Time-Compressed Route Preview for Navigation Systems
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing imagery-based navigation systems are tedious and time-consuming, requiring users to click through successive street-level images one at a time, especially for routes with long stretches of road containing no navigational decision points.
Innovation Solution
A method and system for generating a time-compressed nonlinear video preview of a route, which emphasizes navigational decision points by using slow-motion video and time-compresses segments without decision points, allowing users to efficiently preview routes on mobile or desktop devices.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If users click through successive street-level images one at a time to preview a route, then they can view detailed imagery, but the process becomes extremely tedious and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The route is divided into multiple segments based on navigational decision points. Each segment contains imagery between two consecutive decision points. This segmentation allows the system to apply different display speeds to different segments - fast-forwarding through simple segments while providing detailed views at decision points, thus resolving the contradiction between detailed viewing and time efficiency
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses periodic pauses at navigational decision points within the continuous video playback. The video plays back at accelerated speed through regular segments but automatically pauses when approaching decision points, allowing users to view detailed imagery at critical locations while maintaining fast preview through non-critical sections
2Ease of operation
If users advance through long stretches of road with no navigational decision points, then they can reach decision points, but the process becomes inefficient
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements fast-forward playback for route segments that contain no navigational decision points or contain only simple decision points. This allows users to efficiently skip through long, straightforward stretches of road without manually clicking through each image, significantly improving preview efficiency while maintaining ease of operation
3Loss of information
If the video preview pauses at every navigational decision point, then users can view critical information, but the overall preview time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies different quality levels of attention to different parts of the route. Critical segments containing complex navigational decision points receive enhanced treatment with automatic pauses and detailed imagery display, while simple segments are processed quickly with fast-forward playback. This local differentiation maintains information completeness at critical points while minimizing overall preview time
Data Source
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AI summary
A video route-previewing system includes a route-previewing device for receiving input defining a starting point and a destination point and for identifying a route based on the starting point and the destination point. A preview-generating device receives the route from the route-previewing device and generates an image request for the route. A street-level imagery server receives the image request from the preview-generating device and communicates imagery of the route to the preview-generating device in response to the image request. The preview-generating device generates a time-compressed nonlinear route preview from the imagery of the route and communicates the preview to the route-previewing device. The route-previewing device displays the preview video of the route. The preview video may time-compress segments without navigational decision points and present in slow-motion segments around navigational decision points.