Patent ID: 9466149
Filing Date: 2016-10-11
CPC Classification: G06T

Claim Text:
1. A method for providing realistic lighting conditions for graphical representations depicted on portable devices, the method comprising: generating, by one or more processors, a graphical representation of a real-world object depicted on a map for display on a portable device, the graphical representation being lit by a virtual sun, the real-world object's orientation relative to the real-world sun being such that a real-world shadow cast by the real-world object would be directed in a real-world direction; determining, by the one or more processors, a current orientation of the portable device relative to the real-world sun, the current orientation of the portable device being such that the graphical representation's orientation relative to the real-world sun is different from the real-world object's orientation relative to the real-world sun; positioning, by the one or more processors in real-time, the virtual sun using the determined current orientation so that the graphical representation of the object, the virtual sun, and the real-world sun are positioned on a same imaginary line such that the graphical representation's orientation relative to the virtual sun matches the graphical representation's orientation relative to the real-world sun; and generating, by the one or more processors, a graphical shadow cast by the graphical representation based on the graphical representation's orientation relative to the virtual sun, whereby the graphical shadow is generated to create an appearance that the graphical representation is obstructing light from the real-world sun when the graphical representation's orientation relative to the real-world sun differs from the real-world object's orientation relative to the real-world sun such that the graphical shadow cast by the graphical representation is cast in a map direction different from the real-world direction in which the real-world shadow would be directed.