Patent ID: 8427481

Claim:
A method for navigating an electronic map, the method comprising: displaying on a computing device the electronic map in accordance with an inquiry from a user, the electronic map including routes from one point to another point, wherein at least one of the routes includes one or more hotspots; accepting a selection for one of the routes as a selected route; displaying the selected route in the electronic map; displaying further an image sequence including a plurality of images of the selected route to demonstrate how the user would see when going along the selected route, wherein the image sequence is being shown and synchronized with the electronic map in a manner that a jump from one image to another image in the image sequence being shown leads to a corresponding leap motion in the electronic map being displayed; accessing auxiliary data associated with a hotspot when the user selects the hotspot in the electronic map, wherein the auxiliary data is not part of the electronic map being displayed but is obtained from an external source; and displaying from the auxiliary data an visual effect about the hotspot so that the user understands more about the hotspot.