Panoramic Imagery Threshold View Angle Adjustment

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Solution Overview

Problem

Navigating panoramic imagery can be disorienting and cumbersome when users view imagery directly up or down, leading to user frustration due to a lack of features in these views, making it difficult to continue navigation.

Innovation Solution

Defining threshold view angles for tilt and azimuthal angles, allowing the view to drift back to these angles when exceeded, with transition animations to enhance the user experience, ensuring users can easily navigate and view predominate features without precision.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If users navigate panoramic imagery to extreme view angles (directly up or down), then users can view all directions of the panoramic image, but the view becomes disorienting and difficult to navigate from

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveviewing rangeVSAvoidnavigation ease
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The system applies preliminary anti-action by detecting when the view angle approaches a threshold angle and automatically adjusting the view back to a navigable range before the user can become disoriented. This prevents the harmful effect of extreme viewing angles by counteracting the user's navigation input when it exceeds acceptable limits, thereby maintaining ease of operation while preserving viewing versatility.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #9Preliminary anti-action

2Ease of operation

If the system automatically adjusts view angles to prevent disorientation, then navigation ease is improved, but user control over viewing direction is reduced

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvenavigation easeVSAvoidviewing control
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The system applies partial action by only adjusting the view angle when it exceeds a predetermined threshold, rather than continuously correcting all user navigation inputs. This allows users full control within the acceptable viewing range while automatically preventing disorienting extreme angles, thus balancing user control with navigation ease.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #16Partial or excessive action

3Ease of operation

If threshold view angles are implemented to prevent disorienting views, then user experience is improved, but the system complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveuser experienceVSAvoidsystem complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The system implements threshold view angles by changing the parameter of view angle to have predefined acceptable ranges. This simple parameter-based approach allows the system to automatically adjust views without complex algorithms, maintaining user experience improvements while minimizing system complexity through straightforward threshold comparisons and adjustments.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

Data Source

PatentEP2786352B1Method and system for displaying panoramic imagery
Publication Date: 2018.07.18 GOOGLE LLC
  • EP2786352B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP2786352B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP2786352B1 patent drawingFigure 3~4

AI summary

Methods and systems for navigating panoramic imagery are provided. If a user rotates panoramic imagery to a view having a view angle that deviates beyond a threshold view angle, the view of the panoramic imagery will be adjusted to the threshold view angle. In a particular implementation, the view is drifted to the threshold view angle so that a user can at least temporarily view the imagery that deviates beyond the threshold view angle. A variety of transition animations can be used as the imagery is drifted to the threshold view angle. For instance, the view can be elastically snapped back to the threshold view angle to provide a visually appealing transition to a user.