METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MAPPING A POINT OF INTEREST BASED ON USER-CAPTURED IMAGES

1 . A method comprising facilitating a processing of and/or processing (1) data and/or (2) information and/or (3) at least one signal, the (1) data and/or (2) information and/or (3) at least one signal based, at least in part, on the following:

a querying for one or more user-captured images based, at least in part, on a point-of-interest (POI) record;

a recognition of one or more identifying features of a POI associated with the POI data record in the one or more user-captured images;

at least one determination of a position of the of the one or more identifying features in the one or more user-captured images; and

a mapping of the POI based, at least in part, on the position of the one or more identifying features and image metadata associated with the one or more user-captured images.

2 . A method of claim 1 , wherein the (1) data and/or (2) information and/or (3) at least one signal are further based, at least in part, on the following:

an initiation of the querying, the recognition, the mapping, or a combination thereof based, at least in part, on a determination of one or more updates to the POI data record.

3 . A method of claim 2 , wherein the one or more updates comprise an addition, a modification, a deletion, or a combination thereof, of the POI data record.

4 . A method of claim 1 , wherein the (1) data and/or (2) information and/or (3) at least one signal are further based, at least in part, on the following:

an initiation of the querying, the recognition, the mapping, or a combination thereof based, at least in part, on a determination that the POI is potentially visible in a street level mapping view.

5 . A method of claim 1 , wherein the (1) data and/or (2) information and/or (3) at least one signal are further based, at least in part, on the following:

a processing of the image metadata to determine a location, a camera pose, or a combination of one or more cameras capturing the one or more user-captured images;

a correlation of the position of the one or more identifying features to one or more building models based, at least in part, on the location, the camera pose, or a combination thereof; and

at least one determination of the mapping of the POI based, at least in part, on the correlation.

6 . A method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more identifying features include, at least in part, one or more signs indicating a name, a symbol, a feature, or a combination thereof.

7 . A method of claim 1 , wherein the recognition of the one or more identifying features is based, at least in part, on an optical character recognition (OCR) process and/or an image matching process.

8 . A method of claim 1 , wherein the (1) data and/or (2) information and/or (3) at least one signal are further based, at least in part, on the following:

a comparison of the one or more identifying features against one or more reference identifying features stored in the POI data record to confirm the one or more identifying features.

9 . A method of claim 1 , wherein the (1) data and/or (2) information and/or (3) at least one signal are further based, at least in part, on the following:

at least one determination of a location, a time of release, or a combination thereof of the POI data record, the POI, or a combination thereof as one or more criteria for the querying.

10 . A method of claim 1 , wherein the mapping of the POI is based, at least in part, a global coordinate system.

11 . An apparatus comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory including computer program code for one or more programs,

the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform at least the following,

cause, at least in part, a query for one or more user-captured images based, at least in part, on a point-of-interest (POI) record;

cause, at least in part, a recognition of one or more identifying features of a POI associated with the POI data record in the one or more user-captured images;

determine a position of the of the one or more identifying features in the one or more user-captured images; and

cause, at least in part, a mapping of the POI based, at least in part, on the position of the one or more identifying features and image metadata associated with the one or more user-captured images.

12 . An apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the apparatus is further caused to:

initiate the query, the recognition, the mapping, or a combination thereof based, at least in part, on a determination of one or more updates to the POI data record.

13 . An apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the one or more updates comprise an addition, a modification, a deletion, or a combination thereof, of the POI data record.

14 . An apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the apparatus is further caused to:

initiate the query, the recognition, the mapping, or a combination thereof based, at least in part, on a determination that the POI is potentially visible in a street level mapping view.

15 . An apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the apparatus is further caused to:

process and/or facilitate a processing of the image metadata to determine a location, a camera pose, or a combination of one or more cameras capturing the one or more user-captured images;

correlate the position of the one or more identifying features to one or more building models based, at least in part, on the location, the camera pose, or a combination thereof; and

determine the mapping of the POI based, at least in part, on the correlation.

16 . An apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the one or more identifying features include, at least in part, one or more signs indicating a name, a symbol, a feature, or a combination thereof.

17 . An apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the recognition of the one or more identifying features is based, at least in part, on an optical character recognition (OCR) process and/or an image matching process.

18 . An apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the apparatus is further caused to:

compare the one or more identifying features against one or more reference identifying features stored in the POI data record to confirm the one or more identifying features.

19 . An apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the apparatus is further caused to:

determine a location, a time of release, or a combination thereof of the POI data record, the POI, or a combination thereof as one or more criteria for the querying.

20 . An apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the mapping of the POI is based, at least in part, a global coordinate system.

21 .- 48 . (canceled)