Patent Document ID: 20150170403
Application ID: 13482889
Patent Status: 0

Claim One:
1. A computer-implemented method for animated visualization of geo-located objects in a geographic information system, comprising: determining a first position of a first moving object to be visualized at a first time in an interactive three-dimensional environment of the geographic information system based on geographic positioning data associated with the first moving object over a period of time; positioning a graphical representation of the first moving object at the first time in the interactive three-dimensional environment according to the determined first position; determining a second position of the first moving object to be visualized at a second time in the interactive three-dimensional environment based on the geographic positioning data associated with the first moving object; defining a first path of a virtual camera in the interactive three-dimensional environment based on the determined first and second positions of the first moving object at the respective first and second times, the first moving object to be visualized in the interactive three-dimensional environment from a perspective of the virtual camera; automatically generating in real-time an animation of the graphical representation of the first moving object in the interactive three-dimensional environment based on the defined first path of the virtual camera so as to visualize a smooth transition of the first moving object from the first position at the first time to the second position at the second time in the interactive three-dimensional environment; and dynamically rendering the generated animation and views of geographic information within the interactive three-dimensional environment on a display from the perspective of the virtual camera moving along the first path from the first position to the second position, wherein the determining the first and second positions, the positioning, the defining, the generating, and the rendering are performed by one or more computing devices implementing the interactive three-dimensional environment of the geographic information system.