Google Joins Early Navigators On Quest To Determine Location By Visual Landmarks [Patents]


Google has recently filed for a patent that may just have early navigators rising from the dead to sue for royalties. This new patent would allow a user to have their location determined by landmarks around them. It would work by having a user take a picture of a landmark, upload it to Google, and then receive information about their location. The whole idea sounds impractical considering you can just fire up your Google Maps/Navigation but Google claims it can come in handy when in a foreign country and finding signs or assistance in your native language could be difficult. I’m not buying that and I have my own theory.

I’m thinking this patent will be used for a future location/navigation service to be used with Google’s rumored HUD glasses. Perhaps it’s a stretch but imagine simply looking through your glasses, having them recognize landmarks and feed back location information to you almost instantly. That sounds more practical and useful than whipping out your phone, snapping a picture, uploading it to Google’s servers and then reading the location information sent back.

Whatever the case may be, this is simply a submission and may never see the light of day. Even if it does gain approval, it could be years before we see the idea implemented (if ever). If you have some time to kill you can read all about the patent by following the source link below.

via Engadget