Historical Map Indexing and Overlay for Location Alignment

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Solution Overview

Problem

Identifying relatives in large genealogy databases is challenging due to the sheer amount of data and lack of connection between datasets, while historical map images are difficult to navigate and compare with modern locations for genealogical research.

Innovation Solution

A system that overlays digitalized historical map images onto an interactive digital map, allowing users to search and align them with modern locations based on user input, using an index of historical map metadata and boundary coordinates.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Loss of information

If historical map images are stored without indexing to specific locations, then the complete historical map data is preserved, but the difficulty of identifying and accessing specific historical maps increases significantly

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvehistorical map data completenessVSAvoidhistorical map identification difficulty

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of informationVSDifficulty of detecting and measuring

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary indexing of historical map images by extracting geographic boundary coordinates and creating metadata records before user queries. This advance organization allows rapid retrieval of relevant historical maps when users search for specific locations, eliminating the need for manual browsing while preserving complete historical map data in the database.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The patent introduces an intermediary indexing system that acts as a mediator between the complete historical map database and user queries. The index contains extracted geographic boundaries and metadata that bridge the gap between unindexed historical maps and modern location-based searches, enabling efficient access without losing any original historical map information.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Measurement precision

If manual navigation and alignment of historical map images is performed, then precise comparison with modern locations is achieved, but the time and effort required increases significantly

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvelocation alignment precisionVSAvoidnavigation time

Core Design Contradiction:

Measurement precisionVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system replaces the manual mechanical process of navigating and aligning historical maps with an automated computational system. The computer automatically extracts geographic boundaries from historical map images, stores them in an index, and performs alignment calculations by comparing historical boundary coordinates with modern geographic data, eliminating time-consuming manual operations while maintaining precise alignment.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent transforms historical map data into a different parameter format suitable for automated processing. By converting historical map images into structured metadata with geographic boundary coordinates (latitude/longitude pairs), the system enables automated comparison and alignment with modern location data, replacing manual visual alignment with computational parameter matching.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

3Productivity

If an index of historical map metadata with boundary coordinates is created, then the retrieval speed of relevant historical maps improves, but the initial processing and storage complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvemap retrieval speedVSAvoidindexing system complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The system segments the historical map data into two distinct components: the original historical map images and the extracted metadata index. The index contains segmented geographic boundary coordinates and descriptive information that can be independently processed and queried. This segmentation enables rapid retrieval by searching only the compact metadata structure rather than analyzing complete historical map images, while the original images remain preserved for detailed examination.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Data Source

PatentUS12474178B2Transforming and navigating historical map images

Publication Date: 2025.11.18 ANCESTRY COM OPERATIONS INC

AI summary

Systems and methods for transforming and navigating historical map images are presented. The systems and methods embodiments facilitate providing, searching for, retrieving, transforming, and/or navigating a historical map image vis-à-vis a modern location and/or map. A map interface facilitates automatedly overlaying, annotating, and aligning a historical map image(s) with a modern map, allowing a user to search for a location and see the same in the historical map image, and change a visibility of the overlaid and aligned map images relative to each other. The map interface provides user interactions that facilitate retrieving, viewing, and manipulating records, historical districts, and other pertinent data through interacting with a particular location and/or searched-for individual, such as an ancestor or other person of interest.