Sharing geographical information between users

摘要

Users can collaborate to annotate a map by sharing geographical information. Map data can be stored locally or remotely while annotations are stored in an annotation server. A presentation device such as a personal computer can use the map data to display a map and can access the annotations on the annotation server and display them. Different users can edit the annotations and save them on the annotation server. The annotations presented to users who are simultaneously viewing them can be synchronized. Presentation devices can download modules for sharing geographical information from servers such as web servers.

主权项

1. A method comprising:
providing map data of a geographical area for presentation to a first user on a first user device; receiving, from the first user, a live annotation associated with a geographical location within the geographical area, wherein the live annotation comprises a description associated with the geographical location within the geographical area, wherein the description of the live annotation changes according to data provided by a live data source in communication with the first user device over a network; obtaining, from the live data source, an updated description for the live annotation; determining an appearance of the live annotation based on the updated description; providing updated map data of the geographical area including the determined appearance of the live annotation for presentation to the first user on the first user device; receiving, from a different second user, a request for map data of a second geographical area that includes the geographical location associated with the live annotation received from the first user; and in response to the request, providing map data of the second geographical area, including the live annotation received from the first user, for presentation to the second user on a second user device.