be reliably
selected by a single finger.
10. The method of claim 9 in which the user sets the current
location as the location to be stored in device memory by touching
the screen at the current location as shown on the map.
11. The method of claim 9 in which the user sets the current
location as a waypoint by touching the screen at the current
location as shown on the map.
12. The method of claim 10 in which the user sets the current
location as a waypoint by touching the screen at the current
location as shown on the map.
13. The method of claim 9 in which the action of touching the
screen once or twice stores the desired location in device
memory.
14. The method of claim 9 further comprising the steps of (c)
storing a location in device memory by the user touching the screen
at the desired location and (d) marking that location on the map
with an icon.
15. The method of claim 14 in which the icon is a Point of Interest
icon.
16. The method of claim 13 comprising the further step of
annotating the icon with a label.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of, and claims the
priority of, pending U.S. application Ser. No. 10/546,741 filed on
Aug. 25 2005 entitled "Navigation Device with Touch Screen", the
contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference. The parent
application claims the priority of PCT Application No.
PCT/GB2004/000803 filed on Feb. 26, 2004; GB Patent Application No.
0304358.5 filed on Feb. 26, 2003; and, GB Patent Application No.
0305175.2 filed on Mar. 7, 2003, the entire contents of all of
which are hereby incorporated in total by reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] This invention relates to a touch screen controlled
navigation devices that can display navigation data, and in
particular in-car navigation system devices.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] GPS based devices are well known and are widely employed as
in-car navigation systems. Reference may be made to the Navigator
series software from the present assignee, TomTom B. V. This is
software that, when running on a PDA (such as a Compaq iPaq)
connected to an external GPS receiver, enables a user to input to
the PDA a start and destination address. The software then
calculates the best route between the two end-points and displays
instructions on how to navigate that route. By using the positional
information derived from the GPS receiver, the software can
determine at regular intervals the position of the PDA (typically
mounted on the dashboard of a vehicle) and can display the current
position of the vehicle on a map and display (and speak)
appropriate navigation instructions (e.g. `turn left in 100 m`).
Graphics depicting the actions to be accomplished (e.g. a left
arrow indicating a left turn ahead) can be displayed in a status
bar and also be superimposed over the applicable junctions/turnings
etc in the roads shown in the map itself. Reference may also be
made to devices that integrate a GPS receiver into a computing
device programmed with a map database and that can generate
navigation instructions on a display. The term `navigation device`
refers to a device that enables a user to navigate to a pre-defined
destination. The device may have an internal system for receiving
location data, such as a GPS receiver, or may merely be connectable
to a receiver that can receive location data.
[0004] PDAs often employ touch screens to enable a user to select
menu options or enter text/numbers using a virtual keyboard.
Generally, touch input is meant to occur using a thin stylus since
the size of individual virtual keys or other selectable items is
relatively small. When navigating from a screen relating to one
function or type of functions in an application to a different
function or type of functions, then the presumption is that stylus
selection of virtual keys, control panels, check boxes etc. will be
undertaken since the related touch control zones are relatively
small.
[0005] However, with some individual applications, such as a
calculator application, each numeric may key be large enough to be
selectable using a finger, as opposed to the stylus. However, where
a large number of keys needs to be displayed at the same time (e.g.
for a QWERTY or other format virtual keyboard with all alphabet
letters), then a far smaller virtual keyboard has to be used;
individual keys have then to be selected with the stylus. Hence,
prior art devices may mix large, numeric keys available on one
screen with much smaller keys on a different screen, even though
the keys are of equal importance. Core functions cannot be said to
be uniformly and consistently designed for effective and reliable
finger operation, because the assumption is that users will operate
a stylus on most occasions.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0006] In a first aspect of this invention, there is a navigation
device programmed with a map database and software that enables a
route to be planned between two user-defined places.
[0007] The device may be further programmed to be able to display
on a touch sensitive display a main navigation mode screen showing
a map and to allow a user to set a desired location as a location
to be stored in device memory by touching the screen within a zone
large enough to be reliably selected by a single finger.
[0008] This is especially advantageous for an in-car navigation
device since it allows the user to easily and reliably input the
current location as a waypoint, that is a reference point for
future navigation, even whilst the device is mounted in a
vehicle.
[0009] These and other features of the invention will be more fully
understood by references to the following drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0010] FIG. 1 is a screen shot from a navigation device
implementing the present invention; the screen shot shows a plan
map view and a status bar running along the bottom of the
display;
[0011] FIG. 2 is a screen shot from the navigation device
implementing a 3-D view;
[0012] FIG. 3 is a screen shot from the navigation device showing
various route planning functions that enable a user to require the
device to plot a new route to the destination that (i) is an
alternative route; (ii) avoids a roadblock immediately ahead; (iii)
avoids predefined roads or (iv) is a reversion to the original
route;
[0013] FIG. 4 is a screen shot from the navigation device showing a
virtual ABCD format keyboard.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0014] The present invention may be implemented in software from
TomTom B. V. called Navigator. Navigator software runs on a touch
screen (i.e. stylus controlled) Pocket PC powered PDA device, such
as the Compaq iPaq. It provides a GPS based navigation system when
the PDA is coupled with a GPS receiver. The combined PDA and GPS
receiver system is designed to be used as an in-vehicle navigation
system. The invention may also be implemented in any other
arrangement of navigation device, such as one with an integral GPS
receiver/computer/display, or a device designed for non-vehicle use
(e.g. for walkers) or vehicles other than cars (e.g. aircraft). The
navigation device may implement any kind of position sensing
technology and is not limited to GPS; it can hence be implemented
using other kinds of GNSS (global navigation satellite system) such
as the European Galileo system. Equally, it is not limited to
satellite based location/velocity systems but can equally be
deployed using ground-based beacons or any other kind of system
that enables the device to determine its geographic location.
[0015] Navigator software, when running on a PDA, results in a
navigation device that causes the normal navigation mode screen
shown in FIG. 1 to be displayed. This view provides driving
instructions using a combination of text, symbols, voice guidance
and a moving map. Key user interface elements are the following: a
2-D map 1 occupies most of the screen. The map shows the user's car
and its immediate surroundings, rotated in such a way that the
direction in which the car is moving is always "up". Running across
the bottom quarter of the screen is the status bar 2. The current
location of the device, as the device itself determines using
conventional GPS location finding and its orientation (as inferred
from its direction of travel) is depicted by an arrow 3. The route
calculated by the device (using route calculation algorithms stored
in device memory as applied to map data stored in a map database in
device memory) is shown as darkened path 4 superimposed with arrows
giving the travel direction. On the darkened path 4, all major
actions (e.g. turning corners, crossroads, roundabouts etc.) are
schematically depicted by arrows 5 overlaying the path 4. The
status bar 2 also includes at its left hand side a schematic 6
depicting the next action (here, a right turn). The status bar 2
also shows the distance to the next action (i.e. the right
turn--here the distance is 220 meters) as extracted from a database
of the entire route calculated by the device (i.e. a list of all
roads and related actions defining the route to be taken). Status
bar 2 also shows the name of the current road 8, the estimated time
before arrival 9 (here 2 minutes and 40 seconds), the actual
estimated arrival time 10 (11.36 am) and the distance to the
destination 11 (1.4 Km). The GPS signal strength is shown in a
mobile-phone style signal strength indicator 12.
[0016] If the user touches the centre of the screen 13, then a
navigation screen menu is displayed; from this menu, other core
navigation functions within the Navigator application can be
initiated or controlled. Allowing core navigation functions to be
selected from a menu screen that is itself very readily called up
(e.g. one step away from the map display to the menu screen)
greatly simplifies the user interaction and makes it faster and
easier.
[0017] The area of the touch zone which needs to be touched by a
user is far larger than in most stylus based touch screen systems.
It is designed to be large enough to be reliably selected by a
single finger without special accuracy; i.e. to mimic the real-life
conditions for a driver when controlling a vehicle; he or she will
have little time to look at a highly detailed screen with small
control icons, and still less time to accurately press one of those
small control icons. Hence, using a very large touch screen area
associated with a given soft key (or hidden soft key, as in the
centre of the screen 13) is a deliberate design feature of this
implementation. Unlike other stylus based applications, this design
feature is consistently deployed throughout Navigator to select
core functions that are likely to be needed by a driver whilst
actually driving. Hence, whenever the user is given the choice of
selecting on-screen icons (e.g. control icons, or keys of a virtual
keyboard to enter a destination address, for example), then the
design of those icons/keys is kept simple and the associated touch
screen zones is expanded to such a size that each icon/key can
unambiguously be finger selected. In practice, the associated touch
screen zone will be of the order of at least 0.7 cm2 and will
typically be a square zone. In normal navigation mode, the device
displays a map. Touching the map (i.e. the touch sensitive display)
once (or twice in a different implementation) near to the screen
center (or any part of the screen in another implementation) will
then call up a navigation menu (see FIG. 3) with large icons
corresponding to various navigation functions, such as the option
to calculate an alternative route, and re-calculate the route so as
to avoid the next section of road (useful when faced with an
obstruction or heavy congestion); or recalculate the route so as to
avoid specific, listed roads.
[0018] The actual physical structure of the device itself may be
fundamentally no different from any conventional handheld computer,
other than the integral GPS receiver or a GPS data feed from an
external GPS receiver. Hence, memory stores the route calculation
algorithms, map database and user interface software; a
microprocessor interprets and processes user input (e.g. using a
device touch screen to input the start and destination addresses
and all other control inputs) and deploys the route calculation
algorithms to calculate the optimal route. `Optimal` may refer to
criteria such as shortest time or shortest distance, or some other
user-related factors.
[0019] More specifically, the user inputs his start position and
required destination in the normal manner into the Navigator
software running on the PDA using a virtual keyboard. The user then
selects the manner in which a travel route is calculated: various
modes are offered, such as a `fast` mode that calculates the route
very rapidly, but the route might not be the shortest; a `full`
mode that looks at all possible routes and locates the shortest,
but takes longer to calculate etc. Other options are possible, with
a user defining a route that is scenic--e.g. passes the most POI
(points of interest) marked as views of outstanding beauty, or
passes the most POIs of possible interest to children or uses the
fewest junctions etc.
[0020] Roads themselves are described in the map database that is
part of Navigator (or is otherwise accessed by it) running on the
PDA as lines--i.e. vectors (e.g. start point, end point, direction
for a road, with an entire road being made up of many hundreds of
such sections, each uniquely defined by start point/end point
direction parameters). A map is then a set of such road vectors,
plus points of interest (POIs), plus road names, plus other
geographic features like park boundaries, river boundaries etc, all
of which are defined in terms of vectors. All map features (e.g.
road vectors, POIs etc.) are defined in a co-ordinate system that
corresponds or relates to the GPS co-ordinate system, enabling a
device's position as determined through a GPS system to be located
onto the relevant road shown in a map.
[0021] Route calculation uses complex algorithms that are part of
the Navigator software. The algorithms are applied to score large
numbers of potential different routes. The Navigator software then
evaluates them against the user defined criteria (or device
defaults), such as a full mode scan, with scenic route, past
museums, and no speed camera. The route which best meets the
defined criteria is then calculated by a processor in the PDA and
then stored in a database in RAM as a sequence of vectors, road
names and actions to be done at vector end-points (e.g.
corresponding to pre-determined distances along each road of the
route, such as after 100 meters, turn left into street x).
[0022] Finger UI Design Approach
[0023] The present invention associates a touch activation zone for
each of a core set of functions; this zone is large enough to be
reliably selected by a single finger without special accuracy. This
mimics the real-life conditions for a driver when controlling a
vehicle; he or she will have little time to look at a highly
detailed screen with small control icons, and still less time to
accurately press one of those small control icons.
[0024] This UI design feature is consistently deployed throughout
Navigator 2.0 in relation to all of the defined core functions and
not just in an ad hoc manner where the screen design happens to
permit a large control icon to be displayed: hence, whenever the
user is given the choice of selecting certain on-screen options
relating to core functions (e.g. control icons, or keys of a
virtual keyboard to enter a destination address, for example), then
the design of those icons/keys is kept simple and the associated
touch screen zones is expanded to such a size that each icon/key
can unambiguously be finger selected. Further, whenever a screen
includes selectable graphical options (e.g. icons, names, check
boxes etc.), then each of these options is linked to a
non-overlapping touch input zone that is large enough to be
reliably activated using a finger is displayed.
[0025] Hence, the device will not present to the user at different
times a mix of selectable graphical options relating to core
functions, some being large enough to be reliably activated with a
finger and some being too small for that and requiring stylus
activation. Key is that the user interaction design has been based
on analysing what core functions might need to be activated by a
driver whilst still driving and ensuring that these can be
activated by selecting options (e.g. large graphical icons) linked
to unusually large touch screen activation areas. Prior art
approaches to UI design have failed to consistently identify core
functions and treat them in this manner.
[0026] In practice, the associated touch screen zone will be a
minimum of 0.7 cm2 (far larger than normal touch screen activation
zones) and will typically be square.
[0027] Examples of the core functions which consistently employ
this approach are: [0028] (i) moving between the highest level in
the menu hierarchy to the next level down; [0029] (ii) tasking away
from the normal navigation mode screen; [0030] (iii) selecting
options that initiate route recalculation functions; [0031] (iv)
setting the current location as a location to be marked on a
map.
[0032] This approach can be illustrated in several contexts. First,
to facilitate access to functions that enable alternative routes to
be calculated by placing a menu of graphical icons for those
functions (or any other kind of way or option to allow selection of
the functions, such as lists, check boxes etc.) on a menu screen
that is easily accessed from the main navigation screen--i.e. the
screen that is displayed during actual or simulated/preview
navigation (FIGS. 1 or 2). As noted above, in normal navigation
mode, the device displays an animated map that shows the location
of the navigation device as the journey progresses. Touching the
map (i.e. the touch sensitive display) once (or twice in a
different implementation) near to the screen centre (or any part of
the screen in another implementation) will then call up a
Recalculate menu (see FIG. 3) with large icons corresponding to
various route recalculation functions, such as the option to
calculate an alternative route; re-calculate the route so as to
avoid the next section of road (useful when faced with an
obstruction or heavy congestion); and recalculate the route so as
to avoid specific, listed roads. These alternative route functions
are initiated by touching also the appropriate icon in the
Recalculate menu screen (which is one user interaction, such as a
screen touch, away from the normal mode navigation screen). Other
route recalculation functions may be reached at a deeper level in
the menu structure. However, all can be reached by selecting
options such as graphical icons, lists, check boxes which are
unambiguously associated with touch screen areas that are large
enough to allow the user to select them with a fingertip whilst
safely driving, typically at least 0.7 cm2 in area.
[0033] Virtual Keyboard
[0034] As noted above, a key feature is the use of large touch
screen areas for each graphical icon that initiates a core function
that a driver may need to deploy whilst driving. This approach is
also used for the keys of the virtual keyboards as well (e.g. ABCD,
as shown in FIG. 4, QWETY etc formats). Because the device can
display a large alphabet keyboard, far larger than conventional
screen based keyboards on PDAs, this allows a user to input text
more easily--and without taking the device out of the cradle or off
the dashboard--and even using his finger rather than the
stylus.
[0035] The optimal dimensions on a iPaq (with 240.times.320 pixels,
or 106 pixels per inch, 48 pixels per cm) are:
[0036] QWERTY/AZERTY Keyboard Images:
[0037] Horizontal spacing: 25 pixels centre to centre (button to
button)
[0038] Vertical spacing: 32 pixels centre to centre (button to
button)
[0039] ABC Keyboard Image:
[0040] Horizontal spacing: 40 pixels centre to centre
[0041] Vertical spacing: 32 pixels centre to centre
[0042] NOTE: The numeric keyboard image is mixed (has both small
and big keys). Also, some keys might be 1 pixel smaller in width
than other keys (for aesthetics), therefore the centre to centre
might be different from key to key.
[0043] The individual key size in pixels is (width, height):
[0044] 36.times.28 (ABC keyboard image)
[0045] 21.times.28 (QWERTY/ASERTY keyboard image)
[0046] 46.times.28 (arrow keys on QWERTY/AZERTY keyboard
images)
[0047] 70.times.28 (space/back keys on QWERTY/AZERTY keyboard
images)
[0048] NOTE: Some keys might be 1 pixel smaller in width than other
keys (for aesthetics)
[0049] The total image sizes for different keyboards (width,
height) are as follows:
[0050] 240.times.155 (ABC keyboard image)
[0051] 240.times.155 (QWERTY keyboard image)
[0052] 240.times.155 (AZERTY keyboard image)
[0053] 240.times.62 (2 line NUM/Arrowkeys image)
[0054] 240.times.31 (1 line Arrow key image)
[0055] NOTE: This includes white-space edges in the range of 1 to 3
pixels.
[0056] The above sizes enable a soft keyboard to be displayed that
a user can readily operate with one finger when the device is
mounted on a dashboard cradle with the car being driven and without
being significantly distracted from driving.
[0057] Tolerances to the above sizes are approximately 25% (plus or
minus).
[0058] Waypoints
[0059] If the driver passes a location of interest on the route
(e.g. while driving), he can store the present location by a very
simple action, such as a rapid double tap a pre-defined zone on the
screen, such as a 0.7 cm2 zone centred on the current vehicle
location displayed by the device (or by issuing a voice command).
This stores a marker in a database of waypoints; in essence the
co-ordinates of the location of interest. This is another example
of a core function (labelling the current location as a waypoint)
that is activated using a touch screen area large enough to allow
reliable finger selection even whilst the user is driving. The
waypoint can be marked on the map itself with a POI (point of
interest) icon. Later, the user can retrieve and use it (or even
annotate and store it). For example, if marked as a POI on a map,
the user could select the POI on the map, which would cause an
annotation window to open, into which the user could input text
(e.g. "great bookshop here").
[0060] Although the invention has been described in language
specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is
to be understood that the invention defined in the appended claims
is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts
described. Rather, the specific features and acts are disclosed as
exemplary forms of implementing the claimed invention
* * * * *