System and method of determining map coordinates from images
View Patent ↗Systems and methods provide approximations of latitude and longitude coordinates of objects, for example a business, in street level images. The images may be collected by a camera. An image of a business is collected along with GPS coordinates and direction of the camera. Depth maps of the images may be generated, for example, based on laser depth detection or displacement of the business between two images caused by a change in the position of the camera. After identifying a business in one or more images, the distance from the camera to a point or area relative to the business in the one or more images may be determined based on the depth maps. Using this distance and the direction of the camera which collected the one or more images and GPS coordinates of the camera, the approximate GPS coordinates of the business may be determined.
1. A method comprising:
identifying a portal in an image, wherein the portal is associated with a point of interest identified by a location of a first map marker in map data;
receiving surface depth data identifying one or more distances from the geographic location of the camera that captured the image to objects of the image;
determining a distance from the camera that captured the image to the portal in the image based on the surface depth data;
determining, by one or more computing devices, an approximate geographic location of the portal based on the determined distance and the geographic location information and direction information associated with the image;
adjusting, by the one or more computing devices, the location of the first map marker in the map data based on the approximate geographic location; and
adjusting, by the one or more computing devices, the location of a second map marker in the map data based on the adjusted location of the first map marker.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first and second map markers are associated with a particular portion of roadway, and adjusting the location of the second map marker includes moving the second map marker relative to the location of the particular portion of roadway.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first and second map markers are associated with respective geographic location codes, and adjusting the locations of the first and second map markers further includes changing the respective geographic location codes of the first and second map markers.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first and second map markers are both associated with a particular portion of roadway, and adjusting the location of the second map marker includes changing relative spacing between the first and second map markers along the particular portion of roadway.
5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising in conjunction with adjusting the second map marker, adjusting a location of a third map marker in the map data based on the adjusted location of the first map marker.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the first and second map markers are both associated with a particular portion of roadway, and adjusting the location of the second and third map markers includes evenly spacing the first, second, and third map markers along the particular portion of roadway.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first and second map markers are both associated with a particular portion of roadway, and adjusting the location of the second map marker includes changing a relative distance between the second map marker and the particular portion of roadway.
8. A system comprising one or more computing devices configured to:
identify a portal in an image, wherein the portal is associated with a point of interest identified by a location of a first map marker in map data;
receive surface depth data identifying one or more distances from the geographic location of the camera that captured the image to objects of the image;
determine a distance from the camera that captured the image to the portal in the image based on the surface depth data;
determine an approximate geographic location of the portal based on the determined distance and the geographic location information and direction information associated with the image;
adjust the location of the first map marker in the map data based on the approximate geographic location; and
adjust the location of a second map marker in the map data based on the adjusted location of the first map marker.
9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the first and second map markers are associated with a particular portion of roadway, and the one or more computing devices are further configured to adjust the location of the second map marker by moving the second map marker relative to the location of the particular portion of roadway.
10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the first and second map markers are associated with respective geographic location codes, and the one or more computing devices are further configured to adjust the locations of the first and second map markers further by changing the respective geographic location codes of the first and second map markers.
11. The method of claim 8 , wherein the first and second map markers are both associated with a particular portion of roadway, and the one or more computing devices are further configured to adjust the location of the second map marker by changing relative spacing between the first and second map makers along the particular portion of roadway.
12. The method of claim 8 , further comprising in conjunction with adjusting the second map marker, the one or more computing devices are further configured to adjust a location of a third map marker in the map data based on the adjusted location of the first map marker.
13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the first and second map markers are both associated with a particular portion of roadway, and the one or more computing devices are further configured to adjust the location of the second and third map markers by evenly spacing the first, second, and third map markers along the particular portion of roadway.
14. The system of claim 8 , wherein the first and second map markers are both associated with a particular portion of roadway, and the one or more computing devices are further configured to adjust the location of the second map marker by changing a relative distance between the second map marker and the particular portion of roadway.
15. A tangible, non-transitory computer-readable recording medium on which computer-readable instructions of a program are stored, the instructions when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform a method, the method comprising:
identifying a portal in an image, wherein the portal is associated with a point of interest identified by a location of a first map marker in map data;
receiving surface depth data identifying one or more distances from the geographic location of the camera that captured the image to objects of the image;
determining a distance from the camera that captured the image to the portal in the image based on the surface depth data;
determining, by a processor, an approximate geographic location of the portal based on the determined distance and the geographic location information and direction information associated with the image;
adjusting, by the processor, the location of the first map marker in the map data based on the approximate geographic location; and
adjusting the location of a second map marker in the map data based on the adjusted location of the first map marker.
16. The medium of claim 15 , wherein the first and second map markers are associated with a particular portion of roadway, and adjusting the location of the second map marker includes moving the second map marker relative to the location of the particular portion of roadway.
17. The medium of claim 15 , wherein the first and second map markers are associated with respective geographic location codes, and adjusting the locations of the first and second map markers further includes changing the respective geographic location codes of the first and second map markers.
18. The medium of claim 15 , wherein the first and second map markers are both associated with a particular portion of roadway, and adjusting the location of the second map marker includes changing relative spacing between the first and second map markers along the particular portion of roadway.
19. The medium of claim 15 , wherein the method further comprises, in conjunction with adjusting the second map marker, adjusting a location of a third map marker in the map data based on the adjusted location of the first map marker.
20. The medium of claim 19 , wherein the first and second map markers are both associated with a particular portion of roadway, and adjusting the location of the second and third map markers includes evenly spacing the first, second, and third map markers along the particular portion of roadway.