Method and apparatus for displaying three-dimensional route guidance

A method for providing three-dimensional route guidance to a user comprises the steps of:

• loading map data from at least one database which is used to store and provide maps, road networks, geographical features and POI information;
• determining a vehicle's current position;
• determining a route from the vehicle's current position to a destination;
• adjusting curvature of a visual ground in the map to provide route guidance in a three-dimensional format to the user.

A smartphone comprising:

• a user interface including a three-dimensional scene generating unit adapted to generate the three-dimensional scene from two-dimensional scene information;
• a memory device;
• a control unit;
• and
• a navigation system comprising:
• an information receiver adapted to receive information about current location of a user;
• at least one database to store and provide maps, road networks, geographical features, and point-of-interest (POI) information;
• a route generating unit to retrieve the map and road network data from the database and generate a calculated route;
• and
• a map adjusting unit,
• wherein the control unit is configured to receive route information from the route generating unit and instruct the map adjusting unit to change curvature of a visual ground in the map to display route guidance in a three-dimensional format on the user interface.