To generate navigation directions for a driver of a vehicle, a route for guiding the driver to a destination is obtained, visual landmarks corresponding to prominent physical objects disposed along the route are retrieved, and real-time imagery is collected at the vehicle approximately from a vantage point of the driver during navigation along the route. Using (i) the retrieved visual landmarks and (ii) the imagery collected at the vehicle, a subset of the visual landmarks that are currently visible to the driver is selected. Navigation directions describing the route are provided the driver, the navigation directions referencing the selected subset of the visual landmarks and excluding the remaining visual landmarks.

A method for generating navigation data for a vehicle using a vehicle and a navigation device, said vehicle comprising a set of sensors, said method comprising the steps of: travelling along a road, detecting at least one landmark, determining if said at least one landmark has a shape correlating to the main direction of said road. Approving the at least one landmark as a landmark for landmark navigation or approving an associated section of the road for landmark navigation.

A method for comparing two maps with landmarks stored therein. The method includes comparing at least one portion of the first map with a corresponding portion in the second map, wherein a similarity between the portion of the first map and the corresponding portion in the second map is determined based on a correspondence between the landmarks respectively stored in the two portions, and wherein the similarity of the compared portion is expressed as a similarity value derived therefrom. Also disclosed is an associated apparatus, an associated computer program including program code, and an associated computer program product including program code.

According to embodiments of the present invention, a method, a device and a computer program product for landmark determination are proposed. In the method, a plurality of objects are identified from a plurality of video clips. The plurality of video clips are respectively captured by a plurality of cameras monitoring a geographical area. At least one of uniqueness levels and expected appearance probabilities of each of the plurality of objects in the plurality of video clips are determined. At least one of the plurality of objects is determined to be a landmark of the geographical area based on the at least one of the uniqueness levels and the expected appearance probabilities. In this way, the landmark can be determined accurately and dynamically.

Computer-implemented techniques can include obtaining future travel plans for a user in a region that utilizes a language that is foreign to the user and predicting, based on the future travel plans, an expected future offline period during which the user is unlikely to have access to a network connection via a client computing device. The techniques can include identifying one or more points of interest in future the travel plans in the expected future offline period where the user is likely to require translation of foreign language text and obtaining portions of foreign language text associated therewith. The techniques can also include, prior to the expected future offline period, obtaining translated portions of text representing translations of the portions of foreign language text to a preferred language of the user and transmitting, to the client computing device, the translated portions of text.

Disclosed is a location-based service based on a user point of interest (POI). An electronic device comprises: a processor for generating a database related to a user POI; detecting the user request for information; and an output unit for outputting information based on the user POI database. The user POI can indicate at least one place extracted from the information inputted to the electronic device.

A navigation system is configured to generate a sequence of driving instructions for directing a driver of a vehicle from a current location to a final destination. The navigation system is configured to capture sensor data that reflects the field of view of the driver and to identify objects in that field of view. The navigation system then customizes the driving instructions to reference specific objects, thereby generating context-specific driving instructions. The navigation system is also configured to identify particular objects upon which the driver is focused, and to generate context-specific driving instructions relative to such objects of focus. The navigation system may also provide correction information to the driver upon determining that the driver has incorrectly focused on a different object than an object referenced in a context-specific driving instruction.

A vehicle selects various sound sources and outputs driving sound based on information received from the navigation system. A database stores sound sources classified as first and second emotions. A controller outputs a landmark name based on a route guidance text and outputs a ratio of the first and second emotions corresponding to the landmark name. The controller selects a first sound source from the sound sources classified as the first emotion based on the first emotion ratio, selects a second sound source from the sound sources classified as the second emotion based on the second emotion ratio and determines first and second playback periods based on the ratios of the first and second emotions. The controller outputs a first sound generated based on the first sound source during the first playback period and a second sound generated based on the second sound source during the second playback period.

Systems and methods are disclosed herein for monitoring a location of a client device associated with a transportation service and generating augmented reality images for display on the client device. The systems and methods use sensor data from the client device and a device localization process to monitor the location of the client device by comparing renderings of images captured by the client device to renderings of the vicinity of the pickup location. The systems and methods determine navigation instructions from the user's current location to the pickup location and select one or more augmented reality elements associated with the navigation instructions and/or landmarks along the route to the pickup location. The systems and methods instruct the client device to overlay the selected augmented reality elements on a video feed of the client device.

An approach is provided for providing list-based exploration of mapping data. The list-based exploration platform causes, at least in part, an association of one or more features of a geographical area with one or more list objects. Next, the list-based exploration platform processes and/or facilitates a processing of location information associated with one or more map data items to group, to sort, or a combination thereof the one or more map data items into the one or more list objects. Then, the list-based exploration platform causes, at least in part, a rendering of at least one of the one or more list objects in a user interface, wherein the user interface includes one or more user interface elements for controlling a browsing of the one or more map data items in the at least one of the one or more list objects.