Personalized Navigation Using Familiar Landmarks as Intermediate Destinations
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current digital map applications face challenges in providing accurate navigation directions, especially in areas with poor street signage, as users struggle to judge distances and recognize street names, and often lack familiar landmarks for orientation.
Innovation Solution
A personalized map data generation system that uses user location history to identify and prioritize familiar landmarks for navigation, search results, and map orientation, incorporating frequency and recency of visits to enhance the relevance and accuracy of directions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If traditional navigation directions using distance and street names are provided, then the system can give precise route instructions, but users struggle to accurately judge distance and see street signs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces familiar landmarks as intermediary reference points between the navigation system and the user. Instead of directly providing abstract distance measurements and street names, the system uses well-known locations (landmarks) that users can easily recognize and mentally map to their position, thereby improving both measurement precision and ease of understanding
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transforms navigation parameters from abstract measurements (distance in miles, street names) to concrete familiar references (landmarks). This parameter change allows users to intuitively grasp their position and direction without needing to accurately judge distances or read street signs
2Ease of operation
If the number of landmarks is increased to provide better orientation, then user orientation improves, but the number of well-known landmarks to the general public is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by personalizing landmarks based on individual user characteristics. Instead of using a universal set of landmarks, the system identifies and uses landmarks that are specifically familiar to each user (such as their home, workplace, or frequently visited locations), thereby maximizing the effectiveness of a limited number of landmarks for each user
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary analysis of user location history and behavior patterns to pre-identify familiar landmarks before navigation begins. This preliminary action ensures that when navigation is needed, the system already has a curated list of relevant landmarks ready for use, expanding the effective number of available landmarks without requiring users to manually select them
3Reliability
If detailed step-by-step navigation instructions are provided throughout the entire route, then users receive complete guidance, but the complexity of navigation instructions increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the navigation route into phases based on user proximity to familiar landmarks. Instead of providing continuous detailed instructions, the system divides navigation into segments where detailed guidance is given only when needed (when users are between landmarks or approaching critical points), and simpler landmark-based guidance is used when users are near familiar locations
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies partial action by providing detailed navigation instructions only when necessary rather than continuously throughout the entire route. When users are near familiar landmarks, the system reduces instruction detail, relying on users' existing knowledge of those landmarks to guide them, thereby reducing overall instruction complexity while maintaining reliability
Data Source
AI summary
To provide personalized data for display on a map, a server device obtains location data for a user and identifies locations that are familiar to the user based on the frequency and recency in which the user visits the locations. The server device then provides the familiar locations in search results/suggestions and annotates the familiar locations with a description of a relationship between the familiar location and the user. The server device also includes the familiar locations as landmarks for performing maneuvers in a set of navigation instructions. Furthermore, the server device provides a familiar location as a frame of reference on a map display when a user selects another location nearby the familiar location. Moreover, the server device includes a familiar location as an intermediate destination when the user request navigation directions to a final destination.