Patent ID: 8686995

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for street-level navigation of a virtual camera in a three-dimensional environment, the virtual camera defining a perspective to display the three-dimensional environment, comprising: (a) determining, by one or more computing devices, a target location in the three-dimensional environment, the three-dimensional environment including a plurality of points, each point corresponding to a location where a panoramic photograph was taken; (b) determining, by one or more computing devices, a path specified by a discontinuous series of two or more of the plurality of points in the three-dimensional environment such that the path runs from a first position corresponding to an initial location of the virtual camera to a second position corresponding to the target location, and wherein at least a portion of the path is determined to run along a representation of a street; (c) moving, by one or more computing devices, the virtual camera in the three-dimensional environment toward the target location along the path determined in (b) such that the virtual camera is moved to each point in the series of points in an order specified by the series, wherein the three-dimensional environment includes a plurality of building models, at least one building model in the plurality of building models is positioned between the initial location of the virtual camera and the target location, and the virtual camera avoids colliding with the at least one building model by moving along the path specified the series of points; and (d) orienting, by one or more computing devices, the virtual camera to face the target location as the virtual camera moves along the path.