System and method for gesture-based point of interest search

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10073535-B2
Application number	US-201615367526-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 2, 2016
Priority date	Mar 15, 2013
Publication date	Sep 11, 2018
Grant date	Sep 11, 2018

Abstract

A user, such as the driver of a vehicle, to retrieve information related to a point of interest (POI) near the vehicle by pointing at the POI or performing some other gesture to identify the POI. Gesture recognition is performed on the gesture to generate a target region that includes the POI that the user identified. After generating the target region, information about the POI can be retrieved by querying a server-based POI service with the target region or by searching in a micromap that is stored locally. The retrieved POI information can then be provided to the user via a display and/or speaker in the vehicle. This process beneficially allows a user to rapidly identify and retrieve information about a POI near the vehicle without having to navigate a user interface by manipulating a touchscreen or physical buttons.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A vehicle-based computer-implemented method for retrieving information associated with a point of interest (POI), the method comprising:
accessing, at a computer system, movement data representing a current speed of a vehicle;
accessing location data identifying a current location and an orientation of the vehicle;
analyzing the movement data and the location data to find a region that the vehicle is likely to travel through;
retrieving, from a POI data server, information associated with one or more points of interest inside the region;
storing the information in a local storage;
subsequent to storing the information, receiving a data signal representing an identifying gesture performed by a user inside the vehicle;
performing gesture recognition on the data signal to determine a direction vector representing a direction of the identifying gesture;
analyzing the direction vector and the location data to generate a target region exterior to the vehicle and corresponding to the direction of the identifying gesture;
receiving a voice command issued by the user inside the vehicle;
performing voice recognition on the voice command to determine one or more words spoken by the user as part of the voice command;
analyzing the voice command words to identify a POI located in the target region;
retrieving, from the local storage, information associated with the POI; and
providing the retrieved information to the user, the retrieved information including information associated with the POI,
wherein the target region is in a shape of a cone,
wherein a tip of the cone corresponds to the current location of the vehicle,
wherein the target region aligns with the direction vector, and
wherein an extent of the target region is dependent on the current speed of the vehicle.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the identifying gesture comprises a hand with an outstretched index finger pointing in the direction.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising retrieving additional information associated with the POI from the POI data server, and providing the retrieved additional information to the user.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3 , wherein the retrieved information and the retrieved additional information are merged into a single set of POI information before being provided to the user.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein retrieving, from the local storage information associated with the POI comprises:
determining whether the target region overlaps with the region;
responsive to determining that the target region overlaps with the region, accessing the locally stored information associated with the POI.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein providing the retrieved information to the user comprises sending at least part of the retrieved information to be shown on a display in the vehicle.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein finding the region that the vehicle is likely to travel through comprises:
identifying a plurality of candidate regions that the vehicle is likely to travel through; and
selecting the region from among the plurality of candidate regions.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein analyzing the movement data and the location data to find the region that the vehicle is likely to travel through comprises:
analyzing the current speed, the current location, and the orientation of the vehicle to generate a retrieval region in front of the vehicle; and
identifying a portion within the retrieval region as the region.

9. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium for storing computer program instructions for retrieving information associated with a point of interest (POI), the program instructions when executed by a processor cause the processor to perform steps including:
accessing movement data representing a current speed of a vehicle;
accessing location data identifying a current location and an orientation of the vehicle;
analyzing the movement data and the location data to find a region that the vehicle is likely to travel through;
retrieving, from a POI data server, information associated with one or more points of interest inside the region;
storing the information in a local storage;
subsequent to storing the information, receiving a data signal representing an identifying gesture performed by a user inside the vehicle;
performing gesture recognition on the data signal to determine a direction vector representing the direction of the identifying gesture;
analyzing the direction vector and the location data to generate a target region exterior to the vehicle and corresponding to the direction of the identifying gesture;
receiving a voice command issued by the user inside the vehicle;
performing voice recognition on the voice command to determine one or more words spoken by the user as part of the voice command;
analyzing the voice command words to identifying a POI located in the target region;
retrieving, from the local storage, information associated with the POI; and
providing the retrieved information to the user, the retrieved information including information associated with the POI,
wherein the target region is in a shape of a cone,
wherein a tip of the cone corresponds to the current location of the vehicle,
wherein the target region aligns with the direction vector, and
wherein an extent of the target region is dependent on the current speed of the vehicle.

10. The storage medium of claim 9 , wherein the program instructions further cause the processor to retrieve additional information associated with the POI from the POI data server, and provide the retrieved additional information to the user.

11. The storage medium of claim 9 , wherein retrieving, from the local storage, information associated with the POI comprises:
determining whether the target region overlaps with the region;
responsive to determining that the target region overlaps with the region, accessing the locally stored information associated with the POI.

12. A vehicle-based computing system for retrieving information associated with a point of interest (POI), the system comprising:
a POI information retrieval module including a local storage;
a location module that is included as a module of the POI information retrieval module and is configured to access location data identifying a current location and an orientation of a vehicle;
a management module that is included as a module of the POI information retrieval module and is configured to:
access movement data representing a current speed of the vehicle;
analyze the movement data and the location data to find a region that the vehicle is likely to travel through;
retrieve, from a POI data server, information associated with one or more points of interest inside the region; and
store the information in the local storage;

a gesture recognition module that is included as a module of the POI information retrieval module and is configured to:
receive a data signal representing an identifying gesture performed by a user inside the vehicle, the identifying gesture oriented in a direction; and
perform gesture recognition on the data signal to determine a direction vector representing the direction of the identifying gesture;

a voice recognition module that is included as a module of the POI information retrieval module and is configured to:
receive a voice command, the voice command issued by the user inside the vehicle; and
perform voice recognition on the voice command to determine one or more words spoken by the user a

Assignees

• Honda Motor Co Ltd
• Edge 3 Tech Inc

Inventors

• Vaghefinazari Pedram
• Yamamoto Stuart Masakazu
• El Dokor Tarek A
• Cluster Jordan
• Holmes James E

Classifications

• G01C21/00

  Navigation; Navigational instruments not provided for in groups G01C1/00 - G01C19/00 (measuring distance traversed on the ground by a vehicle G01C22/00; control of position, course, altitude or attitude of vehicles G05D1/00; traffic control systems for road vehicles involving transmission of navigation instructions to the vehicle G08G1/0968) · CPC title

• G01C21/3664 Primary

  Details of the user input interface, e.g. buttons, knobs or sliders, including those provided on a touch screen; remote controllers; input using gestures · CPC title

• G06F3/0346

  with detection of the device orientation or free movement in a three-dimensional [3D] space, e.g. 3D mice, 6-DOF [six degrees of freedom] pointers using gyroscopes, accelerometers or tilt-sensors · CPC title

• G01C21/3682

  output of POI information on a road map (G01C21/3614, G01C21/3685 take precedence) · CPC title

• G06F3/017 Primary

  Gesture based interaction, e.g. based on a set of recognized hand gestures (interaction based on gestures traced on a digitiser G06F3/04883) · CPC title