# US 9,437,047 B2 · Method, electronic apparatus, and computer-readable medium for retrieving map > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 9,437,047 B2 - Document ID: US9437047B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 14/155,366 - Filed: 2014-01-15 - Published: 2015-07-16 - Granted: 2016-09-06 - Earliest claimed: 2014-01-15 - Assignees: HTC Corporation - Applicants: HTC Corporation - Inventors: Yung-Lung Chang; Ruey-Jer Chang - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US9437047B2 ## CPC - G06T 19/20: Editing of three-dimensional [3D] images, e.g. changing shapes or colours, aligning objects or positioning parts - G06T 17/05: Geographic models - G06V 20/176: {Urban or other man-made structures} - G06V 20/182: {Network patterns, e.g. roads or rivers} - G06V 20/20: in augmented reality scenes - G09G 5/377: for mixing or overlaying two or more graphic patterns (G09G5/02, G09G5/397 take precedence) - G06F 3/147: using display panels - G06T 2207/30181: Earth observation - G06T 2219/2004: Aligning objects, relative positioning of parts - G06T: IMAGE DATA PROCESSING OR GENERATION, IN GENERAL - G06V: IMAGE OR VIDEO RECOGNITION OR UNDERSTANDING - G09G: ARRANGEMENTS OR CIRCUITS FOR CONTROL OF INDICATING DEVICES USING STATIC MEANS TO PRESENT VARIABLE INFORMATION (arrangements for transferring data between digital computers and displays G06F3/14; static indicating arrangements comprising an association of a number of separate sources or light control cells G09F9/00; static indicating arrangements comprising integral associations of a number of light sources H01J, H01K, H10H, H05B33/12; scanning, transmission or reproduction of documents or the like, e.g. facsimile transmission, details thereof H04N1/00) - G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N) ## Abstract The invention discloses a method, an electronic apparatus, and a computer readable medium for retrieving a map. The method includes the following steps. Firstly, a picture of a printed map is obtained. A block area surrounded by a road outline in the picture is defined. A map service is queried to find an electronic map having a map area corresponding to the block area according to contents of the printed map. A plurality of 3-D models of a plurality of buildings located in the map area is retrieved. The 3-D models are mapped on the picture. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method for retrieving a map, adapted to a portable electronic apparatus comprising a smart phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), or a tablet, comprising: obtaining a picture of a printed map from photo taken by a camera, a photo gallery stored in a memory of the portable electronic apparatus, a cloud server, or a web page by a processing unit of the portable electronic apparatus; defining a block area surrounded by a road outline in the picture by the processing unit; querying a map service provided in the portable electronic apparatus or provided from a map service server to find an electronic map having a map area corresponding to the block area according to contents of the printed map by the processing unit; retrieving a plurality of 3-D models of a plurality of buildings located in the map area from the map service by the processing unit; and mapping the 3-D models on the picture by the processing unit, comprising: adjusting a scale and an orientation of the map area to fit the scale and the orientation of the block area of the printed map; recognizing a plurality of street names within the road outline; dividing the block area into a plurality of sub blocks separated by a plurality of streets corresponding to the street names; finding a plurality of sub areas within the map area, wherein the sub areas correspond to the sub blocks; mapping each of the sub areas to the corresponding sub block according to a scale of the sub area and a scale of the corresponding sub block; and pasting the 3-D models on the picture with the map area aligning to the block area after mapping each of the sub areas to the corresponding sub block. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the step of defining the block area surrounded by the road outline in the picture comprises: performing an image processing method on the picture to detect the road outline; and adopting a picture area surrounded by the road outline as the block area. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the step of querying the map service to find the electronic map having the map area corresponding to the block area according to the contents of the printed map comprising: recognizing at least one road name related to the road outline; querying the map service with the at least one recognized road name to find the electronic map having the map area surrounded by at least one road corresponding to the at least one recognized road name in the map service. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The method as claimed in claim 3, wherein the step of recognizing the at least one road name related to the road outline comprises: performing a character recognition on at least one character around the road outline to obtain the at least one road name. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the step of querying the map service to find the electronic map having the map area corresponding to the block area according to the contents of the printed map comprises: recognizing at least one road name related to the road outline; querying the map service with pairs of the at least one recognized road name to find a plurality of intersections in the map service; and adopting the map area having the intersections as corners in the map service as the map area corresponding to the block area. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the step of pasting the 3-D models on the picture with the map area aligning to the block area comprises: pasting the 3-D model of each of the sub areas onto the corresponding sub block. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) A non-transitory computer-readable medium, recording program instructions for performing the method as claimed in claim 1. ### Claim 8 A portable electronic apparatus comprising a smart phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), or a tablet for retrieving a map, comprising: an input unit, receiving data; an output unit, presenting the data; and a memory, storing information comprising program routines, comprising: an obtaining module, obtaining a picture of a printed map from photo taken by a camera, a photo gallery stored in a memory of the portable electronic apparatus, a cloud server, or a web page; a defining module, defining a block area surrounded by a road outline in the picture; a querying module, querying a map service provided in the portable electronic apparatus or provided from a map service server to find an electronic map having a map area corresponding to the block area according to contents of the printed map; a retrieving module, retrieving a plurality of 3-D models of a plurality of buildings located in the map area from the map service; a mapping module, mapping the 3-D models on the picture; and a processing unit coupled to the input unit, the output unit and the memory for controlling the execution of the program routines, wherein the mapping module further: adjusts a scale and an orientation of the map area to fit the scale and the orientation of the block area of the printed map; recognizes a plurality of street names within the road outline; divides the block area into a plurality of sub blocks separated by a plurality of streets corresponding to the street names; finds a plurality of sub areas within the map area, wherein the sub areas correspond to the sub blocks; maps each of the sub areas to the corresponding sub block according to a scale of the sub area and a scale of the corresponding sub block; and pastes the 3-D models on the picture with the map area aligning to the block area after mapping each of the sub areas to the corresponding sub block. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The portable electronic apparatus as claimed in claim 8, wherein the defining module performs an image processing method on the picture to detect the road outline, and adopts a picture area surrounded by the road outline as the block area. ### Claim 10 (depends on 8) The portable electronic apparatus as claimed in claim 8, wherein the querying module recognizes at least one road name related to the road outline, queries the map service with the at least one recognized road name to find the electronic map having the map area surrounded by at least one road corresponding to the at least one recognized road name in the map service. ### Claim 11 (depends on 8) The portable electronic apparatus as claimed in claim 8, wherein the querying module performs a character recognition on at least one character around the road outline to obtain the at least one road name. ### Claim 12 (depends on 8) The portable electronic apparatus as claimed in claim 8, wherein the querying module recognizes at least one road name related to the road outline, queries the map service with pairs of the at least one recognized road name to find a plurality of intersections in the map service, and adopts the map area having the intersections as corners in the map service as the map area corresponding to the block area. ### Claim 13 (depends on 8) The portable electronic apparatus as claimed in claim 8, wherein the mapping module pastes the 3-D model of each of the sub areas onto the corresponding sub block. ### Claim 14 A method for retrieving a map, adapted to a portable electronic apparatus comprising a smart phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), or a tablet, comprising: obtaining a picture of a printed map from photo taken by a camera, a photo gallery stored in a memory of the portable electronic apparatus, a cloud server, or a web page by a processing unit of the portable electronic apparatus; defining a block area surrounded by a road outline in the picture by the processing unit; querying a map service provided in the portable electronic apparatus or provided from a map service server to find an electronic map having a map area corresponding to the block area according to contents of the printed map by the processing unit; retrieving a plurality of 3-D models of a plurality of buildings located in the map area from the map service by the processing unit; and mapping the 3-D models on the picture by the processing unit, comprising: adjusting a scale and an orientation of the map area to fit the scale and the orientation of the block area of the printed map; recognizing a plurality of shapes of a plurality of sub blocks in the block area, wherein the sub blocks are separated by a plurality of streets; finding a plurality of sub areas within the map area according to the first shapes of the sub blocks; mapping each of the sub areas to the corresponding sub block according to a scale of the sub area and a scale of the corresponding sub block; and pasting the 3-D models on the picture with the map area aligning to the block area after mapping each of the sub areas to the corresponding sub block. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The method as claimed in claim 14, wherein the step of pasting the 3-D models on the picture with the map area aligning to the block area comprises: pasting the 3-D model of each of the sub areas onto the corresponding sub block. ### Claim 16 A portable electronic apparatus comprising a smart phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), or a tablet for retrieving a map, comprising: an input unit, receiving data; an output unit, presenting the data; and a memory, storing information comprising program routines, comprising: an obtaining module, obtaining a picture of a printed map from photo taken by a camera, a photo gallery stored in a memory of the portable electronic apparatus, a cloud server, or a web page; a defining module, defining a block area surrounded by a road outline in the picture; a querying module, querying a map service provided in the portable electronic apparatus or provided from a map service server to find an electronic map having a map area corresponding to the block area according to contents of the printed map; a retrieving module, retrieving a plurality of 3-D models of a plurality of buildings located in the map area from the map service; a mapping module, mapping the 3-D models on the picture; and a processing unit coupled to the input unit, the output unit and the memory for controlling the execution of the program routines, wherein the mapping module further: adjusts a scale and an orientation of the map area to fit the scale and the orientation of the block area of the printed map; recognizes a plurality of shapes of a plurality of sub blocks in the block area, wherein the sub blocks are separated by a plurality of streets; finds a plurality of sub areas within the map area according to the first shapes of the sub blocks; maps each of the sub areas to the corresponding sub block according to a scale of the sub area and a scale of the corresponding sub block; and pastes the 3-D models on the picture with the map area aligning to the block area after mapping each of the sub areas to the corresponding sub block. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The portable electronic apparatus as claimed in claim 16, wherein the mapping module pastes the 3-D model of each of the sub areas onto the corresponding sub block.