Providing electronic search and guidance using non-address destination designations

Disclosed are various embodiments for providing an electronic search and guidance application that uses non-address destination designations. In one embodiment, a user enters a particular building identifier via a mobile device. A particular geographic location corresponding to the particular building identifier is determined. A user interface is generated that includes a map having an indicium showing the particular geographic location that corresponds to the particular building identifier.

BACKGROUND

Prior to the twenty-first century, people used to navigate around unfamiliar environments through the use of printed maps. Such maps varied in size and detail presented. For example, a map for a state might show only major highways in the state, while a map for a city might show every street in the city. Unfortunately, such maps were cumbersome to use, especially while driving and in low visibility conditions, and became outdated due to changes in street names, newly constructed roads, changes in traffic patterns, etc.

In the late 1990s, the global positioning system (GPS) became operational. GPS enabled a person to determine his or her geographic location by using an electronic device equipped to receive signals from a group of GPS satellites. Dedicated navigational devices became commonplace, with display screens and audio capability to direct users via turn-by-turn navigation backed by GPS. More recently, smartphones with GPS capability have become available. Unlike standalone devices, GPS-equipped smartphones may be automatically kept up to date with the latest navigational data. GPS-equipped smartphones are quickly replacing standalone GPS units, though standalone GPS units have the advantage of working in areas without a data signal to supply navigational data.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure relates to providing electronic search and guidance using non-address destination designations. United States military installations are notorious for being difficult to navigate by a person who is new to the area. Because of the frequent transfers from one base to another, called a Permanent Change of Station (“PCS”), the difficulty is relentlessly and repeatedly magnified. The present disclosure solves this problem by providing real-time navigation and guidance without the use of ordinary street names or addresses. It is often the case that street names or addresses are not available to mobile devices, or on the internet at all, when the addresses are within the secure areas of military installations. Existing mapping and navigation applications and maps are therefore useless because the addresses for buildings on base simply appear to be at the gate to the base when they are searched.

By mapping each building on the military installation to a set of coordinates, users who are seeking a particular building can find it by its number using the application on their mobile device or smartphone. Building number is, by far, the most common identification for any building on a United States military installation, whether it be Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, National Guard or Coast Guard. Some of the buildings can be quite large, so there may be multiple sets of coordinates for different entrances or even other types of location data for locations inside the building.

As long as a building, field, training area, range, or any kind of other structure or feature has a unique identifier or can be provided a unique identifier that the user can understand, it may be searchable and mappable by the database/application combination described herein. In the following discussion, a general description of the system and its components is provided, followed by a discussion of the operation of the same.

With reference toFIG. 1, shown is a networked environment100according to various embodiments. The networked environment100includes a computing environment103and one or more client devices106, which are in data communication with each other via a network109. The network109includes, for example, the Internet, intranets, extranets, wide area networks (WANs), local area networks (LANs), wired networks, wireless networks, cable networks, satellite networks, or other suitable networks, etc., or any combination of two or more such networks.

Various applications and/or other functionality may be executed in the computing environment103according to various embodiments. Also, various data is stored in a data store112that is accessible to the computing environment103. The data store112may be representative of a plurality of data stores112as can be appreciated. The data stored in the data store112, for example, is associated with the operation of the various applications and/or functional entities described below.

The components executed on the computing environment103, for example, include a location data generation application115, a navigation server application118, and other applications, services, processes, systems, engines, or functionality not discussed in detail herein. The location data generation application115is executed to generate and/or update location data121, which includes associations between geographic locations124and feature identifiers127, among other data. The navigation server application118is executed to provide navigation data and/or other backend support to client devices106that execute an electronic search and guidance application130.

The data stored in the data store112includes, for example, location data121, traffic data133, map data136, user data139, and potentially other data. The location data121maintains associations or mappings between feature identifiers127and geographic locations124. The feature identifiers127may correspond to building numbers, field identifiers, training area identifiers, range identifiers, and/or other unique identifiers for destination features. It is noted that the feature identifiers127do not correspond to address information or street addresses. In one scenario, the feature identifiers127all correspond to unique features upon one or more military installations. In other scenarios, the feature identifiers127correspond to unique features of schools, university campuses, corporate campuses, etc. The feature identifiers127may correspond to building numbers, room numbers, door numbers, etc.

The geographic locations124may correspond to data representations of specific locations, e.g., a set of coordinates including latitude and longitude. In some cases, a geographic location124may correspond to a geographic area with a bounding box, bounding radius, or other boundary being defined. The location data121may also include location metadata142, military installation associations145, and/or other data. The location metadata142may include names, titles, descriptions, images, ratings, user reviews and comments, and/or other data associated with a given feature.

In one embodiment, the military installation associations145associate specific feature identifiers127and geographic locations124with a specific military installation. It is noted that in one embodiment, the feature identifiers127are unique across all military installations, while in another embodiment, the feature identifiers127are unique to a particular military installation and may be reused in connection with other military installations.

The traffic data133may record historic and/or current traffic relating to routes to and/or from the geographic locations124. The map data136enables generation of maps and determination of routes to and/or from geographic locations124. To this end, the map data136may include roads, directionality of roads, turn lane information, whether U-turns are permitted, average time to traverse a road segment, speed limits, bodies of water, boundaries, place names, and/or other information.

The user data139may record various information about users of the system. In one embodiment, a user is required to have an active account in order to leverage the resources of the navigation server application118. Similarly, an account may be necessary to provide updated information to the location data generation application115. The user data139may include user names, security credentials, cookie information, known internet protocol (IP) addresses, etc., used to authenticate users. For instance, a user may be required to enter a valid username and password combination to use the electronic search and guidance application130. In particular, authentication may be required in order to maintain security of the information when deemed necessary by military installations, universities, corporations, and so on.

The client device106may be configured to execute various applications such as an electronic search and guidance application130, a location association application151, and/or other applications. The electronic search and guidance application130may be executed in a client device106, for example, to access network content served up by the computing environment103and/or other servers, thereby rendering a user interface154on the display148. To this end, the electronic search and guidance application130may comprise, for example, a browser, a dedicated application, etc., and the user interface154may comprise a network page, an application screen, etc.

In particular, the electronic search and guidance application130may be used to identify locations of features upon military installations, college campuses, corporate campuses, etc. Such features were previously hard to find as they were not associated with street addresses or geographic locations. The electronic search and guidance application130may facilitate mapping, routing, and/or other operations involving the locations of these features. The location association application151may facilitate generation of associations between feature identifiers127and geographic locations124based at least in part on a current location of the client device106. The client device106may be configured to execute applications beyond the electronic search and guidance application130and the location association application151such as, for example, email applications, social networking applications, word processors, spreadsheets, and/or other applications.

The client device106may also include one or more audio devices157and a geolocation system160. The audio devices157may include speakers, microphones, line-in interfaces, line-out interfaces, and so on. The geolocation system160may include a global positioning system (GPS) receiver, a global navigation satellite system (GLONASS) receiver, and/or other receivers to determine locations. The geolocation system160may determine location based at least in part on detected WI-FI networks and/or cell towers of known locations via triangulation procedures.

Next, a general description of the operation of the various components of the networked environment100is provided. To begin, the location data121may be created for various military installations, college campuses, corporate campuses, etc. In one embodiment, a user visits various features of the military installations, etc. and utilizes a user interface154of the location association application151to specify a feature identifier127(e.g., a building number, facility ID, etc.). The user may be required to enter a username and password or other security credential in order to authenticate to the computing environment103.

The geolocation system160of the client device106may be used to automatically obtain a current location of the client device106. The current location may then be associated with and mapped to the feature identifier127. The location association application151may then transmit the association to the location data generation application115, which may then generate the location data121in the data store112. Additional location metadata142such as current picture or other data may be added. In this way, numerous locations may be visited and many military installation associations145may be created.

In other embodiments, associations may be manually generated via plotting coordinates of geographic locations124upon a map, or by importing from a list of geographic locations124.

Subsequently, a user may launch the electronic search and guidance application130on the same client device106or a different client device106. In some cases, to ensure proper security of the location data121or for other reasons, the user may be required to log in via a username, password, biometric identification, etc. in a user interface154.

The user may indicate a specific military installation or campus in a user interface154. In some cases, this may be selected from a list containing a plurality of identifiers of military installations or campuses. Then the user may enter a feature identifier127via a user interface154, such as a building identifier, building number, or other identifier that is not a portion of a street address. In some situations, the user may enter only a portion of the feature identifier127and a listing of potential feature identifiers127may be shown in an auto-complete style interface. This listing may be populated with data obtained from the navigation server application118. Ultimately, the user selects or specifies a particular feature identifier127.

The electronic search and guidance application130then determines a correlation between the feature identifier127and a geographic location124. For instance, the electronic search and guidance application130may send a request to the navigation server application118to determine the geographic location124. Alternatively, the location data121may be stored locally upon the client device106in the case of cached location data121or a non-networked client device106.

Based upon the geographic location124, the electronic search and guidance application130may render a map with an indicium indicating the geographic location124. For example, a pin point, circle, or other marker may be rendered. A text label showing the feature identifier127may be rendered in connection with the map.

Additionally, the electronic search and guidance application130may facilitate navigational routing from one location to another. In this regard, the user may enter a specific starting location in a user interface154. Alternatively, the user may specify that a current location determined by the geolocation system160is to be used. The electronic search and guidance application130may submit a request to the navigation server application118to determine the route. Alternatively, the electronic search and guidance application130may be able to determine the route using cached data or if the electronic search and guidance application130is in a self-contained client device106.

The shortest route may be determined, and in some cases, several routes may be determined and presented to the user. The traffic data133may be leveraged to find a route with a shortest traffic time. In some cases, current and/or historical traffic loads for route segments may be presented in a map user interface154.

The electronic search and guidance application130may be configured to cause a map to be rendered that visually indicates the route, e.g., highlighting roads to be traversed. In some cases, the electronic search and guidance application130may render a listing of specific navigational instructions in the user interface154. Turn by turn navigation may be provided in real time, via the user interface154and/or via audio emitted by the audio device157.

Referring next toFIG. 2A, shown is one example of a user interface154acorresponding to the electronic search and guidance application130(FIG. 1). InFIG. 2A, the user interface154aallows for a selection from among various military installations. The military installations may be organized by branch of service, e.g., Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, and so on. By selecting a particular icon, the user is able to identify a particular military installation or search among another screen with listings of particular military installations.

Turning now toFIG. 2B, shown is one example of a user interface154bcorresponding to the electronic search and guidance application130(FIG. 1). InFIG. 2B, the user interface154ballows a user to enter a specific feature identifier127(FIG. 1) such as a building number. An automatic completion feature indicates predefined feature identifiers127for the specific military installation that complete or are similar to the entered text string. An on-screen keyboard is shown to facilitate user input. In some cases, the user may dictate the input via a microphone or attached BLUETOOTH device. To the extent that military security is at issue when publishing the coordinates of specific buildings and installations, the abstracted and arbitrary nature of numbering buildings prevents any correlation to any type of activity or potential target. The unique identifiers of building numbers and names may be replaced with user-supplied data, such as crowd-sourced naming conventions, popularized destinations acquiring nicknames, images of the location becoming its de facto identifier as images are now searchable, or even just the coordinates themselves.

Moving on toFIG. 2C, shown is one example of a user interface154ccorresponding to the electronic search and guidance application130(FIG. 1). The user interface154clists various feature identifiers127(FIG. 1) of a military installation that are indicated as favorites. The geographic locations124(FIG. 1) of the corresponding features are compared with the current location of the client device106(FIG. 1) to obtain a distance. When the user selects one of the features, a map indicating the feature may be shown, or directions from the current location to the feature may be provided.

Continuing toFIG. 2D, shown is one example of a user interface154dcorresponding to the electronic search and guidance application130(FIG. 1). The user interface154dcorresponds to a detail screen for a specific feature. Various elements of the location metadata142(FIG. 1) may be rendered, including street address, phone number, description, reviews, and so on. A map may be rendered with a push pin or other indicium that shows the geographic location124(FIG. 1) of the feature.

Referring next toFIG. 3, shown is a flowchart that provides one example of the operation of a portion of the electronic search and guidance application130according to various embodiments. It is understood that the flowchart ofFIG. 3provides merely an example of the many different types of functional arrangements that may be employed to implement the operation of the portion of the electronic search and guidance application130as described herein. As an alternative, the flowchart ofFIG. 3may be viewed as depicting an example of elements of a method implemented in the computing environment103(FIG. 1) according to one or more embodiments.

Beginning with box303, the location data121(FIG. 1) is generated via the location data generation application115(FIG. 1). In box306, the electronic search and guidance application130obtains an identification of a military installation. In box309, the electronic search and guidance application130obtains a building number or another feature identifier127(FIG. 1) that does not correspond to a street address or a portion of a street address.

In box312, the electronic search and guidance application130determines a geographic location124(FIG. 1) corresponding to the building number using the location data121. In box315, the electronic search and guidance application130renders a user interface154(FIG. 1) including a map that visually indicates the geographic location124.

In box318, the electronic search and guidance application130obtains a starting location. In box321, the electronic search and guidance application130determines a route from the starting location to the geographic location124. In box324, the electronic search and guidance application130indicates the route via updating the map. The electronic search and guidance application130may also provide navigational instructions, e.g., turn by turn navigation to the geographic location124in real time. Thereafter, the portion of the electronic search and guidance application130ends.

With reference toFIG. 4, shown is a schematic block diagram of the computing environment103according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The computing environment103includes one or more computing devices400. Each computing device400includes at least one processor circuit, for example, having a processor403and a memory406, both of which are coupled to a local interface409. To this end, each computing device400may comprise, for example, at least one server computer or like device. The local interface409may comprise, for example, a data bus with an accompanying address/control bus or other bus structure as can be appreciated.

Stored in the memory406are both data and several components that are executable by the processor403. In particular, stored in the memory406and executable by the processor403are the navigation server application118, the location data generation application115, and potentially other applications. Also stored in the memory406may be a data store112and other data. In addition, an operating system may be stored in the memory406and executable by the processor403.

With reference toFIG. 5, shown is a schematic block diagram of the client device106according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The client device106includes at least one processor circuit, for example, having a processor503and a memory506, both of which are coupled to a local interface509. The local interface509may comprise, for example, a data bus with an accompanying address/control bus or other bus structure as can be appreciated. A display148(FIG. 1), a location-finding device, a cellular transceiver, an audio device157(FIG. 1), and/or other devices may be coupled to the local interface509.

Stored in the memory506are both data and several components that are executable by the processor503. In particular, stored in the memory506and executable by the processor503are the electronic search and guidance application130, the geolocation system160, the location association application151, and potentially other applications. Also stored in the memory506may be a data store and other data. In addition, an operating system may be stored in the memory506and executable by the processor503.

Referring now to bothFIGS. 4 and 5, it is understood that there may be other applications that are stored in the memory406,506and are executable by the processor403,503as can be appreciated. Where any component discussed herein is implemented in the form of software, any one of a number of programming languages may be employed such as, for example, C, C++, C#, Objective C, Java®, JavaScript®, Perl, PHP, Visual Basic®, Python®, Ruby, Flash®, or other programming languages.

Also, the processor403,503may represent multiple processors403,503and/or multiple processor cores and the memory406,506may represent multiple memories406,506that operate in parallel processing circuits, respectively. In such a case, the local interface409,509may be an appropriate network that facilitates communication between any two of the multiple processors403,503, between any processor403,503and any of the memories406,506, or between any two of the memories406,506, etc. The local interface409,509may comprise additional systems designed to coordinate this communication, including, for example, performing load balancing. The processor403,503may be of electrical or of some other available construction.

Also, any logic or application described herein, including the navigation server application118, the location data generation application115, the electronic search and guidance application130, the geolocation system160, and the location association application151, that comprises software or code can be embodied in any non-transitory computer-readable medium for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system such as, for example, a processor403,503in a computer system or other system. In this sense, the logic may comprise, for example, statements including instructions and declarations that can be fetched from the computer-readable medium and executed by the instruction execution system. In the context of the present disclosure, a “computer-readable medium” can be any medium that can contain, store, or maintain the logic or application described herein for use by or in connection with the instruction execution system.

Further, any logic or application described herein, including the navigation server application118, the location data generation application115, the electronic search and guidance application130, the geolocation system160, and the location association application151, may be implemented and structured in a variety of ways. For example, one or more applications described may be implemented as modules or components of a single application. Further, one or more applications described herein may be executed in shared or separate computing devices or a combination thereof. For example, a plurality of the applications described herein may execute in the same computing device400, or in multiple computing devices in the same computing environment103. Additionally, it is understood that terms such as “application,” “service,” “system,” “engine,” “module,” and so on may be interchangeable and are not intended to be limiting.