Visualization of traffic patterns using GPS data
View Patent ↗Maps are created that display representations of GPS data generated from a plurality of GPS devices. The GPS data received from the GPS devices is embodied as a representation having descriptive features that visually indicate the location, direction of travel, and speed of travel of the GPS device, and the representation is associated with a road segment on the map. The display of the GPS data from a plurality of GPS devices can be used for editing information about roads on maps and determining preferred routes.
1. A computer-implemented method for generating a map for display, comprising:
receiving a plurality of GPS samples from a plurality of GPS devices, each GPS sample comprising a location, a direction of travel and a speed of travel of a GPS device from which the GPS sample is received;
associating selected GPS samples with respective road segments on a map based on the location and the direction of travel in each selected GPS sample;
identifying a turn restriction on a road segment of the map based on a plurality of directions of travel from GPS samples associated with the road segment; and
generating, for display, a map containing the road segment, the road segment labeled with the identified turn restriction.
2. The computer implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the map generated for display further contains a plurality of representations based on the GPS samples associated with the road segment, a generated representation visually indicating the direction of travel and the speed of travel for the GPS device that provided the GPS sample, the method further comprising assigning a graphical attribute of the representation to a physical attribute based on the GPS sample.
3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2 , further comprising assigning a color to the generated representation, wherein the color represents the direction of travel.
4. The computer-implemented method of claim 2 , wherein the generated representation is an arrow.
5. The computer-implemented method of claim 4 , wherein a length of the arrow represents the speed of travel associated with the GPS sample.
6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving from a user viewing the display an indication of a permitted direction of travel on the road segment; and
assigning the direction of travel to the road segment.
7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving from a user viewing the display an indication of a one-way road; and
assigning a one-way direction of travel to the road segment.
8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving from a user viewing the display an indication of an average speed for the road segment; and
assigning the average speed to the road segment.
9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving from a user viewing the display an indication of a stop signal on the road segment; and
assigning the stop signal to the road segment.
10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving from a user viewing the display an indication of a level of traffic associated with the road segment; and
assigning the traffic level to the road segment.
11. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving from a user viewing the display an indication of the road segment as a preferred route of travel; and
assigning the road segment as the preferred route of travel.
12. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining a direction of travel for the road segment based on a plurality of directions of travel from GPS samples associated with the road segment.
13. The computer-implemented method of claim 12 , further comprising:
identifying a one-way road based on the determined direction of travel of the road segment.
14. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining an average speed of the road segment based on a plurality of speeds of travel from GPS samples associated with the road segment.
15. The computer implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:
identifying a stop signal on the road segment based on a plurality of speeds of travel from GPS samples associated with the road segment.
16. The computer implemented method of claim 1 , wherein associating the selected GPS samples to the respective road segments is based upon a log probability of the association of a given GPS sample to a given road segment.
17. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing executable computer program instructions for generating a map for display, the computer program instructions executable by a processor to perform steps comprising:
receiving a plurality of GPS samples from a plurality of GPS devices, each GPS sample comprising a location, a direction of travel and a speed of travel of a GPS device from which the GPS sample is received;
associating selected GPS samples with respective road segments on a map based on the location and the direction of travel in each selected GPS sample;
identifying a turn restriction on a road segment of the map based on a plurality of directions of travel from GPS samples associated with the road segment; and
generating, for display, a map containing the road segment, the road segment labeled with the identified turn restriction.
18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17 , wherein the map generated for display further contains a plurality of representations based on the GPS samples associated with the road segment, a generated representation visually indicating the direction of travel and the speed of travel for the GPS device that provided the GPS sample, the instructions further comprising assigning a color to the generated representation, wherein the color represents the direction of travel.
19. The computer-implemented method of claim 2 , wherein identifying the turn restriction comprises:
automatically flagging the turn restriction on the road segment responsive to a threshold amount of the plurality of representations indicating a same direction at an intersection on the roads segment.
20. A computer system for generating a map for display, the computer system comprising:
a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing executable computer program instructions executable to perform steps comprising:
receiving a plurality of GPS samples from a plurality of GPS devices, each GPS sample comprising a location, a direction of travel and a speed of travel of a GPS device from which the GPS sample is received;
associating selected GPS samples with respective road segments on a map based on the location and the direction of travel in each selected GPS sample;
identifying a turn restriction on a road segment of the map based on a plurality of directions of travel from GPS samples associated with the road segment; and
generating, for display, a map containing the road segment, the road segment labeled with the identified turn restriction; and
a processor for executing the computer program instructions.