Patent ID: 8467991

Claim:
A method implemented at a portable device that includes one or more processors and memory storing instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors, implement the method for interacting with representations one or more local points of interest at the device through gestures made with the portable device, the method comprising: an act of the portable device determining one or more points of interest that are contextually relevant to a physical location of the portable device based on location information, the location information representing a global physical position of the portable device, the one or more points of interest comprising at least one of a stationary physical object or a geographical location; an act of the portable device determining that the portable device is pointing toward at least one of the points of interest that are contextually relevant to the physical location of the portable device based on direction information, the direction information representing a physical orientation of the portable device within a three-dimensional space; an act of the portable device displaying at least a representation of the at least one of the points of interest toward which the portable device is pointing at a display of the portable device, including: in response to detecting that a viewing plane of the portable device is aligned with a substantially horizontal plane that is substantially parallel to a ground plane, displaying a two-dimensional (2D) map-based view of a local geographical area instead of a three-dimensional 3D perspective view, including displaying a representation of the at least one of the points of interest within the 2D map-based view; and in response to detecting that the viewing plane of the portable device is aligned with a substantially vertical plane that is substantially orthogonal to the ground plane, displaying the 3D perspective view of the local geographical area instead of the 2D map-based view, including displaying a representation of the at least one of the points of interest within the 3D perspective view; an act of the portable device detecting a gesture through detecting a physical movement of the portable device, detecting the gesture comprising detecting changes in one or more of (i) the location information, (ii) the direction information, or (iii) motion information; and an act of the portable device initiating at least one operation with respect to the at least one of the points of interest in response to detecting the gesture.