132 results about "Navigation assistance" patented technology

Systems and methods for visualization and interactive navigation of virtual images of internal organs are provided to assist in medical diagnosis and evaluation of internal organs. In one aspect, an image data processing system (105) includes an image rendering system (111) for rendering multi-dimensional views of an imaged object from an image dataset (106) of the imaged object, a graphical display system (112) for displaying an image of a rendered view according to specified visualization parameters, an interactive navigation system (107) which monitors a user's navigation through a virtual image space of a displayed image and which provides user navigation assistance in the form of tactile feedback by a navigation control unit (115) operated by the user, upon an occurrence of a predetermined navigation event.

A novel mapping paradigm is provided for the visual display of information in the form of an improved navigational aid. Unlike today's road maps which use a point-arc-polygon paradigm, the new mapping paradigm uses a compressed linear-pictographic-topological design that typically depicts roads as vertical linear pictograms. Further, the display has a columnar layout, whereby the descriptive elements are grouped together by type, and displayed one above the other in columns. In this manner, the mapping paradigm also serves to increase traveler safety, provide navigation assistance during address-less trips, create valuable advertising space and new promotional opportunities, and dramatically increases the travelers' communications and entertainment options.

The invention relates to a surgical instrument comprising a handle portion or mounting portion and a functional portion and / or tip, wherein a display device is provided on the instrument and includes or enables displays which serve to assist in image-guided and / or navigation-assisted surgery. It also relates to a method for navigating a surgical instrument, wherein its position is determined and tracked by means of a medical tracking system and the position data is processed within the framework of medical navigation by means of a medical navigation system, wherein displays for navigation assistance and / or for assisting in image-guided surgery are provided on the instrument or on an element which is positionally assigned to the instrument or fastened to the instrument.

A navigation system extends satellite navigation to divers, underwater vehicles, and surface vessels. The navigation system comprises a location reference unit and a plurality of sub-surface beacon units. The location reference unit includes a receiver to receive navigation signals from earth-orbiting satellites and / or an inertial navigation system. The location reference unit further includes control circuits to communicate with to sub-surface beacon units and to transmit location information to said sub-surface beacon units, and a transceiver to transmit location information to the sub-surface beacon units. The beacon units include control circuits to determine the location of the beacon unit based on location information received from the location reference unit, and a transceiver to receive location information from the location reference unit and to transmit location information to a guided unit to provide navigation assistance to the guided unit.

An outdoor-to-indoor (and vise versa) navigation system guides a traveler (30) to an interior point of interest (POI, 28) inside a three-dimensional structure (16) using a navigation device (10). When the traveler (30) reaches the destination (16) address, a 3D model of the destination object (16) is rendered on a display screen (12) and subsequent navigation assistance is rendered in relation to attributed features associated with the 3D model. Initial directional cues (33) associated with the 3D model guide the traveler (30) in relation to externally discernable POIs and toward an exterior portal POI (24). When the current position of the navigation device (10) generally coincides with the exterior portal POI (24), a set of final directional cues (35) are rendered which lead the traveler (30) in relation to internally discernable POIs to an interior feature POI (28). 3D navigation attributes may be associated with various POIs and used in the 3D portion of the navigation routing program.

A non-scaled, linearly compressed pictographic mapping system is provided for the visual display of information in a navigational aid. Unlike today's road maps which use a point-arc-polygon paradigm, the new mapping uses a non-scaled, linearly-compressed pictographic design that shows roads as linear pictograms. The display has a columnar layout, whereby the descriptive elements are grouped together by type, and displayed one above the other in columns. The maps may also contain icons representing points of interest arranged in a cloud fashion. In this manner, the mapping paradigm also serves to increase traveler safety, provide navigation assistance during address-less trips, create valuable advertising space and new promotional opportunities, and dramatically increases the travelers' communications and entertainment options.

A navigation system extends satellite navigation to divers. The navigation system comprises a surface unit and a plurality of sub-surface beacon units. The surface unit includes a receiver to receive navigation signals from earth-orbiting satellites, processing circuits to communicate with to sub-surface beacon units and to transmit location information to said sub-surface beacon units, and a sonar transmitter to transmit location information to the sub-surface beacon units. The beacon units include a processing circuits to determine the location of the beacon unit based on location information received from the surface unit, and a sonar transceiver to receive location information from the surface unit while the surface unit is floating on the surface; and to transmit location information to a diver unit to provide navigation assistance to the diver unit.

A method for computer-assisted medical navigation and / or pre-operative treatment planning includes detecting the current position of a patient or a part of a patient's body and the positions of medical treatment devices or treatment-assisting devices. The detected positional data can be assigned to body structure data, in order to jointly use the body structure data in assignment with the positional data, within the context of assisting the treatment. The body structure data can be used which is obtained based on a three-dimensional generic model, where the model is adapted by two-dimensional data linking with patient-characteristic, two-dimensional detection data.

A medical system provides navigation assistance to a surgeon so that the surgeon may navigate a flexible medical device through linked passages of an anatomical structure to a target in or adjacent to the anatomical structure. As the medical device moves through the linked passages, images are captured by an image capturing element at its distal end and pose and shape information for the medical device are received from sensors disposed in the medical device. A 4-D computer model of the anatomical structure is registered to the medical device using one or both of 4-D shape registration and virtual camera registration so that the captured image and a virtual image generated from the perspective of a virtual camera are registered to each other and displayed while providing an indication of a navigational path to the target.

An exemplary method includes a personal navigation assistance system detecting an upcoming trip of a user to a destination, accessing data associated with the upcoming trip from a plurality of disparate information sources, aggregating the accessed data associated with the upcoming trip, generating, based on the aggregated data, navigational assistance content for the upcoming trip, and providing the navigational assistance content for the upcoming trip to a computing device for presentation to the user. In certain examples, aggregated data includes real-time parking space availability information, and the navigational assistance content includes parking assistance content generated based on the real-time parking space availability information. Corresponding systems and methods are also described.

In a navigation assistance system, information is received from a user pertaining to a water trip contemplated by the user. The system includes a database storing waterway data. The database is accessed in response to the information from the user. At least one recommended over-water route is derived in response to the user information and in accordance with waterway data in the database, the recommended route being communicated to the user. The deriving of the route preferably comprises including only route segments extending through operatively navigable areas.

The invention discloses a positioning device configured to acquire its own GNSS position, the GNSS positions of rovers in an area around the positioning device and the relative positions of the positioning device to the rovers. The positioning device is configured to calculate a best-fit position based on this data and their confidence indexes. The positioning devices may communicate directly or through a navigation assistance centre. The best-fit position may be provided with indexes of confidence, availability and integrity. In some embodiments, the positioning device of the invention may be robust enough to generate commands to the driving controls of an autonomous vehicle.

A non-scaled, linearly compressed pictographic mapping system is provided for the visual display of information in a navigational aid. Unlike today's road maps which use a point-arc-polygon paradigm, the new mapping uses a non-scaled, linearly-compressed pictographic design that shows roads as linear pictograms. The display has a columnar layout, whereby the descriptive elements are grouped together by type, and displayed one above the other in columns. The maps may also contain icons representing points of interest. In this manner, the mapping paradigm also serves to increase traveler safety, provide navigation assistance during address-less trips, create valuable advertising space and new promotional opportunities, and dramatically increases the travelers' communications and entertainment options.

An approach is provided for connecting at least one first device with at least one second device proximate to at least one destination for navigation guidance. The approach involves determining at least one destination associated with at least one first device, at least one first user associated with the at least one first device, or a combination thereof. The approach also involves determining at least one second device, at least one second user associated with the at least one second device, or a combination thereof within at least one proximity threshold of the at least one destination. The approach further involves causing, at least in part, a transmission of at least one navigation assistance request from the at least one first device, that least one first user, or a combination thereof to the at least one second device, the at least one second user, or a combination thereof, wherein the at least one navigation assistance request seeks, at least in part, navigation guidance information related to the at least one destination, at least one point of interest associated with the at least one destination, or a combination thereof from the at least one second device, the at least one second user, or a combination thereof.

An intelligent navigation device is provided for actively collecting data about a user and the surrounding environment, drawing helpful inferences, and actively aiding the user in navigation, environmental awareness, and social interaction. The intelligent navigation device may include cameras for detecting image data regarding the surrounding environment. The intelligent navigation device may include a GPS unit, an IMU, and a memory for storing previously determined user data. The intelligent navigation device may include a processor for determining a desirable action or event based on the image data, data detected by the GPS unit or the IMU, or a recognized object in the surrounding environment. The processor may further determine a destination and provide navigation assistance to the user for reaching the destination. The intelligent navigation device may convey output data using a display, a speaker, a vibration unit, a mechanical feedback unit, or an electrical stimulation unit.

A safe interactive navigation apparatus and method allows the crew of an aircraft to prepare and follow a safe flight plan without relying on instrument flying infrastructure. An aircraft navigation assistance method calculates a continuous, three-dimensional projected path on board the aircraft as a function of data related to the route and characteristics of the aircraft.

An intelligent navigation assistance device including a mobility device (e.g., a walking staff, a walker, a wheelchair) configured with input component(s) to receive user input, environment component(s) to detect objects or obstacles in the surrounding environment, panic component(s) to detect emergency situations or conditions, local computing device(s) to process information and facilitate communication / control with / of mobile computing device(s) (including access to resources of the mobile computing device, e.g., GPS receiver, route mapping applications, telecommunications capabilities), and feedback component(s) to convey information to users via one or more prompt to the user.

The invention discloses a mutual navigation method comprising the following steps of: receiving a navigation assistance request message of a requesting terminal; calling a navigation database to plan paths according to the navigation assistance request message; obtaining the current position information of the requesting terminal in real time; and transmitting navigation information to the requesting terminal according to the planned paths in real time. Correspondingly, the invention also discloses a movable terminal and a mutual navigation system. The invention is capable of realizing the mutual navigation among movable terminals, increasing the navigation position accuracy of the movable terminals, promoting the development of navigation application service and increasing user experience.

A navigation system extends satellite navigation to divers, underwater vehicles, and surface vessels. The navigation system comprises a location reference unit and a plurality of sub-surface beacon units. The location reference unit includes a receiver to receive navigation signals from earth-orbiting satellites and / or an inertial navigation system. The location reference unit further includes control circuits to communicate with to sub-surface beacon units and to transmit location information to said sub-surface beacon units, and a transceiver to transmit location information to the sub-surface beacon units. The beacon units include control circuits to determine the location of the beacon unit based on location information received from the location reference unit, and a transceiver to receive location information from the location reference unit and to transmit location information to a guided unit to provide navigation assistance to the guided unit.

A method for active warning and / or for navigation assistance to prevent a collision of a vehicle body part and / or of a vehicle wheel with at least one curb and / or another similar object, the at least one object being recognized based on an evaluation of the images of the vehicle surroundings recorded with the aid of at least one camera situated on the vehicle, and an active warning being issued and / or an active intervention in the vehicle dynamics being carried out when a possible collision exists between a vehicle body part and / or a vehicle wheel and the at least one recognized object.

A method of generating a suggested navigation route with a portable electronic device includes presenting a map to a user on a touch-sensitive screen of the portable electronic device, and receiving touch input from a user stroking the touch-sensitive screen from a touch-down location corresponding to a starting point on the map to a release location corresponding to an ending point on the map for indicating a location of a preferred route, the preferred route beginning with the starting point and finishing with the ending point. The method further includes generating the suggested navigation route by selecting streets for the suggested navigation route according to the preferred route in order to closely approximate the preferred route, presenting the suggested navigation route to the user on the touch-sensitive screen, and providing navigation assistance to the user for guiding the user along the suggested navigation route.