Point of Interest Icon Spreading on Navigation Displays
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Solution Overview
Problem
Personal navigation devices struggle to clearly display multiple points of interest located close together, often hiding relevant icons due to priority settings and map view changes, leading to user confusion and distraction.
Innovation Solution
A method where touching a position on the map causes icons representing nearby points of interest to spread out in various patterns around the touched location, ensuring visibility without direct proportionality to distance, allowing only relevant icons to be displayed and providing options for further information and navigation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If multiple points of interest are displayed on the map, then the user can see more locations, but the icons become crowded and hard to distinguish when located close together
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dimensionality change by transitioning from a two-dimensional map display to a three-dimensional flower-shaped arrangement. Icons are positioned at different radial distances and angles from the center point, creating vertical and angular separation that resolves overlapping icons into distinct, visible elements while maintaining all displayed points of interest.
2Ease of operation
If priority levels are assigned to points of interest, then important locations are highlighted, but less important but relevant locations may be hidden
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the display by separating icons into distinct radial layers based on their distance from the center point. This segmentation allows different priority levels to be visually differentiated through radial positioning while ensuring all segments remain visible and accessible, preventing information loss about lower-priority locations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses the radial dimension to encode priority information, with higher-priority points of interest positioned closer to the center and lower-priority points positioned at greater distances. This dimensional encoding maintains visibility of all locations while providing intuitive visual hierarchy.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the map view changes as the user drives, then the displayed area updates, but icons constantly appear and disappear causing distraction
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-positioning icons in a stable flower-shaped configuration before map view changes occur. This preliminary arrangement ensures that icons remain in predictable positions during map updates, preventing sudden appearances and disappearances that would distract users while still adapting to changing map views.
Data Source
AI summary
A method of displaying points of interest in a personal navigation device includes displaying a map on a display of the personal navigation device, receiving touch input at a touched position of the display, displaying points of interest located near the touched position, wherein the points of interest are represented by icons, each icon being connected to its location on the map with a line extending out from the touched position, and spreading out the icons around the touched position to separate the icons from each other, the spread out icons being displayed in a pattern around the touched position, wherein a length of the line connecting each icon to its location on the map is not directly proportional to a distance from the corresponding point of interest to the touched position.