Annotated Travel Directions With Ranked Landmark Annotations
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current navigation systems provide insufficient information for travelers, especially in unfamiliar areas, as they often overwhelm users with excessive data and lack clear indicia to enhance route navigability.
Innovation Solution
A computerized system generates annotated travel instructions by deriving and ranking meta-data associated with user-defined features, visible landmarks, and real-time traffic conditions, filtering less relevant information to provide a clear and efficient navigation experience.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If navigation systems provide comprehensive route information including traffic conditions, landmarks, and detailed instructions, then the completeness of navigation information is improved, but the complexity and confusion for the user increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments navigation information into hierarchical levels (basic directions, intermediate annotations, and comprehensive details). Users can select their preferred level of detail, allowing the system to provide complete information when needed while presenting simplified views for routine navigation, thus resolving the contradiction between information completeness and user complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts the amount and type of information presented based on contextual factors such as user expertise, environmental conditions, and navigation criticality. This dynamic adaptation allows the same navigation system to provide detailed information to novice users in complex environments while providing concise directions to experienced users in familiar areas, balancing information completeness with usability
2Ease of operation
If navigation systems provide detailed step-by-step directions with additional information about landmarks and traffic, then the usefulness of navigation is improved, but the amount of information becomes unwieldy and confusing
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by providing different information densities at different locations along the route. Critical sections such as complex intersections, construction zones, or unfamiliar areas receive detailed annotations and landmark information, while straightforward segments receive minimal instructions. This localized enhancement of information quality improves usefulness where needed without overwhelming the user with excessive information throughout the entire journey
3Ease of operation
If navigation systems provide only simple step-by-step directions, then the clarity and simplicity of instructions is improved, but the sufficiency of information for unfamiliar travelers deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a nested information structure where basic step-by-step directions form the core layer, with optional annotation layers that can be expanded or contracted. Users can access additional information about landmarks, traffic conditions, and alternative routes nested within the simple directions framework. This nested approach maintains simplicity as the default while providing comprehensive information on demand, resolving the contradiction between simplicity and sufficiency
Data Source
AI summary
Providing machine-generated travel directions with customized augmentations to enhance the navigation process. To provide machine-generated travel directions, a user submitted starting location, destination location, and meta-data associated with the user is used to generate a route between the starting location and destination location Annotations to the route are derived based on the meta-data associated with the user or characteristics associated with the route. The annotations are then ranked according to a determined priority. The route generated between the starting location and the destination location, and augmented with the ranked annotations, is displayed to the user.